EIAs used as tool to provide decision-makers with solutions – Canadian High Commissioner

— says failure to undertake same could result in costly, harmful effects

Members of staff of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Legal Affairs Ministry recently participated in a three-day virtual workshop which focused on the legal framework of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs).
Recently, the importance of EIAs came to the forefront in Guyana, as the country navigates its newfound oil wealth and embarked on examining the environmental, economic, and social implications on its growth and development.

The workshop was facilitated by the Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) Project, a regional civil society justice sector reform project funded by the Government of Canada.
The participants were given an overview of the Guyana Environmental Protection Act and more so looked at several issues including EIA litigation, shortcomings of the EPA provisions, and policy review of the Guyana EPA.
In 2018, IMPACT Justice conducted a review of Guyana’s EIA model as part of a wider analysis of Caribbean EIA provisions which was shared with local stakeholders in 2019. Subsequently, in 2020, the project worked with the EPA to review its Environmental Protection Act.
Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Mark Berman in delivering the feature address during the opening ceremony explained that, “The aim is not to impede development, but rather to predict potential environmental impacts in the early stages of project planning and design in order to find ways to reduce adverse impacts and to provide decision-makers with solutions. In effect, EIAs serve as a policy tool for governments to weigh the environmental, economic and social pros and cons of development.”
“Failure to undertake this type of due diligence could result in costly and harmful effects down the road,” he further stated.
Further, High Commissioner Berman also spoke of other support Canada provides to environment and climate protection in Guyana including the $20 million Canada-Caribbean Resilience Facility with the World Bank, which provided technical expertise to improve the construction methodology of the East Demerara Water Conservancy dam, speed up its construction, and reduce the risk of flooding in affected communities.
Meanwhile, EPA Executive Director, Kemraj Parsram stated that the workshop is a “timely collaborative effort” as the EIA is a critical component of the EPA’s statutory mandate and functions.

“The importance of understanding this legal framework which governs EIA cannot be overstated and it is important that we continue to be engaged in improving our processes in keeping with the Environmental Protection Act – more so, in the light of Guyana’s new and developing petroleum sector which brought with it concerns about new and potential significant impacts on the environment,” he stated.
He further stated that “such realities require our staff at the EPA, members of its Board of Directors, members of the Environments Assessment Board, our colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other sister agencies to enhance their understanding of Guyana’s EIA framework”.
It is Canada’s hope that this development will be sustained and supported by the appropriate legislative and policy frameworks to protect the environment for generations to come.
EIAs are an important tool in ensuring this sustainable development.
The facilitators of the workshop were Dr Fiona Pompey-Handl, an attorney specialising in environmental and development legislation who worked as a legal advisor on environment, sustainable development and health issues for the Government from 1990-1995; Christine Toppin-Allahar, an attorney-at-law who prepared environmental, planning and coastal zone legislation for countries such as Guyana, Grenada, St Lucia and Antigua & Barbuda, and Dr Thérèse Yarde, an environmental specialist with over 20 years of experience in the biodiversity and environmental sector of the region.
IMPACT Justice has been operating from within the Caribbean Law Institute Centre at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus since 2014.
This Environmental Impact Assessments workshop is the second major workshop that IMPACT Justice has conducted in Guyana since the start of the year. The “Sound Policy for Better Law” workshop for Permanent Secretaries and other senior public officials was held in May.