Redwan Ahmed

https://doi.org/10.64823/ijlpg.2601001

Since 1970’s Environmental Law has been struggling in reconciling two divergent forces i.e., economic development and environmental protection. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has emerged as a means to achieve sustainable development which requires environmental issues to be taken into consideration in every development project or industrial unit. This article undertakes a doctrinal analysis of the legal regime regulating EIA in Bangladesh. Begging with a conceptual examination of EIA as an anticipatory, participatory and sustainable environmental management tool it makes a comprehensive examination of different stages of EIA procedure in Bangladesh. In addition, it compares these stages with other well established EIA systems including European Union, United Kingdom, India. After exploring relevant legislations, rules, guidelines, reports, book chapters, research articles and other secondary sources it claims that the EIA system of Bangladesh suffers from the substantive, procedural, transactive and normative defects. The findings add to the ongoing discussion about environmental governance. They also offer recommendations for legal and regulatory changes to improve the EIA system in Bangladesh and support the goals of sustainable development.

An effective EIA system can alleviate environmental risks arising out of the establishment or operation of industrial units or development projects. However, assessing effectiveness is not an easy task in any respect. Therefore, the objectives of this Article are to find out the established dimensions and criteria for evaluating EIA systems effectiveness and to apply those criteria into the EIA system of Bangladesh. By applying those criteria, this Article finds that the EIA system of Bangladesh is ineffective from the substantive, procedural, normative points of view and there is a clear gap between the objectives sought and the results gained.

Since 1970’s Environmental Law has been struggling in reconciling two divergent forces i.e., economic development and environmental protection. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has emerged as a means to achieve sustainable development which requires environmental issues to be taken into consideration in every development project or industrial unit. This article undertakes a doctrinal analysis of the legal regime regulating EIA in Bangladesh. Begging with a conceptual examination of EIA as an anticipatory, participatory and sustainable environmental management tool it makes a comprehensive examination of different stages of EIA procedure in Bangladesh. In addition, it compares these stages with other well established EIA systems including European Union, United Kingdom, India. After exploring relevant legislations, rules, guidelines, reports, book chapters, research articles and other secondary sources it claims that the EIA system of Bangladesh suffers from the substantive, procedural, transactive and normative defects. The findings add to the ongoing discussion about environmental governance. They also offer recommendations for legal and regulatory changes to improve the EIA system in Bangladesh and support the goals of sustainable development.