Environmental Impact Assessment: Significance, Effectiveness, and Mitigation Measures

This report discusses the significance of sustainable development, sectors affected by climate change, policies to tackle climate change, and the effectiveness of environmental impact assessment. It also includes a plan to conduct EIA for a rainwater harvesting project, its potential impact, and mitigation measures. The report concludes with the laws that need to be complied with EIA.

Individual report.

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
List of three sectors which are affected by climate change........................................................3
Current policies implemented globally to tackle climate changes..............................................3
Significance of given below topics to understand sustainable development..............................4
Project on the environmental impact assessment was carried out. Analyse the effectiveness of
EIA with the help of strengths and weaknesses..........................................................................5
Plan to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA)......................................................5
a) Goal of the project and identify if full EIA will be required or not........................................6
b) Stakeholders of the project and how they will be included in the project..............................7
c) Identification of geographical baseline on the map to monitor baseline conditions and
explanation of environmental economic and social measurement parameters for baseline
conditions ...................................................................................................................................7
d) Potential impact of the project and significance of mitigation measures and post auditing ..8
e) Laws which needs to be complied by EIA and what are the reasons for it............................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
Blue mountains Australia map, 2021 [Online] Available through
<https://maps-australia.com/blue-mountains-australia-map>........................................................10

Introduction
Sustainable development is one of the leading factor that is needed to be taken into consideration
as soon as possible. Sustainable development refers to the activity which helps the individual in
achieving their goals without damaging the natural resources or environment on which the
economy and the society depends. It is important for the people to adopt sustainable activities so
that they can save resources for the needs of future generations.
Main body
List of three sectors which are affected by climate change.
Agriculture: It is one of the largest section as 30 percent of the world's population works
in agriculture sector. Livelihood of a major segment of population depends up on this sector and
the yield of this sector is very sensitive to the climatic changes (Spring, J., 2018.). To have a
good final product it is important to have appropriate climate. The food prices are going to
increase if there is a loss in the farming sector which makes it even worst for the population.
Commercial fishing: The fishing industry is going to be affected massively if there is
changes in the climate. The industry depends upon the level of sea and the increasing rate of
water pollution is not good for the fisheries. It is important for industries to reduce the waste that
is going directly into water or to filter the waste so that they do not harm the sea life. If it
continues like this there will be a loss of $1.5 to $14 billion in a year.
Wineries: The production of wine grapes requires a particular environment and even a
slight change in the environment can bring drastic changes in the wine industry (Thurston.,
2019.). As the temperature rises there is a drop of production in wine areas which means wine
industry will not be able to survive if the changes in the climate become frequent.
Current policies implemented globally to tackle climate changes.
To reduce the negative impact on the environment the industries are taking steps which can help
them in encouraging sustainability. From a report of intergovernmental panel, it is important for
the world to reduce the emission until 2030 in order to avoid global warming. It is important for

the people to make changes in their industrial systems, infrastructure and energy system in order
to avoid Catastrophic situation. Some of the policies are given below:
 Use of electric vehicles: It is important for people to avoid using vehicles which are fuel
based as those vehicles are the largest source of carbon emissions. In order to reduce
carbon emission it is important for the people to start using electric vehicles which
requires electricity as a source of energy. Government is providing various schemes to
encourage people for buying electric vehicles.
 Prevent Wasted Food – the right way: People who are fortunate enough to buy food for
themselves must make sure that the food is not getting wasted . The food which get
wasted has enough nutritional value which can feed needy people. It is one of the most
crucial policies as it helps in reducing greenhouse gas emission.
 Promote and incentivize carbon farming: Agriculture is one of the major sector
responsible for greenhouse gas emission. It is important for the government to encourage
farmers to use carbon farming so that release of carbon dioxide can be minimized (How
we can combat climate change, 2019).
Significance of given below topics to understand sustainable development.
In order to understand sustainable development the topics are given below:
 Material flow: In this method the company divides or break down its manufacturing
process and the make a detailed plan for the divided parts. It helps the company in
reducing waste and will also make sure that the process of manufacturing is effective and
efficient (Gwilt., 2020.). It helps the company in making their manufacturing process
more aligned.
 Flow of energy: Energy is one of the major factor that affects the economic growth of a
country. It helps the country in increasing their social equity and creates and environment
which is beneficial for the world. It is important to understand that sustainable
development is not possible without sustainable energy and to do development without
harming the environment it is important for the companies to adopt sustainable practices.
Project on the environmental impact assessment was carried out. Analyse the effectiveness of
EIA with the help of strengths and weaknesses.
Food retail industry is one of the major industries in the world. It is also famous for creating
environmental degradation is it involves pollution at large scale. Plastic pollution remains a

