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Name: Clarissa, Huay Ching Ngoh

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Environmental politics assignment 2

Topic: What is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and is it an effective form of environmental governance?

Introduction

Environmental laws authorize protection of environment (Lawrence, Wiley & Sons, p.562, 2003). ‘Environment’ defined as merely encompassing physical and biological effects in the first place, but later, it also encompasses the importance of cultural, health, social as well as ecological perspectives. This essay offers extensive general picture of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Environmental Impact Assessment emphasizes organization, illustrates management steps, displays focus and also proposes enhancements to the latest process. The structure of this essay involves in mandatory steps to access environmental impacts when inaugurate industrial or municipal projects, allowing construction of facilities and approving multiple land usage likely to influence the surrounding communities. However, by diverse case studies, the researchers show how EIA arise the potential problems and they construe the reasons for them.

Vulnerability in the EIA

Once again to briefly defined the term 'Environmental Impact assessment', EIA means the examination, analysis and assessment of planned activities for sake of ensure environmentally sound and sustainable development. Therefore, EIA can be assumed as an effective planning and management tool (Hollick, 1981; Ortolano and Sheperd, 1995; Samarakoon and Rowan, 2008; Snell and Cowell, 2006; Wathern, 1994; Wood, 1993). In this sense, it can be employed to determine the type, magnitude and potential influence in the environment as a result of an activity. It also contributes in transmit these details to the environmental decision-makers such as the developers or civil engineers. Remarkably, the utilization and implementation of Environmental Impact Assessment relies on the institutional framework as well as the political context of the decision-making process (Ortolana et al., 1987).

Based on Fussel (2007), he discovered the inclusion of vulnerability in the EIA should take into consideration in the following basic perspectives:

· The system identification - this can be a combination of human environment system, a population group, an economic field, a geographic region or a natural system. Thus, vulnerability can be applied to any system that might cause harm.

· The attribution - this defines the system properties which can be endangered by exposure to a danger. The inclusion of examples are human health, income, the cultural identity of a community, biodiversity, woods and so on.

· The circumstance of danger - this can be explained by a potentially harmful impact on the system being analysed or an influence which can negatively affect a system attribution.

· The temporal reference - this is a matter of time when the analysis will be implemented.

As a result of the evaluation of the EIA in Columbia, Toro et al. (2010) finalized that recommendations were mandatory which would assure the objectivity, content and effectiveness of the EIA for sake of minimize the environmental depravation which would lead to the bad human health and also the negative productivity in Columbia. As such, vulnerability in the EIA process should be taken into consideration in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), especially in the environmental description, assessments of impacts and also the revision of the EIS by the government.

Management steps, display focus and suggests improvements to the latest process

First of all, in term of accommodating environmental concerns, the accommodationist position has become the focus point for business as the environmental concern levels have risen and clients have registered a significant degree of environmental commitment in the marketplace (Dolce & McEachern, 2008, p.204). Occasionally, the accommodation is both strategic and rhetorical, for an instance, in the advertisements series under the heading ‘With Climate Change, What We Don’t Know Can Hurt Us’ advertised by Mobile, it is important to aware that this advertisement aroused a slow response to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (The Australian 6 Sept, 1996, p.3). These ads embrace environmental concern but arguing for a slow response in seek to identify with it, securing the position of the energy companies as well as of high-energy industry. Besides than that, the politics of business’s response to environmental concern and public figure green organizations is not rigid. Different positions have developed secularization to be more aware in environmental concern. For an example, a couple of mining companies were formerly at the centre of rejectionism have responded in two or more ways. On the other hand, the mining industries in developed countries have utilized more advanced environmental management approaches (EIA) consistently with a plan of sustainable development as outlined and recognized by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development. Mulligan (1996, p.205) stated that there have been a certain improvements in the brilliant approaches that mining companies in these developed countries have employed the task of better managing mining projects as well as the reconversion of mine sites. Mulligan found that excellent handbooks are now invented to help the heavy task of environmental managers in the industry.

