Poverty in Extractive Industries and Environmental Impact Assessment Process

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) protocol is a “globally significant decision tool” (Cashmore 2004) in the management of large-scale projects in which science and engineering play a key role in enhancing the positive impacts of project activities while minimizing the negative ones. After the Second World War, the industrial revolution necessitated the search for a new approach to manage environmental pollution emanating from construction, manufacturing, building, and industrial activities. Consequently, EIA evolved as part of the efforts to improve environmental awareness and environmental education through the US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, which mandates that an EIA must be undertaken for projects that have potentially significant impacts on the quality of human environment (IOCGP 2003, p. 232). Thereon, many regional and international frameworks on EIA have evolved. These include the EU Directive on EIA in 1985 (Directive85/337/EEC), UN convention on EIA in a transboundary context (i.e., Espoo 1991), the UN Conference on Environment and Development (i.e., Agenda 21), and the Rio declaration on environment in 1992. To date, EIA has been adapted or adopted into local legislations and implementation frameworks in virtually all the 193 countries of the United Nations.