EIA capacity-strengthening in Asia: The USAID/WRI model

Journal Article · Thu Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1995 · Environmental Professional

OSTI ID:118657

Welles, H ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an important tool for integrating scientific/technical, social, and economic issues of proposed development actions and policies for consideration by decision-makers. In 1992, the US Agency for international Development (USAID) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), with partial financial support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), initiated a two-year project to review the state of the art of EIA in the Asia region. Specific case studies were conducted on EIA systems in the philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka for use as a baseline framework for a Regional Workshop involving 11 Asian countries. This paper provides background on the definition and evolution of EIA. It describes the rationale, objectives, and outcomes of the project and explores ideas for future research. It further elaborates on why this project provides an effective model (based on case studies) both for how to evaluate the state of the art of EIA in a given country and region and for development of EIA-strengthening strategies. The major accomplishments of this project include an update on the status of EIA in Asia, a better sense of priority actions for its improvement, and more information n the role that donators are playing in these processes.

• OSTI ID: 118657
• Journal Information: Environmental Professional, Journal Name: Environmental Professional Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 17; ISSN 0191-5398; ISSN EPROD9
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
ASIA
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
INFORMATION NEEDS
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS