Strategic environmental assessment opportunities and risks for Arctic offshore energy planning and development

Noble, Bram; Ketilson, Skye; Aitken, Alec E.; Poelzer, Greg

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2012.12.011

Cited by 43 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…In reviews of EA in the western Arctic offshore energy sector, Ketilson (2011) and Noble et al (2013) identified a range of expectations about EA, specifically strategic EA, and report a diversity of views about what EA can and should deliver in the western Arctic, and to whom. Similarly, in Greenland's offshore oil sector, Olsen and Hansen (2014) report a diversity of expectations concerning what EA should deliver versus what it can deliver regarding effective participation.…”

Section: Understanding Expectations About Eamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increasingly, scholars, communities, and environmental organizations are lobbying for more regional and strategic approaches to EA in the Arctic (Cherp and Golubeva, 2004;WWF, 2005;Voutier et al, 2008;Doelle et al, 2012;Fidler and Noble, 2012;Noble et al, 2013). Specifically, there is a recognized need for EA to be more proactive in its approach to planning for future development and to better assess cumulative environmental effects, including climate-change and transboundary effects.…”

Section: Opportunities and Mechanisms To Link Strategic Initiatives Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…observation is not surprising. In recent years, the effectiveness of EA has been questioned globally (Fuggle, 2005;Morgan, 2012;Bond et al, 2014) and particularly in the Arctic Doelle et al, 2012;Noble et al, 2013). In the Finnish context, for example, Pölönen et al (2011) identify the linkages between EA and decision-making processes as a major deficiency, and in Russia, Cherp and Golubeva (2004) report several challenges in national-level approaches to EA implementation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Finnish context, for example, Pölönen et al (2011) identify the linkages between EA and decision-making processes as a major deficiency, and in Russia, Cherp and Golubeva (2004) report several challenges in national-level approaches to EA implementation. In Canada's western Arctic, Noble et al (2013) and BSStRPA (2008) identify challenges to current EA processes in capturing the cumulative effects of energy developments, whilst Harrison (2006) and Voutier et al (2008) report the challenges to industry arising from what is claimed to be an overly complex EA regulatory environment. Given the emerging and enduring concerns about the effectiveness of EA, coupled with increasing pressures on Arctic communities and ecosystems, there is a need for the international EA research community "…to better identify the benefits as well as costs of impact assessment" (Boyden, 2007:3).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental Assessment in the Arctic: A Gap Analysis and Research Agenda

Noble¹,

Hanna²

2015

ARCTIC

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ABSTRACT. Environmental assessment (EA) is employed across the Arctic to assess, mitigate, and monitor the impacts of resource development. Despite the increasing pressures of resource development on Arctic communities and ecosystems and the growing demands for more efficient and effective EA processes, little is known about the needs and priorities of research that will help us to understand and improve EA and its relevance to Arctic communities. A gap analysis of EA research across eight Arctic nations, based on a review of the scholarly literature, government research and policy documents, and a questionnaire survey of Arctic EA scholars, addressed both project-based EA and strategic EA that focused on policy, planning, and regional assessment. Results indicate seven priority research themes: understanding community and stakeholder expectations about EA; assessing the efficiency and responsiveness of EA to rapidly changing socio-ecological and regulatory environments; examining the influence of EA on development decisions; addressing the capacity for meaningful engagement in EA; strengthening the relationship between EA and land-use planning and Arctic science programs; demonstrating the value of regional EA; and assessing the ability of EA to respond to the reality of climate change. These are not the only areas where further EA research is needed, but they are critical to the effectiveness of EA in the Arctic and to ensuring its relevance to Arctic communities.Key words: environmental assessment; Arctic environmental assessment; gap analysis; environmental assessment effectiveness RÉSUMÉ. Des évaluations environnementales (EE) sont réalisées à l'échelle de l'Arctique dans le but d'évaluer, d'atténuer et de surveiller les incidences de l'exploitation des ressources. Malgré les pressions accrues qu'exerce la mise en valeur des ressources sur les communautés et les écosystèmes de l'Arctique, et malgré la demande croissante pour des processus d'EE plus efficaces, nous en savons peu sur les besoins et les priorités de recherche qui nous aideront à comprendre et à améliorer les EE et leur pertinence dans les communautés de l'Arctique. L'analyse des écarts en matière de recherche sur les EE dans huit nations de l'Arctique, analyse fondée sur des articles scientifiques, des travaux de recherche réalisés par les gouvernements, des documents de politiques et un sondage auprès de spécialistes des EE dans l'Arctique, a porté tant sur les EE de projets que sur les EE stratégiques axées sur les politiques, la planification et les évaluations régionales. Les résultats de cette analyse ont fait ressortir sept thèmes de recherche prioritaires : comprendre les attentes des communautés et des parties prenantes en matière d'EE; évaluer l'efficacité et la réactivité des EE vis-à-vis des milieux réglementaires et socioécologiques évoluant rapidement; examiner l'influence qu'exercent les EE sur les décisions en matière de mise en valeur; déterminer la capacité d'une participation significative dans les EE; renforcer la relation e...

