ENVIRONMENT IN FOCUS
Photos by AECOM
Impacts in the spotlight
By AECOM
Integrated infrastructure development company AECOM had a major presence at the 38th annual conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment ( IAIA18 ), held from 16 to 19 May 2018 at the Durban International Convention Centre .
Billed as the international environment conference of the year , AECOM had four speakers delivering presentations , said Nicola Liversage , unit director : Environment – Africa . The theme for 2018 was “ Environmental Justice in Societies in Transition ”.
The conference overview highlighted that globally , societies are in transition due to environmental challenges such as climate change ; shifts in political power , as seen in Europe and the US ; and social changes such as mass migration .
All these changes and challenges pose a threat to the sustainability of the physical and human environment , while growing inequality threatens both the social and natural environment . Although the aim of development is to create a more sustainable environment , the reality is often that only a few benefits , while others bear the brunt of the impacts .
South Africa is a good example of a society in transition , where reducing inequality is one of the greatest challenges it faces . In many instances , environmental impact assessments ( EIAs ) are the only means to assess the potential environmental and social impacts of large-scale infrastructure projects in Africa , Liversage pointed out .
Although these EIAs are based on similar standards , their implementation often falls short of these standards . In countries where enforcement is weak , EIAs may not
Bharat Gordhan , senior environmental scientist at AECOM .
be undertaken at all , resulting in frequent and serious environmentally and / or socially induced consequences .
Liversage urged environmental consultants “ to build relationships with the design engineers and contractors . Our value lies in ensuring integration of our mitigation measures in the design process and in providing support , advice , and guidance to the contractor to enable the best practicable solutions in construction for a truly sustainable development .”
She concluded : “ Our industry is suffering from a regulatory ‘ tick box ’ mindset , paper-churning exercise that provides little value enhancement , and adds on layers of delays and unnecessary uncertainty for development . Environmental practitioners , design engineers , contractors , developers , and regulators all have roles to play . “ I encourage us to reflect on what we are doing , or not doing , to challenge this perception . The ‘ EIA Uprising in Africa ’ is here , and we are all an important cog in the wheel of change in the environment industry in Africa . We need this revolution for our children . The time is now , and it starts with us .”
Bharat Gordhan , senior environmental scientist at AECOM , concurred that the EIA can be a comprehensive tool , if used appropriately . However , most of the developers — from government , state-owned companies , and private companies to industry — instead perceived it as a hindrance .
“ The conventional perception is that the developer obtains approval from the
Nicola Liversage is unit director : Environment – Africa at AECOM .
Robin Swanepoel is Africa technical specialist : Environment and Compliance at AECOM . authorities , and thereafter implements the project , with a cursory consideration around the time of the independent environmental control officer ( ECO ) audits . Adaptation around a dynamic environment , sometimes influenced by climate change , implies that the original approval should also be able to adapt to different risks that may not have been considered previously as a snapshot within the EIA ,” Gordhan stressed . “ A key driver of a dynamic environmental risk assessment and management could be the use of the environmental jargon among all the affected stakeholders ( developer , engineer , contractor , and ECO ). This would allow the environmental specialist to share the same table as their fellow respected professionals like geotechnical engineers , mechanical engineers , architects , and health and safety practitioners ,” Gordhan added .
Robin Swanepoel , Africa technical specialist : Environmental Management and Compliance at AECOM , in conjunction with Unisa Professor Ian Albert Wessels , addressed the urgent need to improve environmental and social performance on construction projects .
The authors highlighted that construction sites , whether complex megaprojects or small-scale , low-complexity projects , can be conceptualised as a system in which different actors are involved in the implementation of environmental management plans ( EMPs ).
These different actors have distinct roles , depending on where they are located within the system . Using organisational and systems theory , the ‘ system ’ of the project construction site is deconstructed into the subsystems of operating , control , and management systems . Different actors are located within these subsystems , with their own specific role , responsibility , accountability , and authority . This translates into a network of environmental actors on construction sites , with their
36 _ QUARRY SA | JULY / AUGUST 2018