Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management

The exploitation of oil and gas resources poses several challenges to sustainability. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is broadly recognised as an important instrument to promote sustainability-driven decision-making. This paper aims at exploring to what extent current SEA processes for the oil and gas contribute, procedurally and substantively, to more strategic and sustainability-oriented decisions. To this purpose, we developed a framework for reviewing SEA reports, based on the strategic thinking model for SEA. The framework covers focal elements for enhancing SEA practice and it is structured into nine assessment parameters (object of assessment, entry point, interactivity, scope of assessment, strategic reference framework, process, participation, findings/outcomes, proposal for follow-up), and corresponding key questions. The framework was used to review 11 SEA reports related to both offshore and onshore oil and gas developments. The case studies are in different geographical contexts, and reflect examples of the broad range of SEA procedures existing worldwide. Our review provided evidences of those SEA aspects that play a crucial role in order to recognise more targeted and strategic information on which analysis should be based. This can provide substantive insights to improve the quality of SEA reports, as well as to better design more sustainability-oriented outcomes in the oil and gas sector. In particular, additional attention should be paid to stakeholders involvement from early stage of the procedures; identification of key environmental, social and economic factors; analysis of cumulative and synergistic effects in the long-run; fact-based provisions and recommendations for more integrated mitigation and monitoring management strategies for follow up.

Recently, Israel has undergone several changes in its environmental policy. This paper reviews the shift in environmental policy, from regulatory-based instruments to more flexible economic instruments in Israel. A substantial change has taken place in this respect over the last few decades in many OECD countries. In recent years, environmental policy in Israel has been going through a similar change, in part due to the recent accession to the OECD. Yet, Israel still lacks the use of certain main economic tools, such as greenhouse gas emissions trading and carbon taxes, which are available in many OECD countries.

This paper explores how social impact assessments (SIAs) can be applied productively in mining development in African societies characterised by weak regulatory structures and ethnic diversity. It evaluates the nature of the social risks associated with mining development in Africa and examines the concept of SIA as a tool for mitigating those risks. Most importantly, it considers the factors that should be taken into account in the design and implementation of SIA programs in ethnically diverse African regions. One of the paper's central theses is that within-group perceptions of procedural justice are instrumental to the success of participatory processes for SIAs in mining development in Africa.

Is heat becoming a major threat to cities? Following the heat wave in Europe in 2003, which is estimated to have caused the deaths of 70,000 people, municipal authorities began to develop adaptation and mitigation plans and programs. Legal obligations to consider climate change within various development projects have been defined, e.g. by the latest amendment of the EU EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) Directive (2014/52/EU) and the Federal Building Code (BauGB §1a (5)). However, urban heat hazards have not yet received as much attention as, for example, carbon dioxide emissions as drivers of global warming. Dense urban structures, high buildings, dark surfaces, and high population densities trigger urban heat effects. With about 3/4 of Europeans living in cities, measures to reduce heat-related impacts are needed. This paper evaluates how German cities have implemented measures towards climate change adaptation. The results show that 24 out of 30 cities have developed mitigation and/or adaptation plans, with a majority focusing on mitigating CO₂, indicating less awareness of urban heat hazards. Moreover, we found elaborate and comprehensive examples which might serve as blue-prints for adaptation strategies. Based on the inhomogeneous scope of the different plans and programs, there remains a need for guidance and more knowledge exchange among the cities on mitigation/adaptation options and preferably information on their effectiveness, to further assist cities in tackling heat stress.

In the case where recycled production inputs are perfect technical substitutes for virgin inputs and the carbon emissions on a LCA basis associated with recycled inputs are lower, a revenue-neutral combination of a tax and subsidy can reduce GHG associated with the production process.

Since 2000, the Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (TEIA) process in the Iberian context has undergone significant development due to new circumstances that came into play at the bilateral and European levels: (i) the adoption of a collaborative TEIA Protocol between Spain and Portugal in 2008; and (ii) the increasing number of cross-border projects supported by European Union funds. Despite these developments, the impact of this bilateral regulation on public participation, the cornerstone of any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), has not yet been fully examined. Drawing from specific literature focusing on the involvement of the public as the basis of effective improvement of the TEIA, this paper critically analyses if the lates transboundary provision has encouraged public participation in this context. Although the analysis of the TEIA enforcement revealed a considerable increase in the number of consultations between the neighbouring states compared to the previous situation, public involvement has not increased. Based on these findings, this paper presents a set of recommendations to more effectively involve the public in transboundary consultations.

The analysis and evaluation of European Rural Development Policy (RDP) is challenging because of its delivery at multiple scales by multiple actors. To address this challenge the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF) indicators were introduced. However, these quantitative indicators are limited by data gaps and their inability to address the less tangible aspects of policy performance. In this paper we explore, how to address these limitations through complimentary policy evaluation approaches using evidence from empirical studies. We discuss the strengths and weakness of applying three different quantitative and qualitative evaluation approaches: (1) spatial econometrics; (2) stakeholder analysis; and, (3) qualitative interviews. The findings from the three methods are then triangulated proposing the potential of an integrated methodological approach to inform policy and management. A mixed method approach provides a broader understanding of how policy design, stakeholder's roles, and spatial characteristics impact on implementation and environmental targeting capacity, highlighting the multifaceted nature of the determinants of policy performance.