Incorporating climate change mitigation and adaptation into environmental impact assessment: a review of current practice within transport projects in England

Climate change mitigation and adaptation can be perceived as neglected in environmental impact assessment (EIA). In the light of amendments to the European Union EIA Directive (2014), we developed a novel criteria-based review package to assess climate change mitigation and adaptation as documented in environmental statements, and applied this to a sample of 10 transport developments from England. Justifications relating to climate policy, climate science, the effect of climate change on the development and its vulnerability to climate risks were well explained in most projects. Many projects lacked detail of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures and their benefits, whilst evidence of commitment to mitigation and adaptation or to post-decision monitoring was poor or non-existent; reportedly due to costs, time constraints and absence of mandatory requirements. It is recommended that to improve the effectiveness of the consideration of climate change mitigation and adaptation in EIA, the production of guidelines, change of behaviour of EIA practitioners, more holistic consideration of climate change issues, rigorous post-decision monitoring and use of climate change terminology are more widely adopted.

气候变化减缓与适应在环境影响评价（Environmental Impact Assessment，EIA）中常被视为未得到足够重视的议题。鉴于欧盟《环境影响评价指令（2014年修订版）》的相关修订，我们开发了一套全新的基于标准的审查框架，用于评估环境声明中提及的气候变化减缓与适应措施，并将其应用于英格兰地区10个交通开发项目的样本中。多数项目均对气候政策、气候科学、气候变化对项目的影响以及项目面对气候风险的脆弱性等内容进行了充分阐释。但多数项目缺乏气候变化减缓与适应措施及其效益的相关细节，且针对减缓与适应行动或决策后监测的承诺依据普遍匮乏，甚至完全缺失；据报告，这一现象源于成本限制、时间约束以及缺乏强制性要求。为提升环境影响评价中气候变化减缓与适应议题考量的有效性，建议进一步推广以下举措：制定相关指南、转变环境影响评价从业者的工作行为、更全面地考量气候变化问题、开展严格的决策后监测，以及更广泛地使用气候变化相关专业术语。