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Section: Understanding Expectations About Eamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Opportunities and Mechanisms To Link Strategic Initiatives Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental Assessment in the Arctic: A Gap Analysis and Research Agenda

Noble¹,

Hanna²

2015

ARCTIC

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“…Environmental impact assessment studies, including habitat and fauna characterization prior to oil drilling, are necessary to ensure that the area harboring the petroleum reserves is not ecologically important or environmentally sensitive [20][21][22]. They can, therefore, prevent drilling in such areas [23][24][25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Survey of the Benthic Microfauna of the Marine Ecosystem on IRIS-1 Oil Platform at the Cape Skirring in Casamance, Senegal

Diadhiou¹,

Tine²,

Diallo³

et al. 2017

Fish Aquac J

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Toward a harmonized approach for environmental assessment of human activities in the marine environment

Tamis¹,

Vries²,

Jongbloed³

et al. 2016

Integr Environ Assess Manag

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With a foreseen increase in maritime activities, and driven by new policies and conventions aiming at sustainable management of the marine ecosystem, spatial management at sea is of growing importance. Spatial management should ensure that the collective pressures caused by anthropogenic activities on the marine ecosystem are kept within acceptable levels. A multitude of approaches to environmental assessment are available to provide insight for sustainable management, and there is a need for a harmonized and integrated environmental assessment approach that can be used for different purposes and variable levels of detail. This article first provides an overview of the main types of environmental assessments: "environmental impact assessment" (EIA), "strategic environmental assessment" (SEA), "cumulative effect assessment" (CEA), and "environmental (or ecological) risk assessment" (ERA). Addressing the need for a conceptual "umbrella" for the fragmented approaches, a generic framework for environmental assessment is proposed: cumulative effects of offshore activities (CUMULEO). CUMULEO builds on the principle that activities cause pressures that may lead to adverse effects on the ecosystem. Basic elements and variables are defined that can be used consistently throughout sequential decision-making levels and diverse methodological implementations. This enables environmental assessment to start at a high strategic level (i.e., plan and/or program level), resulting in early environmental awareness and subsequently more informed, efficient, and focused project-level assessments, which has clear benefits for both industry and government. Its main strengths are simplicity, transparency, flexibility (allowing the use of both qualitative and quantitative data), and visualization, making it a powerful framework to support discussions with experts, stakeholders, and policymakers. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:632-642. © 2015 SETAC.

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Strategic environmental assessment opportunities and risks for Arctic offshore energy planning and development

Cited by 43 publications

References 16 publications

Environmental Assessment in the Arctic: A Gap Analysis and Research Agenda

Environmental Assessment in the Arctic: A Gap Analysis and Research Agenda

A Survey of the Benthic Microfauna of the Marine Ecosystem on IRIS-1 Oil Platform at the Cape Skirring in Casamance, Senegal

Toward a harmonized approach for environmental assessment of human activities in the marine environment

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