In the handbook, the Ecology of Commerce (Hawken, 1993, p. 205), he suggests an eight-point approach for business:

1. Minimize absolute energy consumption and natural resources in the North by 90 percent within the next fifty years.

2. Offer secure and firm employment for people in all places.

3. Be self-motivated or have self principle.

4. Honourable market principles

5. Be more rewarding in future

6. Outride sustainability by rehabilitating degraded habitats and ecosystems to their maximum biological capacitance.

7. Rely on current wages.

8. Be fun and fascinating, and strive for an aesthetic pleasure.

Certainly, this is a real-like challenge to business yet Hawken employed this eight-point approach to demonstrate the practical way in which many companies have attempted to carry out these principles. The approaches ranges from minimizing energy consumption, redesigning to discharge waste as well as a commercial but environmentally effective response to toxic by-products. Paul Hawken (1999, p.206) concentrated on re-engineering production. His purpose is to discharges waste by turning waste products into inputs of new production, thus substantial levels of efficiency produce both higher profitable and higher environmentally green businesses.

Case Study of 'Environmental Business Awards'

Box 6.4

Paul Hawken, Preface to the Ecology of Commerce (1993, p.207)

On being awarded a Council on Economic Priorities 'Environmental Stewardship Award' :

Paul Hawken walked to the podium, glanced at the sea of pearls and other participants, he felt speechless. Rather than thanking everyone, he realized a thing which is no one else deserves the reward; either his company or himself.

He explained that what they had done was pull out the superficial problem, played a few risks, put a substantial amount of money for what they had spoken, however, ultimately, the impact on the environment was only a little different than if they had done nothing at all. They done efforts like recycled toner cartridges, the sustainably harvested timbers, the replanted trees, the soy-based inks and also donated the flashy gifts to nonprofits, certainly these were all good and generous, but generally they had done junk mail business, selling goods by catalogue. All the recycling in the earth are unchangeable fact that doing business in the latest century is a practice of energy consumption which gulps down the rich resources. Paul proclaims that he doesn't mean to degrade the efforts done by companies to reduce their negative impact on the environment. He feels creditable but things should not be done by that way - dig the resources and claim the credibility. It meant that the ecological business and sustainability were antipodal by design, not by intention.

Potential Benefits and Challenges in Applying Regional EIA: A Case Study of Special Investment Regions in India

Development is a constant growing process and its influence is always destructive to environment, thus this may cause negative impacts for human life. EIA is impactful in diverse upcoming development projects by resolving the environmental impacts of the action. The big scale projects like setting up of Special Investment Regions (SIR), Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and Industrial Estates (IE) have certain impacts on the environmental circumstance of the region. The increasing scale of the world environmental issues was a great sign that the environmental hazard was accelerating and it is not restricted to a certain developing projects or region. Therefore, the EIA over projects and regional plans gained the recognition that EIA of policies should be implemented on a strategic level.

However, Therivel (2004) claimed that Environment Management Plan (EMP) plays an important role in EIA study wherein information description is demanded for implementation of the same. Besides than that, for tremendous projects, it is always hard to offer a detailed description. For an instance, the greenbelt development is one of the abatement measures to minimize the negative impact of environmental pollution yet it is quite hard to mention in the EIA report, such as the type of plants to be planted, the breed of soil, agro climatic region and so on. The most importantly, the total cost for carry out the abatement plan is always hard to define.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the implementation of EIA is still vary from countries to countries. In developed countries like United States and Europe, there is a well framed EIA legislation to conduct cumulative effects for different projects whereas in undeveloped countries there is lack of legal EIA legislation (Wood, 2003). Likewise, in many African countries, EIA is not even compulsory. The reason is due to in developed countries, there is vigorous involvement of civilians, competent authority, government agencies at first and last stages of EIA while in undeveloped countries, there is less involvement of government agencies during first stage of EIA which lead to poor predictability of impact. Last but not least, efforts should be done to include environmental conservation concerns at policy and planning level so as to the environmental factors can be taken into account in a proper way at the policy level.

(1594 words)

Reference list:

David P. L. 2003, ‘Agriculture—Crop production and Soil, Environmental Studies’, American Society of Agronomy, p.562

Doyle, T & McEachern, D 2008, Environment and Politics, Third edition, Routledge, USA and Canada

Füssel, H. 2007, 'Vulnerability: a generally applicable conceptual framework for climate change research'. Glob Environ Chang, vol. 17, p.155–67

Hawken, P. 1993, The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Environmental Sustainability, Harper Business, New York.

