Adaptation Measures in EIA and Risks Management: An Overview of the Legal Framework in Pakistan

Year 2012, Volume: 2 Issue: 3, 1 - 11, 23.07.2016

Zulfiqar Ali Daulat Khan Rashid Hussain

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the development of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in its historical perspective, and, its status of implementation and effectiveness in the existing legal framework in Pakistan. EIA emerged as a popular discipline in response to widespread ills, associated with environmentally unsound development pursuits in the past. The human environment witnessed serious manifestations due to persistent neglect of the natural environment in agricultural and technological revolution; especially after WW-II. The UN conference on the human environment in 1972 was the first commitment at the international level to adopt the principles of environmental conservation in development strategies. Realizing its obligations, Pakistan embarked on new institutional and legal measures for environmental preservation in 1983. In order to strengthen EIA system, the first environment ordinance, 1983 has undergone many changes to the existing Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997. The changes are worth discussion in the context of growth in the number of EIA reports, and strengths and weaknesses of the current IEE / EIA Regulations, 2000. The conclusion and suggestions summarizes the prospect of EIA in the country beyond the legal cum institutional reforms to political commitment, capacity building and public involvement in the specified steps in EIA studies

Keywords

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), human environment, Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), prospect, public participation

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