Environmental Impact Assessments, local power and self-determination: The case of mining and hydropower development in Guatemala

Aguilar-Støen, Mariel; Hirsch, Cecilie

doi:10.1016/j.exis.2015.03.001

Cited by 35 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Official tools, like environmental impact assessments (EIA), are used to determine if a mining project complies with socio-environmental soundness or not [5,15]. Despite EIA's key role in supporting decision-making in mining contexts, deficient assessments can arise from incomplete scoping of local needs, concealment of unsustainable mining practices [16,17] and feeble environmental policies towards mining [18,19]. Sustainable management of water resources requires an accurate deliberation of social-ecological impacts from mining, with the help of all the concerned stakeholders [3,5,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Freshwater Ecosystem Services in Mining Regions: Modelling Options for Policy Development Support

Mercado‐Garcia

Wyseure

Goethals

2018

Water

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The ecosystem services (ES) approach offers an integrated perspective of social-ecological systems, suitable for holistic assessments of mining impacts. Yet for ES models to be policy-relevant, methodological consensus in mining contexts is needed. We review articles assessing ES in mining areas focusing on freshwater components and policy support potential. Twenty-six articles were analysed concerning (i) methodological complexity (data types, number of parameters, processes and ecosystem-human integration level) and (ii) potential applicability for policy development (communication of uncertainties, scenario simulation, stakeholder participation and management recommendations). Articles illustrate mining impacts on ES through valuation exercises mostly. However, the lack of ground-and surface-water measurements, as well as insufficient representation of the connectivity among soil, water and humans, leave room for improvements. Inclusion of mining-specific environmental stressors models, increasing resolution of topographies, determination of baseline ES patterns and inclusion of multi-stakeholder perspectives are advantageous for policy support. We argue that achieving more holistic assessments exhorts practitioners to aim for high social-ecological connectivity using mechanistic models where possible and using inductive methods only where necessary. Due to data constraints, cause-effect networks might be the most feasible and best solution. Thus, a policy-oriented framework is proposed, in which data science is directed to environmental modelling for analysis of mining impacts on water ES.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Freshwater Ecosystem Services in Mining Regions: Modelling Options for Policy Development Support

Mercado‐Garcia

Wyseure

Goethals

2018

Water

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“…Even quite closed and technocratic environmental licensing processes can be (re)politicized if the public becomes aware of the project and begins to mobilize against it (Devlin, & Yap, 2008). Several case studies from Latin America's extractive industries provide evidence of the different forms of contestation used by local populations and other critical actors to challenge their exclusion from decision-making processes (Li, 2009;Jaskoski, 2014;Aguilar-Støen, & Hirsch, 2015;Walter, & Urkidi, 2017;. Thus, participatory processes can never be predetermined and their subjects can never be completely controlled (Williams, 2004;Cornwall, & Coelho, 2006).…”

Section: The Depoliticizing and Repoliticizing Role Of Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the light of Latin America's (neo)extractivist development path (Bebbington & Bury, 2013a;Burchardt, & Dietz, 2014), the critique that public participation is used to depoliticize development has been picked up by scholars of political ecology (Li, 2009;Jaskoski, 2014;Perreault, 2015;Aguilar-Støen, & Hirsch, 2015). In the region different forms of participation have been established in the extraction sector, especially since the neoliberal reforms of the 1990s.…”

Section: The Depoliticizing and Repoliticizing Role Of Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…434-435). Adding to this strand of literature, Aguilar-Støen and Hirsch (2015) argue that investors only view participation in environmental licensing processes as a prerequisite that should be fulfilled as part of a set of bureaucratic procedures, filling them with meanings and practices that are in their own interests. Local populations, including Afro-and indigenous communities, often contested and thereby repoliticized narrow participatory 6 Among these forms of participation have been public consultation processes with the general citizenry, prior consultation, and consent processes for indigenous and Afro-descendent communities, participatory planning exercises, and community-led consultations (see .…”

Section: The Depoliticizing and Repoliticizing Role Of Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6 In most countries public participation in planned projects' environmental impact assessments (EIA) is mandatory, and in many cases the events are organized by the corporations themselves and not by the respective state, an independent body, or an international organization. Li (2009) andJaskoski (2014) critically analyzed such public participation processes in Peru; Perreault, (2015) in Bolivia; Leifsen, Sánchez-Vazquéz, and Reyes, (2017) in Ecuador;and Aguilar-Støen and Hirsch, (2015) in Guatemala. All of these publications are based on in-depth case studies in the respective countries' mining sectors.…”

Section: The Depoliticizing and Repoliticizing Role Of Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contesting the hydrocarbon frontiers: State depoliticizing practices and local responses in Peru

2018

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a b s t r a c tBased on primary sources, this article analyzes 150 participatory events related to planned hydrocarbon projects in Peru (2007Peru ( -2012. Therein, it sheds light on state depoliticizing practices and local populations' contestations thereof. We argue that participation in the extraction sector has not enabled effective participation and has instead been used to pave the way for expanding the extractive frontiers. We find that the state entity responsible for carrying out the events applied three main depoliticizing practices: (a) the organization of exclusionary participatory processes, (b) the provision of pro-extraction information, and (c) the identification of critical actors and discourses in order to formulate recommendations on how to weaken resistance against the planned activities. This study also reveals that local populations often contested the participatory events and identifies subnational patterns of local contestation. We find that higher degrees of contestation were fueled by previous negative experiences with extraction activities and the existence of local economic alternatives. To assess the histories and results of contestation over specific extractive activities over time, the study draws on monthly conflict reports produced by the Peruvian ombudsperson (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016). We find that local contestation was quite influential, leading to increased social investment programs in the affected areas, the withdrawal of several extraction corporations, and Peru's adoption of the Law on Prior Consultation (2011). However, the long-term prospects of the transformations provoked by repoliticizing processes need to be evaluated in the years to come.

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Re‐designing Social Impact Assessment to enhance community resilience for Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Action and Sustainable Development

Imperiale

Vanclay

2023

Sustainable Development

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Enhancing disaster risk reduction (DRR) and community resilience are fundamental for sustainable development. However, cultural and political‐institutional barriers hinder governments from progressing towards sustainability. We propose a redesign of social impact assessment (SIA) to make it more applicable to the field of regional and urban planning, and we discuss the role SIA can have in enhancing community resilience to achieve DRR and sustainable development in localities. We argue that, to convert SIA into a tool that can inform regional recovery and development planning, a rethinking of SIA and of the role of SIA practitioners is needed. We therefore expound the SIA Framework for Action and we enhance it to be a community‐based process focussed on informing regional policies and plans and decisions about the projects to be included in such plans. Application of the SIA Framework for Action will help governments overcome the barriers to DRR and sustainable development.

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Environmental Impact Assessments, local power and self-determination: The case of mining and hydropower development in Guatemala

Cited by 35 publications

References 14 publications

Freshwater Ecosystem Services in Mining Regions: Modelling Options for Policy Development Support

Freshwater Ecosystem Services in Mining Regions: Modelling Options for Policy Development Support

Contesting the hydrocarbon frontiers: State depoliticizing practices and local responses in Peru

Re‐designing Social Impact Assessment to enhance community resilience for Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Action and Sustainable Development

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