Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management

In Brazil, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been part of the environmental legislation since 1981 when the Brazilian National Environmental Policy (BNEP) was established. The BNEP established several tools intended to reconcile socio-economic development with environment conservation. More than twenty years have passed, and what is still seen in general is a need for improved capacity to implement these instruments to their full extent, particularly because of the lack of integration among these tools and, in many instances, a lack of the necessary levels of power and resources to enforce the very instruments that are aimed at integrating environmental concerns into decision-making. A brief background about the EIA process in Brazil is introduced, as well as regional examples of Capacity Building (CB) initiatives undertaken. Finally, a systemic approach to build EIA capacity is presented. The main conclusion is that CB is needed to effectively implement EIA components in Brazil and a systemic approach might offer improved outcomes to achieve desired levels of EIA capacity.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) was initially introduced as an advocacy instrument for the biophysical environment in project decision-making. Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) evolved with a similar mission for strategic level proposals. However, recent trends towards more integration, particularly in the context of sustainability assessment (SA) mean that social and economic aspects are now frequently considered on a par with the environment in impact assessment processes. There are indications that this development will ultimately favour trade-offs towards socio-economic benefits, causing adverse environmental impacts. In this paper, we discuss problems connected with these types of integrated assessments. Based on observations of SA processes are actually environmentally unsustainable, we argue that the need for environment focussed EIA and true SEA in planning processes is now greater than ever. We suggest that until power relationships develop in a way that will allow integration in an environmentally sustainable manner, practitioners should not give up the benefits that have arisen from 35 years of EIA practice. We conclude that in our current world, there is nothing wrong with environmental advocacy — let's continue to use EIA and SEA effectively to protect the environment!

This paper presents a 'Sustainability Management Activity Zone' (SMAZ) to support the implementation of sustainable construction practices integrated within a generic design and construction process map, the Process Protocol (1998). This is being investigated within the C-SanD Project (Creating, Sustaining, and Disseminating Knowledge for Sustainable Construction: Tools, Methods and Architectures). A brief overview of sustainable development and sustainable construction is presented, followed by an introduction to the C-SanD project and its initial findings related to current practice and the perception of sustainability within the construction industry based on the first round of interviews. The paper also discusses some of the sustainability issues identified during the field work, and highlights the need for a structured framework to consider and incorporate sustainability issues during the whole design and construction process of a project. The latter part of the paper discusses the incorporation of these issues within the Process Protocol, as SMAZ. The paper argues that the key for successful use of SMAZ within the industry is the awareness about the sustainable development among design and construction staff and operatives, knowing the importance of different activities and sub-activities within the SMAZ tool, and motivation to bring changes for betterment within the current day-to-day construction and design processes. The paper towards the end also highlights the areas which need further research and development.

South Africa introduced a visionary policy for water resource management in 1998. The South African National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998) contains several innovative mechanisms with the potential to transform water resource management within the country and abroad. The Reserve is one of these innovations, guaranteeing a basic water requirement for both human needs and ecosystem health. This article discusses the process of Reserve determination and implementation in South Africa and identifies challenges and opportunities for successful implementation. Based on the perceptions of 28 water managers, consultants, and researchers, the key issues and recommendations for improving implementation are presented. The major findings indicate that political support, the capacity of the implementing organization, supporting policies, strong linkages between policy actors and effective monitoring programs are key issues in the successful implementation of sustainable development policy mechanisms.

This research examines social and environmental NGO usage of corporate social disclosure. The research confirms that social and environment groups are users of corporate social disclosure, however in contrast to earlier NGO studies, such as Tilt (1994), Annual Reports appear to be no longer the preferred medium of use. The results reveal a relative consistency in NGO viewpoints regarding corporate social disclosure across time, and show that NGOs view corporate social disclosure as low in credibility and insufficient even when relevant.