Transcript Integrating Climate Change into Environmental Impact

Integrating Climate Change into
Environmental Impact Assessments
Victor Bullen, AEC
Teresa Bernhard, E3 BEO
Ashley King, E3 GCC
Allison Brown, DCHA
Terms
•
Climate Change Adaptation- an adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or
expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial
opportunities.
•
Mitigation (climate change)- with respect to climate change, the effort of reducing or avoiding
emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that cause climate change.
•
Mitigation (ESIA)-with respect to Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, the
•
Risk (climate change)- a combination of the magnitude of the potential consequence(s) of climate
change impact(s) and the likelihood that the consequence(s) will occur to the activity
•
Vulnerability (climate change)- Vulnerability is the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or
unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes.
Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate variation to which a
system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity
•
Impact (ESIA)- An impact for an ESIA is a change from the baseline due to the project and its
connected actions. This includes consideration of susceptibility considerations as well as scope,
magnitude, likelihood, permanence and duration of the change. I
CEQ Thoughts on Climate
Change in EIA
• NEPA, which Reg 216 must fulfill, recognizes “the profound impact
of man’s activity on the interrelations of all components of the
natural environment.” (42 U.S.C. § 4331).
• It was enacted to, inter alia, “promote efforts which will prevent or
eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate
the health and welfare of man.” (42 U.S.C. § 4321
• “Climate change is a fundamental environmental issue, and the
relation of Federal actions to it falls squarely within NEPA’s focus.”
(CEQ Climate Change Guidance)
• “Agencies should consider the following when addressing climate
change: (1) the potential effects of a proposed action on climate
change as indicated by its GHG emissions; and (2) the implications
of climate change for the environmental effects of a proposed
action.” (CEQ Climate Change Guidance)
Executive Order 13677:
Climate-Resilient International Development
• “requires the integration of
climate-resilience considerations
into all United States
international development
work”
– Assess and evaluate climate risks
and vulnerabilities
– Adjust strategies and investments
– Support vulnerable countries
• The EO 13677 uses the USAID ESIA
process (Reg 216) to implement and
track the requirements of the EO.
http://www.globalchange.gov/browse/federaladaptation-resources/executive-orders-andpolicies &gl=us
VIDEO: What is Climate Risk Management?
The link: https://vimeo.com/144896291
Password: gcc
This does not require direct climate change funds
EO and Reg 216
Environment
Reg 216
Project Design
EO
“Adaptation”
Reg 216
“Mitigation”
Both Reg 216 and EO 13677 require early and frequent consideration during project design
USAID Categories – Initial Environmental
Examination/Environmental Assessment
Basic IEE/EA outline
1. Background & Activity Description
• Purpose & Scope of IEE
• Background
• Description of activities
2. Country & Environmental information
• Locations affected,
• Specific habitat, communities and alternatives
• National environmental policies and procedures
3. Evaluation of potential environmental impacts
4. Recommended threshold decisions and mitigation
actions
• Recommended threshold decisions and
conditions
• Mitigation, monitoring & evaluation
Note:
Each section of
the outline should
have a separate
narrative on
climate related
information and
clearly identified
information
required for EO
13677.
Data for EO 13677 Compliance
• The Reg 216 document must identify:
– Baseline climate and weather conditions
– Climate impacts to and from the project
– Mitigation measures done to adapt to climate
change and how those mitigation measures will
reduce the impacts/risks to the project
– Climate Risk Rating (high, moderate, low)
Climate in the Impact Evaluation Process
1
2
3
4
Define Activities
Characterize these elements of
the baseline
Define the potential impacts and
their significance
Determine impacts of significance
10
5
Given:
1. the baseline conditions,
2. the project
concept/design, and
3. How the adverse
impacts arise,
decide those impacts to
mitigate and the mitigation
measures
1
Understanding the Project
• A key to understanding the project is to
systematically outline all the aspects of a
project including:
– Activities performed by others but are critical to
the success of the project
– Activities that can only succeed if your project is
completed
These activities may have a significant impact on or
be impacted by the environment, including impacts
of climate.
2
Characterizing climate
change baseline
conditions…
The resources of interest
are dynamic. Examine the
resources by looking at:
 Time and location of the
resource
 likely to be affected by
your activity
 upon which your activity
depends for its success
Social?
Livelihoods, migration, cultural
heritage and resources
Water?
Quantity, quality, reliability,
accessibility, flow, sea level rise
Soils?
Erosion, crop productivity, fallow
periods, salinity, nutrient
concentrations
Fauna?
Populations, habitat,
Health?
Flora?
Weather
Climate?
Disease vectors, pathogens
Composition and density of natural
vegetation, productivity, key
species
Changes to seasons, extreme
events (storms, flooding,
temperature) , rainfall, temperature
Use existing information such as those found in databases, vulnerability assessments, and country profiles.
3
Types of impacts and their attributes
The EIA process is concerned
with all types of impacts and
may describe them in a
number of ways.
Consider how a project may
impact climate and may be
impacted by climate
 Intensity
 Duration
 Direction
 Spatial extent
 Frequency
 Reversibility
 Probability
Direct and indirect impacts
Short-term and long-term impacts
Adverse and beneficial impacts
Cumulative impacts
4
Determining Significance- A Collective
Discussion
• Examples of Significant Impacts may be those
that:
– Can not be reversed• Contamination of air, waterways or groundwater
• Destruction or disturbance of habitat
–
–
–
–
Adversely impact health
Cause a population of flora or fauna to be in jeopardy
Continue a population’s decline
Remove, destroy and fail replace/restore cultural
resources, heritage, tribal grounds, livelihoods
Mitigation and Monitoring
5
Avoid, Minimize, MitigateRehabilitate and Compensate
Implementation and
Effectiveness
•
•
•
•
• Verifies implementation
• Measurable
• Corresponds to impacts
Change siting
Change design
Reconsider objective
Change operation
– May need to be a proxy
• Consider location, timing
and frequency
The project design team must balance the risk/impact mitigation measuresPractice and document risk management
Some Tools and Resources for
Climate Change Issues
 Climate Resilient Development
Framework and it's Vulnerability
Assessment Annex
 Reg 216 small scale guidelines at
USAIDGEMS.org
Step 1: Screening
STEP 1
Yes
Steps 2 – 6: Analysis
Implementation and Evaluation
No
No
Further
Action
Needed
Climate
ScreeningIs Project
Sensitive?
STEP 2
Identify Adaptations
STEP 3
Conduct Analysis
No
STEP 4
Select Course of
Action – Are
Changes Justified?
No
Further
Action
Needed
Yes
STEP 5
Implementation Plan
STEP 6
Evaluation
 Climatelinks.org
Figure I. Steps to Incorporate Climate Variability and Change into Project Planning and Design
 SERVIR system uses satellite imagery and other data for environmental
management and disaster support
 E3’s Global Climate Change Team can help –
http://inside.usaid.gov/EGAT/offesp/techareas/climate_change/overview/index.html
Small Group Exercise, Integrating
Climate Change into Scoping
– Review USAID Sector Environmental Guidelines:
http://www.usaidgems.org/sectorGuidelines.htm

Climate change section, page 9, from the Chapter on Small
Scale Construction
– Apply the CC issues raised to the school construction
case study

What significant environmental issues related to CC might be
included in the scoping exercise?



Adapting to climate change by minimizing vulnerability
through project design?
Minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and maximizing
sequestration?
Potential direct, indirect and cumulative impacts?