Partnerships in IA - Session II, Discussion

How deal with stakeholders who object in projects that are government owned and will go ahead?

• This is difficult issue to manage - the tension between national needs and local interests, it is about managing the positives and negatives.
• If you work with communities for a long time they recognise that this will happen, that it needs to be done, and that it's about mitigating impacts.
• By bad start where we are going to do it and we are just going through the process. Need to start from a basis of equality and that stakeholders have rights and that we need to work together and lets see what we can do and become equal partners.
• Accountability can be an important way of dealing with what things can be change and what can't. Have to be honest what we can't do and say why.

 

Partnerships in IA - Session II, Presentation 5

Where Does a Good Partnership Start

Partnerships are not easy to start or maintain.But benefits of partnerships are so great that the costs are worth it.

Partnerships can maximise benefits, increase pace of change, avoid duplication, better risk management, access to specialist expertise and moving from philanthropy to having a impact.

Partnership process:

• Goal setting
• Identifying
• Building
• Planning
• Implementing
• Exit strategy

Can take 1-5 years to complete planning stage. It can take that long to build trust.

 

Focus on exit strategy and due diligence of the first four steps.

 

Starting with the exit strategy focuses the clients mind on what they would like to see emerge and fleshes out timelines and goals.

 

Goal setting:

Example: economic development, dang to being too broad a goal, trying to think outside the box of who could be involved e.g. Whole of region and Kazakhstan as a whole.

 

Identifying:

64 companies identified initially which were reduced to 34 companies which we talked on the phone and of these we met 10 face to face. This is resource intensive and need to be clear

 

Building and Planning:

• This can move the issues back to goal setting as issues emerge.

Partnership opportunities:

• Improving access to finance for SMEs (local bank, national enterprise development fund, local venture capital funds, EBRD)
• Building capacity of existing SMEs through training and business development services (donor funded)
• Facilitating local content development through 'establishment of enterprise zone' and relocation of existing under utilised SMEs (donor funded, ADB)

 

Moving the oil and gas project company move away from philanthropic activities to making a real positive impact.

 

Conclusion:

• Due diligence can help to develop better and more sustainable partnerships
• Be clear about each parties goals, interests and capabilities
• Be flexible and open.

 

Partnerships in IA - Session II, Presentation 4

Partnering for Innovative Environmental Outcomes

Perspective of a road proponent and road maintainer.

 

Traditional model of road planning which starts with route selection, route studies, develop a concept design, conduct an EA, then do a detailed design, then construction and operation. With consultation throughput the process.

 

Can be a fragmented process with each team working in relative isolation and not always communicating and feeding back issues.

Need for greater integration. This can be achieved by each team working involved throughout the design, consult, construction and operation.

 

This is done through "Alliancing" where government owner of a project makes commercial arrangement with teams of private sector partners to deliver a project. Has been used for construction but now being used for the IA element.

 

Integrated collaborative project team working as a single organisation leaving you company hat at the door. Share financial risks and rewards, a no fault no blame approach.

See Woolgoolga to Ballina Planning Alliance.

 

Benefits:

• Aim of rout standing performance
• Greater flexibility in modifying design
• Shared responsibility for managing project risks

EA benefits

• Better understanding of impacts

 

But some concerns about cost, value for money dependent on people working together in a collaborative way.

 

EA professionals have a greater chance of influencing the design in a way that reduces negative Environmetal impacts, more opportunities for avoidance.

 

Partnerships in IA - Session II, Presentation 3

Partnership to Ensure Sustainability in South Africa in a Pipeline Project

Highly complex biophysical and socioeconomic environments need greater due diligence and management.

Greenfield inland fuel terminal site

• We got involved after the EIA was conducted and asked to help with implementation of the EIA recommendations.
  
• Without mitigation biodiversity would be negatively impacted.

 

Key challenges:

• Land set aside for biodiversity mitigation was already used as a communal area whe local people could undertaken farming. So the offset would cause negative community impacts. REcommendation that new land be purchased for these existing communal activities.
• Associated companies wanted to have their facilities near the terminal meaning more land was needed to accommodate this on this sensitive site. Managing these multiple stakeholders was critical.
• Three main parties had already had a dialogue where a negotiating framework had already been developed.

 

Addressing the challenges:

• Technical team of experts that addressed the impacts and possible solutions to these
• Separate meetings with all the stakeholders where we invited input on expectations
• But did not have multi stakeholder meetings or get stakeholders to develop solutions

Proposed solution

• Minimal solution - just meet environmental and social requirements
• Intermediate solution
• Optimal solution - exceeding social and Env requirements
• Used cost benefit analysis

 

IAs can be a tool to deliver sustainable solutions through epbringing stakeholders together and pool knowledge and resources...

 

But partnership model has risks if partners renege on commitments, there is a trust building and problem solving element and an agreement and joint delivery/auctioning element.

