Scientific shortcomings in environmental impact statements internationally

1. Governments around the world rely on environmental impact assessment to understand the environmental risks of proposed developments.
2. To examine the basis for these appraisals, we examine the output of environmental impact assessment processes in jurisdictions within seven countries, focusing on scope (spatial and temporal), mitigation actions, and whether impacts were identified as ‘significant’.
3. We find that the number of impacts characterized as significant is generally low. While this finding may indicate that environmental impact assessment is successful at promoting environmentally sustainable development, it may also indicate that the methods used to assess impact are biased against findings of significance. To explore the methods used, we investigate the environmental impact assessment process leading to significance determination.
4. We find that environmental Impact assessment reports could be more transparent with regards to the spatial scale they use to assess impact...