major problem in the environment and the material used for packaging of the products increases
this problem. The company has made changes after the assessment of EIA carried out as the
company changes its plastic packaging and adopted eco friendly packaging options which helps
the company in getting approval from the government.
Some of the strengths and weaknesses of the EIA process are given below:
Strengths:
Boost efficiency of the project: It helps the company in improving their management
and will also help in getting approval for the project (Reddy, 2017). It saves the money of
company and will make sure that the company is putting their efforts in the correct way. It is
important for the companies to make sure that they are following the instructions of EIA so that
they can become sustainable and the reputation of the company will be enhanced.
Weakness:
Costly time delays: For both the project and government, the activities of EIA refers to
delays. It is a time consuming process and companies have to bear cost for the delay. It is
important for the companies to make sure that they allocate their funds efficiently so that they
can manage their funds in a proper way and the activities of the company will not be delayed due
to shortage of funds.
Plan to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA)
The developmental project which will be going near National Park in New South Wales is the
“Rain water harvesting” which will be helpful in the conservation of water.
Location of the project-

Source: Blue mountains Australia map
(Blue mountains Australia map, 2021)
a) Goal of the project and identify if full EIA will be required or not
EIA main work is to make the evaluation that what environment factor can impact the
project and whether that impact will be beneficial for that project or not. The main goal of
developing such type of project near the National park is that as the area is surrounded with the
trees and in the New South Wales the chances of rain is always higher than the usual places for
which conducting such type of project will be helpful. This project will help in multiple ways
which will include reduction in the soil erosion as there are higher chances near National park.
This project will be helpful in satisfying the needs of water as this will help in preventing loss of
water running unused (Luna, J.M. and House, G.J., 2020.). The requirement of EIA will be in
full because they are needed to make the analysis of the location and the investment which is
required to be made. After which they will be required to collect the baseline data which includes
the environmental status which is important for the success of any project. Further, they must
make the analysis on the impact as either it is positive or negative, reversible or irreversible and

many other. If they will approve the project then the decision will be made for the development
of the project.
b) Stakeholders of the project and how they will be included in the project
Stakeholders are those individual who have the interest in the project and who have made
investment in the developmental project. For the “Rain Water Harvesting project” there are
different stakeholders who are making investment and who will carry out the project. It includes
government, the architects, suppliers, labour unions, budget tracker which means the one who
will keep the track of project (Haugan, G.T., 2019.). They will not be included in the project as
for completion of the project all the stakeholders will be required because without them the
project will not be completed. The government will be the one who will provide the approval for
setting this project because without their approval no project can be started. Other are the
architects who will provide the design of the project.
c) Identification of geographical baseline on the map to monitor baseline conditions and
explanation of environmental economic and social measurement parameters for baseline
conditions
The baseline conditions of a specific project refer the the physical, cultural, economical
and environmental surroundings of the location in which the proposed project is situated. The
rainwater harvesting project is situated near National Park in State of South Wales, Australia.
The measurement parameters for various baseline conditions of the rainwater harvesting project
are provided below:
Social parameters: The area near New South Wales hosts large Aboriginal population, it
ecologically and culturally sensitive area. This increases the importance using appropriate social
measurement parameters for baseline conditions (Rauch, J., 2018.). The social parameters for
measuring baseline conditions in the respective project are economic social development of
aboriginal communities. This is appropriate parameter as the project outcome will lead to
economic and social development of communities.
Economic parameters: Economic baseline condition for rainwater harvesting project are
to improve economic conditions in the year with the help of water conservation. The economic
parameters used to measure baseline conditions are improvement in economic opportunities
because of the project. Rain water harvesting will conserve water and utilize it for
environmental beneficial in New South Wales area. This economic parameter is suitable for the