Hawken, P., Lovins, A. and Lovins, L. H. 1999, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, Little, Brown & Co, Boston.

Hollick, M. 1981, 'Environmental impact assessment in Australia: EIA and environmental management in Western Australia', Environ Impact Asses Rev, vol.2, p.116–9

Mallick, M & Singh, A 2014, 'Potential Benefits and Challenges in Applying Regional EIA: A case study of special investment regions in India', Journal of Environmental Protection, Scientific Research, vol.5, p.29-34

file:///C:/Users/asus/Downloads/JEP_2014012311144456.pdf

Mulligan, D. 1996, Environmental Management in the Australian Minerals and Energy Industries: Principles and Practices, UNSW Press, Sydney.

Ortolano L, Jenkins B & Abracosa R. 1987, 'Speculations on when and why EIA is effective', Environ Impact Asses Rev, vol.7, p.285–92.

Ortolano L & Sheperd A. 1995, 'Environmental impact assessment: challenges and opportunities', Environ Impact asses Rev, vol.13, p.3–30.

Rogowski, A. S. 2004, ‘Environment Impact Assessment: Practical Solutions to Recurrent Problem’, Journal of Environment Quality, vol. 33, Issue 2, American Society of Agronomy, Madison, United States, p.797

http://search.proquest.com/docview/197408422/fulltextPDF/2A86F1E6EE474012PQ/2?accountid=14649

Therivel, R. 2004, 'Strategic Environmental Assessment in Accumulation', Earthscan, London.

Samarakoon, M & Rowan JS, 2008, 'A critical review of environmental impact statements in Sri Lanka with particular reference to ecological impact assessment', Environ Manage, vol 41, p.441–60

Snell T & Cowell R, 2006, 'Scoping in environmental impact assessment: balancing precaution and efficiency?', Environ Impact Asses Rev, vol.26, p.359–76

Toro, J., Requena I. & Zamorano M. 2010, 'Environmental impact assessment in Colombia: critical analysis and proposals for improvement'. Environ Impact Asses Rev, vol.30, p. 247–61

Toro, J., Duarte, O., Raquena, I. & Zamorano, M. 2012, 'Determining Vulnerability Importance in Environmental Impact Assessment The case of Columbia', Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Elsevier, p.107-117

http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezlibproxy.unisa.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0195925511000795

The Australian, 6 Sept, 1996, p.3

Wathern, P. 1994, 'An introductory guide to EIA'. Environmental impact assessment: theory and practice, Biddles Ltd, Guilford and King's Lynn, London, p. 3–46

Wood, C. 1993, 'Environmental impact assessment in Victoria: Australian discretion rules EA'. J Enviro Manage, vol. 39, p. 281–95.

Wood, C. 2003, 'Environmental Impact Assessment in Developing Countries: An Overview'

http://www.sed.man.ac.uk/research/iarc/ediais/pdf/Wood.pdf

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Contrary to popular belief everyone dreams every single night. Your dreams are always telling you something, but most dreams are metaphoric and difficult to understand. It is said that if you can figure out what your dreams are trying to tell you that you will reveal some rather interesting things about yourself. Your dreams can also serve as a guide to get you through difficult times.

Should I be Concerned by Recurring Dreams?

This is not necessarily something that someone should concern themselves with, but it generally does indicate that there is an issue in your life that you need to confront. There is also a chance that you are going through something right now and are simply having a difficult time dealing with it. Recurring dreams are indicative that there is something troubling you and you are essentially dreaming about it until it is resolved. Keep in mind that dreams often use metaphors so your recurring dreams may not seem to have anything to do with what you are struggling with.

Why are my Dreams Full of Strangers?

Your dreams are full of strangers, but the thing is these people are not technically strangers. You have seen these people before even if you just happened to walk past them in a coffee shop. You may see someone in your dream that you saw 20 years ago or someone you walked past on your way to work this morning. The bottom line is, these people are not made up and you have seen them before.

What do Nightmares Mean?

Nightmares generally indicate that you have a fear of some sort in your real life and it is manifesting itself in the form of a dream. Nightmares are something that you should think more about because once you figure out your fear and conquer it the nightmares will most often stop. Think about the things in life that cause you fear and anxiety. Then think about if any of these have come up recently in your daily life. This could help you determine exactly what is triggering your nightmares.