Partnerships in IA - Session II, Presentation 2

Good partnerships and practices: case study of Ogoniland

Fresh opportunity for reconciliation in relation to issues raised in the past with Shell operations it he area.

 

Partnership is beyond stakeholder engagement and consultation. Need pooled resources and risk. Mutual benefit and risk.

Ogoniland is in the Niger Delta, most dense area of NIgeria and Agrica, why thee are tensions about land and the environmental degradation of land.

All the wells have been capped to prevent theft and spills. Oil found in 1957, there was an oil war 'Biafra War', 140,000bpd. Ogoni Bill of Rights developed in the 1990s to deal with the grievances, spills, fires and acid rain. Wanted control oil resources and self determination, threats made to production and wanted billions in reparations. Shell withdrew and military moved in and later the hanging of Ken Saro Wiwo and eight others. This created international protest leading to imposition o finternational sanctions. This led to growth in insurgent activity by other tribal groups. Ogoni have taken action through national an finternational courts leading to compensation from Shell almost half a billion to date.

Old installations including pipelines which need to be replaced but have not been.

Tough context in which to develop partnerships with an autocratic, military government where minority groups are marginalised, cycles of conflict, ...

 

Any future partners would need to involve Government, communities, donors and companies international and national. Divgent interests, competition for influence, lack of leadership and coordination.

Led to improvements in company practice and corporate social responsibility

• Educational scholarships
• Build health centres and cottage hospital
• Agricultural demonstration farm
• Apprenticeship schemes
• New integrated health, social guidelines in environmental guidelines
• ...
• Community Trusts have been created which manage and commission community projects.

 

Best future opportunity is around agricultural and fisheries opportunities, including foreign investment from India, Israel, Netherlands and Shell as well.

But, the theft of oil has been increasing at a very great pace, 150,000 bpd are stolen (8%) and this is refined and sold with collusion of politicians and the military.

Number of attempts to reconcile the situation.

UNEP Environmentbal Assessment has been positively received by everyone.

Ogoni have added that a third party organisation monitor and support the improvement of the area.

The most meaningful partnership is economic. 10% equity share, etc...

 

• Community and advocates divided at the money
  
• Government only now receiving UNEP EA report
• Industry needs to be involved

 

Partnership exploration, building and maintenance are key.

 

Niget Delta publication at Woodrow Wilson Center.

 

Partnerships in IA - Session II, Presentation 1

Social Specialists a Necessity, Not a Luxury

TCTA builds dams and pipelines.

Traditional model of how EIA and SIA within a project. Social representation seems to fade in the implementation phase.

• Feasibility - EIA and SIA
• Construction - SHEQ management
• Operation - operation and maintenance agent

 

TCTA introduces social team at pre feasibility and feasibility phase; have environmental and social team leaders with environmental and social monitoring during construction; operation has just technical personnel.

Case study: Water supply for Matimba and Medupi power stations; coal mine and Lephale town.

 

Social impacts

• Acquisition of land rights
• Disruption of traversing patterns of people and game
• Nuisance factors
• Impacts on physical infrastructure (not a lot by trying to go around them)
• Economic impacts - resigning as farm workers to become temporary construction workers
• Sense of place - beautiful and quite natural environment

 

Acquisition of land rights

• Two independent certified land valuers
• Legal due diligence
• ...

 

Develop a social risk map, risky properties marked out for engineers.

 

Social impact management tools:

• Phasing in operational staff during EIA phase
• management of social aspects included in contract specifications and management of the contract
• Involve social specialists at pre construction geotechnical investigations
• Asset and infrastructure baseline
• Pre construction survey
• Communication register
• Integrated incident register - one only and everything tracked in that
• Ongoing relationship management - permanent social monitor on site

 

• Baseline photos taken that are u see later when problems emerge.
• There is social incident monitoring to see what new issues are emerging or which types o fincidents are increasing.
• There is also incident follow up
• Social monitor reports directly to the Chief Engineer
• Shorten response periods
• Have a real person as a first port of enquiry

 

 

 

 

Resettlement Planning in a Development Context I - Discussion

Often there are informal settlements and/or illegal immigrants which start off small and then become much bigger. Is there a danger that through resettlement it can encourage more illegal settlemenst and slums?

• There is a wider issue of social integration and marginalisation which resettlement throws up.
• There are some basic human rights, right to a safe place for you and your family, and these should be granted even if you are in an illegal settlement.
• This shout be designed into resettlement, right to housing is internationally recognised, but what matts most in terms of practical rights are national laws. There is also an issue of "professional squatters" in Phillipines that move in when a resettlement programme is likely to come into an area. Having people who have lived in an area can help to ensure that these kinds of people don't benefit at the expense of the people who have lived in that area.
• We have defined a threshold in Pakistan and there is a right of housing.
• There have Ben invasions of people in Mozabique when they hear about a programme. A cut off date and local committed are very important to prevent these types of incidents.

