Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment: An Introduction

Abstract

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a well-established instrument of environmental law and policy that aims to ensure that potential adverse environmental effects of human activities are assessed before decisions on such activities are made. The instrument is increasingly being applied in respect of activities that may cause environmental effects across the borders of a state. This is the introductory chapter of a book that offers an assessment of thirteen systems of Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (TEIA) that exist or are in development in different parts of the world. Although TEIA is generally associated with EIA between territorial states, the book takes a broader approach and is divided into three sub-parts: Transboundary EIA between states, EIA for activities in international and shared areas, and EIA required by international financial institutions. Knowledgeable experts (scholars and practitioners) provide an overview of the history, content, and practice of the individual systems and, based on these discussions, the state of the art concerning TEIA and possible future developments are discussed.

This introductory chapter outlines the normative landscape of TEIA both in general terms and in respect of each of the three parts of the book. The status of TEIA in general international law is the first issue examined (section 2) - a discussion continued in more specific terms in the concluding chapter of the book. The section pays a good deal of attention to the no-harm principle, as we consider this to be one of the fundaments of TEIA. Section 3 then takes up the normative development related to each of the three parts of the volume. This provides the reader with a general framework before reading the chapters dealing with individual systems. Finally, the chapter sets out the focus and scope of the book in more detail (section 4).

Keywords: Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment, no harm principle, EIA, Espoo Convention, International Law Commission, global commons, financial institutions, socially responsible investment

JEL Classification: K32, K33, N50, Q26