Environmental Impact Assesment

Faulty EIA means Beijing–Shenyang high-speed rail remains stationary
Hopes of starting construction on the Beijing-Shenyang high-speed rail project this year have been dashed again following the rejection of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report by a the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP).
View more
Call for independent system to enforce India’s environmental laws
An Indian Supreme Court judge, AK Patnaik, has called for an independent regulatory system to enforce environmental laws and monitor the conservation of biodiversity in the country.
View more
Underwater wave and coral
World’s first deep-sea mining project based on ‘junk science’
Paula Park
November 19, 2012
Read Full Story A debate has erupted over the scientific validity of the environmental impact statement (EIS) of the world's first deep-sea mine, located off the coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The furore may push the PNG government to convene a further roundtable meeting for experts, before the mine becomes operational next year. The original impact assessment, which prompted the government to give a green light to the mine in 2009, was "completely unacceptable by scientific standards" and based on "second rate science," according to a review published by the Deep Sea Mining Campaign pressure group.
View more
Calls for third environmental report on Vietnam dams
While diplomacy struggles along over environmental concerns over the Mekong Xayaburi Dam in Laos, Vietnam's legislators have demanded new reports into two of its own dam projects.
View more
India's hydro industry hindered by environmental hold-ups
India's Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh is facing delays in new hydro-power projects due to environmental license hold-ups.
View more
Environmental protest in China
China to put environmental assessments online
CleanBiz.Asia Staff
August 31, 2012
China's provincial, municipal and country environmental protection agencies have been ordered to publish environmental impact assessment reports on their websites from September 1 to make the evaluations available to the public, according to the state-run China Daily. The Ministry of Environmental Protection said it issued the order to better regulate environmental impact assessments, after recent incidents in which environmental issues triggered widespread objections.
View more
Bird's eye view of HK International Airport
HK's 3rd runway proposal to go the way of Heathrow's?
Mike Kilburn, Civic Exchange
May 13, 2012
On Monday 23 April 2012 the Environmental Affairs Panel of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) passed a motion requiring the Hong Kong Airport Authority (HKAA) to conduct a social return on investment (SROI) study, a carbon audit and a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in addition to the statutory environmental impact assessment (EIA) which they must conduct in order to secure approval to build a proposed third runway at Hong Kong International Airport. This decision is significant because plans to add a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport were shelved largely because a SROI study showed that the impacts on residents living near the airport outweighed the economic benefits highlighted in the original proposals.
View more
POSCO India protest
India’s Green Tribunal suspends Posco steel plant license
CleanBiz.Asia Staff
April 02, 2012
India’s increasingly assertive National Green Tribunal, launched last October, has made its most high-profile ruling to date by suspending the environmental license given to the South Korean company Posco for building a steel plant in the state of Orissa and ordering a fresh review by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The plant has faced stiff opposition from local people campaigning to save farmland and woodland. A government panel had been pushing for the license to be scrapped, but it was conditionally approved in January 2011.
View more
India's Green Tribunal mandates shake-up to stop dodgy EIAs
The National Green Tribunal, India's fast-track court to handle environmental cases, has directed the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to develop a mechanism to have authentic data in its environment impact assessment (EIA) reports and blacklist consultants who "cook" the data.
View more
Judgement hangs over Hong Kong-Macao-Zhuhai Bridge project
Professional needed as top environmental regulator
Mike Kilburn, Civic Exchange
July 27, 2011
The judicial review (JR) regarding the controversial Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge continues to draw out important issues in environmental governance for Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta.
View more