Environmental assessment simplification in Botswana – is it fit for purpose

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21153404
AutoresGorata Kingsley Matome (0000-0002-6513-9041, University of Botswana, autor de correspondencia), Thomas B Fischer (0000-0003-1436-1221, University of Liverpool)
Año2024
Volumen42
Número3
Páginas267-280
Fecha de publicación2024-05-03
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaImpact Assessment and Project Appraisal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1461-5517 • E-ISSN: 1471-5465
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14615517.2024.2363720
OpenAlexW4399743227
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas49

Environmental assessments (EAs) in Botswana are insufficiently influential in decision-making and have been criticised for contributing to extended transaction costs and timelines. Therefore, efforts to simplify EA have been undertaken. Whilst internationally, the value of EA is judged by its capability to raise the profile of environmental issues and enhance public participation in decision processes, current EA simplification interventions in Botswana aim at constraining access to environmental information, at reducing public participation provisions and at restricting the scope of environmental impacts to be evaluated. Ultimately, EA is intended to be replaced with outcome-based tools aiming to mitigate and compensate for environmental damage rather than avoiding it. The authors therefore suggest that simplification efforts in Botswana are bound to erode benefits associated with EA and are not fit for purpose. In this paper, three recommendations are offered: whilst outcome-based tools can be prepared for projects that were assessed by EA they must be firmly tiered to them. Furthermore, discretion in decision-making needs to remain in place, and data sharing should be enhanced by placing EA reports in the public domain

Environmental impact assessment · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Political science · Environmental and Social Impact Assessments · Environmental Science · Mining and Resource Management