Do all Dreams Have Meaning?

This is something many of the experts argue about, but it seems that they do indeed have at least a little meaning. Many dreams will have symbols or metaphors that are trying to relay a message. This does not guarantee that you will figure out what that message is. Dreams can simply take something in your life and manifest itself in a different fashion while you sleep.

Why is the Same Person Always in my Dreams?

If you often dream of the same person over and over again this may mean that you often have this person on your mind in real life. Since they are such a big part of your conscious thought, it is not unheard of that they will also be starring in your unconscious too. These dreams are a sign that you need to get in touch with this person in real life and tell them how you feel. Once you get it out, the constant dreams about the person typically fade away.

What do Death Dreams Mean?

This is a very common question and a type of dream that many people experience. You can die in your dream and not in real life. When you often dream of death, either your own or someone else's, it typically means that you are under an excessive amount of stress. The stress could be good stress like changing careers or preparing for your wedding. It can also be bad stress like a divorce or a recent diagnosis with a condition such as cancer. Some even say that these dreams can indicate a time of renewal.

Conclusion

Dreams always mean something. They are manifestations of your subconscious letting you know that something in your life probably needs to be addressed. For example, nightmares are not meant to be scary, but to reveal what your fears and anxieties are being caused by. Dreams are a way of telling us what we cannot see in real life. Taking them seriously and acting on them can be very helpful. Just be sure not to get obsessed with decoding them

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Attack Attacked Attacker

In looking at many dreams in which attack takes place, it is obvious that there are many degrees and forms of attack. So attack or being attacked can represent many things such as feeling attacked or threatened by ones own impulses such as anger or sexuality; feeling surreptitiously attacked by other people and their attitude to you or their remarks; a subtle sense of being attacked by age, or a serious attack by an illness – one speaks of an asthma or virus attack for instance, but also one may be attacked by a poison, or food if one is allergic to it; one might personally attack an issue or a project, and so a dream might depict one attacking something in this sense; confidence may be attacked; it is a common term in sport or business, and so may refer to attitude or energy. This aspect of attack may also refer to ones beliefs, or to other peoples, which may be attacked and threatened; attack is also sometimes a form of defence, so may suggest defensiveness about some issue or aspect of ones life. A positive side to attack is that we often feel attacked by an emerging new insight or positive personal change. We feel it as an attack because it threatens our old way of life, our habitual way of ding things and thinking about things.

It is important to define or be aware of ones response to threat or attack in a dream. Experiments in connection with dreams in which the person runs away from attack, or is very passive, show that if the dreamer visualises changing the situation and faces attackers, their dreams and even waking behaviour changes radically. Passivity in dream situations may depict the innate feeling that we are helpless in dealing with the feelings involved. This usually dates from past experience, perhaps in childhood, where in fact one did not have the strength or maturity to meet what was happening. See Life Changes.

Occasionally attack in dreams shows a desire to be attacked in order to live out forms of self punishment or sadism. In most such cases this desire arises out of a need to remember, and make fully conscious, punishment or sadism that has been practised on the dreamer.

Being attacked: This dream usually arises because in some way you are repressing, in conflict with, or frightened off your own emotions, sexuality or anger. Occasionally the fear is about ones own potential or expanded awareness.

Attacked by animal: Feeling under threat from external events or internal emotions, impulses or ideas; feeling a victim in relationship to others and self; taking a defensive attitude. The repression or fear here is in regard to your own natural urges. Sometimes our dreams put into animal form someone who we feel is expressing anger toward us.

Attacked by shadowy or frightening figure: Our childhood traumas and fears may take this guise in a dream. So in this case the attack is depicting our feelings of fear and pain surrounding those past issues. How we meet such an attack is important. If we run from it, the trauma may remain largely unconscious, and therefore capable of influencing our behaviour negatively. Better to explore it or change it. (For help doing this see Stand in Role under peerdream work.)

Attacked by animal: Introverting one’s own aggression or sexuality; fear of one’s own natural urges; anxiety about aggression in oneself or other people; feeling attacked by an external person.

