Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Australasian Journal of Environmental Management
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
Centre for People, Place and Planet
RAS ID
72369
Abstract
With declining biodiversity worldwide, the need for development proposals to deliver positive, not negative, environmental outcomes is clear. Arguably, this is a long-standing goal of environmental impact assessment (EIA). This article explores the extent to which current project EIA practice can achieve enhancement, no net loss or a net gain of biodiversity and Nature Positive goals. Using reflexivity, a conceptual approach is applied to policies and examples from practice. The environmental enhancement goal of EIA is explained. The mitigation hierarchy is applied to a hypothetical mining example for accomplishing no net loss/net gain of biodiversity through offsets. Nature Positive is examined in relation to current EIA expectations and how it differs from the other positive outcomes concepts. To overcome the ‘controlled loss’ paradigm that typifies EIA practice, a major mindset change is needed. Recommendations include: (i) placing ‘enhance’ on top of the mitigation hierarchy; (ii) ensuring policies uphold ‘true offsets’ with provision to ‘say no’ to development for high biodiversity areas and performance outcomes accountability and (iii) developing legislative provisions for Nature Positive and how project EIA should address it. Practitioners are urged to ‘step up’ in their personal endeavours to advocate for such changes to deliver positive outcomes from EIA.
DOI
10.1080/14486563.2024.2400899
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Morrison-Saunders, A., & Sánchez, L. (2024). Conceptualising project environmental impact assessment for enhancement: no net loss, net gain, offsetting and nature positive. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2024.2400899