respective project as it will help in construction of project which is beneficial for local
communities and has positive environmental impact (Hamedi and Mokhtar, 2019).
Environmental Impact: The environmental parameter to measure baseline condition will
be effective conservation of rainwater for long-term storage and usage. This is suitable
measurement parameter as it will help attain economic objectives of the project and reduce
negative environmental impact of construction near New South Wales National Park. It is
important to construct environmental parameters to measure baseline conditions of the project in
order to identify possible negative consequences.
d) Potential impact of the project and significance of mitigation measures and post auditing
The rainwater harvesting project near New South Wales National Park has booth positive
and negative impact in relation of environment and communities of the region. The primary
positive impact is upliftment of aboriginal communities in the area through water conservation.
This will help the communities face adverse environmental conditions effectively such as
drought. The negative impact of rainwater harvesting project is improper maintenance can make
the harvesting system animal breeding grounds. Mitigation measures are necessary to avoid
negation environmental impact of developmental activities (Wolf and et. al 2021). Mitigation
measures will be taken to ensure proper maintenance of harvesting system. Post auditing aims to
evaluate accuracy of environmental predictions gained through EIA. This is an essential activity
as it helps evaluate environmental performance of the project. Post auditing will be conducted in
the rainwater harvesting project in order to enhance environmental performance of the project
and gain beneficial outcome.
e) Laws which needs to be complied by EIA and what are the reasons for it
There are various laws which needs to be followed by EIA as they are the one who are
responsible for making the assessment of environmental impact on the developmental project.
They must follow Environment protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999 which
provide the government and the other authorities of Australia which helps in providing the
protection for matters which are related with national environment. In the modifications made in
the year 2013, water resources have become a significant matter of national environment. The
environmental protection and biodiversity conservation act, 1999 is applicable to anyone which
impacts nationally protected matters in a significant manner. The compliance with this act

involves referring their project proposal to their environment minister to identify if the project
needs to undergo federal assessment process.
Conclusion
From the above report it is concluded that climate changes can have severe impact on the
workings of certain sectors globally. It is important for companies to make sure that the workings
and operations are not providing any harm to the environment. The companies must make sure
that they are continuously moving towards becoming fully sustainable so that the future
generations do not have to face difficulty and can take fuller benefits of healthy environment.

References
Books and Journals
Gwilt, A., 2020. A practical guide to sustainable fashion. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Hamedi, B. and Mokhtar, A, 2019, "Applying multivariate linear regression and multi-layer
perceptron artificial neural network to design an energy consumption baseline in a low
density polyethylene plant", International Journal of Energy Sector Management, Vol.
13 No. 4, pp. 1133-1148. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJESM-01-2018-0012
Haugan, G.T., 2019. Sustainable program management. Auerbach Publications, London New
York.
Luna, J.M. and House, G.J., 2020. Pest management in sustainable agricultural systems (pp.
157-173). CRC Press.
Rauch, J., 2018. Slow media: Why slow is satisfying, sustainable, and smart. Oxford University
Press, United States Of America.
Reddy, P.P., 2017. Agro-ecological approaches to pest management for sustainable agriculture.
Singapore: Springer Singapore.
Spring, J., 2018. The American school: From the Puritans to the Trump era. Routledge.
Thurston, H.D., 2019. Sustainable practices for plant disease management in traditional farming
systems. CRC Press.
Wolf and et. al., 2021, Measuring faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations as an indicator
of stress in blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), African Journal of Wildlife
Research, Vol. 51, no. 1, 90-99, viewed 7 March,2020,
https://doi.org/10.3957/056.051.0090
Online
How we can combat climate change, 2019 [Online] Available through
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2019/01/02/feature/opinion-here-
are-11-climate-change-policies-to-fight-for-in-2019/#7>
Blue mountains Australia map, 2021 [Online] Available through
<https://maps-australia.com/blue-mountains-australia-map>