Being the attacker: This is more positive, as you are not being passive and hurt in your dreams. But you are still in conflict with whatever it is your attacking. Considering that what you attack is probably a part of your own personality, it might be better to meet it in some way. Positive self expression; defending oneself against something one feels threatened by; attempt to destroy some urge or feeling in oneself or others. The word attack is also used in many ways, so might refer to an ‘attack’ of an illness, or ‘heart attack’. Can express the difference between feeling threatened by a work/relationship/sex problem, or feeling challenged by it in a way to stimulate creativity or research.

Bird attacking: Fear of ideas, ideals or opinions; verbal attack by others; fear of the Self – a view of things that may destroy ones present more limited views or opinions.

Sexual attack: This has many aspects, and can at times be a re-playing of previous sexual attacks, or an expression of fear concerning them. But we also create dreams of sexual attack when we are frightened of our own feelings and desires. Grof gives the interesting account of a woman who experienced many images of sexual attack. He says:-

…. whenever a boy friend initiated even the most innocent sexual approach, such as touching. embracing, or kissing, she was overwhelmed with terror. It seemed to her that when such a situation occurred, her lover was actually changing physically and assuming animal features. Repeatedly, she fled from these situations in a state of panic anxiety and never wanted to see her partner again. Episodes of this kind were repeatedly relived …. with details of the physical setting, as well as the physical sensations and emotions involved. FromRealms of The Human Unconscious, by S. Grof. Published by Souvenir Press.

Someone else being attacked: Anger or aggression toward another; killing off an aspect of oneself represented by the person in the dream. If the person is someone you are in relationship with, it suggests an attempt, however short, to distance oneself from them emotionally. See: fight; War.

Example: I had this dream at a time when there was a lot of talk and anxiety in newspapers and on television about nuclear war. In the dream a nuclear attack had been announced. I immediately thought of my children who are away in boarding school. I go out into the street to see if I can get to them, but realise it is hopeless. In the street everybody is walking about as if it were a holiday Sunday. I realised there was no time to get to my children so decided to join the people on the street. John C.

John had this dream at a time when there was a lot of media coverage about nuclear attack. It is therefore most likely dealing with his real fears about how he would deal with such an attack if it happened.

Example: Whilst suffering from nervous exhaustion three years ago. I had a recurring nightmare that left me feeling totally worthless and wretched. In it I underwent an indecent attack upon my person by my father. I was about four or five in the dream. It was not the attack in itself that left me with these feelings, but rather the look my mother gave me shortly afterwards – making me feel like a specimen in a jar. In the dream I sensed she had refused to be his wife fully, until he had got us into our own home again. I sense she is blaming me for not being able to continue with this threat, and that once more she will have to suffer my father’s attentions because of me. There is no one to help me so I decide to leave. I pack a small case, which I believe someone gets for me. In reality I did try to leave home at this age but got no further than the bus stop across the road. Maria.

Maria gives no indication of whether she was abused by her father, but the dream is certainly dealing with the sexual politics of her parents.

Example: Several men attacked me and were trying to drag me off somewhere against my will. As the dream progressed, or replayed, I began to realise that it only appeared like an attack because I was resisting the process. In fact the men wanted to show me something that was important to me. They were being quite gentle, but because of my resistance, it felt to me like an aggressive act. My thoughts about this are that this may represent the way I feel about events. Because of underlying anxiety, I feel events and changes, such as losing my job are very threatening and difficult to bear. In fact no harm has come from these events at all. The dream suggests that I am being led somewhere if only I would go along with things. Albie R.

Sometimes it is our response to the action that makes it appear like an attack. So it is worthwhile entering the dream again in imagination and exploring it – try Acting on your dream.

Useful Questions and Hints:

If I take the images away what are my feelings about the attack, and where am I meeting those feelings?

Is there any way I can change this dream? For help doing this see Carrying the Dream Forward.

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10 Worst Body Language Mistakes

Avoiding Eye Contact

Slouching

Weak Handshake

Folding Arms

Looking Down

Angling Body Away From Others

Fidgeting And Touching Hair

Invading Others' Space

Glancing At The Clock

Frowning Or Scowling

Should I be Concerned by Recurring Dreams?

Why are my Dreams Full of Strangers?

What do Nightmares Mean?

Do all Dreams Have Meaning?

Why is the Same Person Always in my Dreams?

What do Death Dreams Mean?

Conclusion

Attack Attacked Attacker

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