If a project lose their business and market how do you compensate for losing a market where you do your business but don't own the market?

• In Mozabique, we were able to open 40 new market areas with toilets and near bus stops so that we created safer marketplaces for these people. We also provided allowances for loss of profits and disruption to their livelihood so that they could go to another market temporarily.
  
• In Manila, they have built market paces but because the sites are remote the markets don't work well and hence livelihoods aren't restarted.
  
• Need take away restrictions when people are resettled to compensate beyond money.

 

Resettlement Planning in a Development Context I - Presentation 4

Impact of Resettlement on Urban Livelihoods

Case study of a railway project. Implications of resettlement away from the area.

 

Urban displacement has long been a challenge and regular feature of urban life. Competition for land because of urbanisation and forced eviction seen as a global problem. Developments are a big cause.

 

Urban development, natural disaster and migration to cities allied to shortages of land increasing displacement. So that the poor are being pushed out of cities.

 

Case study: North South Railway Linkage Project

• 35000 families displaced from informal settlements
• Bilateral loan from Korea conditional on adequate resettlement
• People living within 1m of the railway tracks we all moved

Where did the 35000 families go?

• Relocated to 11 sites outside of metro Manila
• Over 7-8 years in multiple phases
• The biggest site houses approx 7000 families
• All the sites were remote from where people had lived and worked - over 30km but with poor transport made them remote sites.
• On top of mountains, near rivers, on rice fields - land not appropriate for housing development and not connected to existing settlements in the area.

• Resettlers had to repay the National Housing Authority for the housing
• Many housing were incomplete
• Many sites we prone to flooding
• Water, electricity infrastructure incomplete particular first few years.
• Schools and health clinics constructed but human resources were not developed to run them.

 

Urban poor people manage a complex asset portfolio:

• Multiple livelihoods - limited opportunities, job insecurity (5 month contracts), poor work conditions
• Limited resources - financial, social, physical, human,
• Rely on the informal economy - self employment activities

 

Can create a positive cycle that can lead to these communities accumulating savings and investment however whe resettlement works against this then it can create a downward spiral.

 

Challenges:

• Livelihood reconstruction - cannot commute, transport take up half their income going to and from Metro Manila, also no formal place of work to commute to, Can we provide livelihood assistance
• Precarious mode of living
• Difficulty in providing livelihood programme

 

Need to understand the businesses and investments that people have made and the social and economic networks that they have created

Need to consider their individual and family resources

Need to consider the siting - proximity and connectivity of sites.

 

Q&A

• Agencies are aware of the issues generated by past resettlements but because of land shortage the agencies feel constrained in how they manage resettlement.
• Did the agencies try and help to improve people's lives through the resettlement. The resettlement was not seen as a development project, it was simply seen as a housing project and though there were some livelihood and other programmes this was limited.

 

 

Resettlement Planning in a Development Context I - Presentation 3

Measuring Social Vulnerability to Resettlement

 

There are new dam projects in Portugal. Fridao Hydroelectric Dam involves resettling 60 families which in Portugal is a big deal.


 

How will communities adapt to resettlement?

By assessing how vulnerable they were, we therefore used their psycho-social vulnerability.

 

Literature identified the following indicators:

• Age
• Education
• Income
• Strong local identity
• Knowledge about the process
• ...

Data collection:

• Community meeting
• Introductory survey - socio demographic info only
• Group family interview - psychosocial info at family level
• Individual survey - psychosocial info at individual level

 

Identified risk factors and protection factors and then developed a quantities summing methodology to

Indicator SV = SUM Risk - SUM Protective


 

Strength is that this approach can characterise each individual and household.

 

Implications:

• Theory driven measure so very robust and can be used in follow up
• Can pinpoint who is most vulnerable and therefore can mange the social and economic resources and can engage neighbours to provide vulnerable individuals and households with extra support
• Can define very specific interventions before, during and after the resettlement

 

Q&A

• We are not yet there in how this approach should be implemented bu we have some ideas on using it to manage economic and social resources.
• A high social vulnerability would not mean that a project should be abandoned, partly this about how we do things no whether we do it or not.
• How do you reflect these indicator in terms for example amount of compensation? We used a social network analysis to understand relationship, our recommendation was to ensu that the social network remins as dense as they a now, that they will be resettled together not just paying the cost of the house e.g. In Portugal they can pay double the market value of the home, but that is not enough.
• The interviews were conducted at home to make them feel most comfortable and relate more to their place. We needed to build trust in order to gather good info.

 

Resettlement Planning in a Development Context I - Presentation 2

Teamwork Essential to Resettlement Action Planning for the Rehabilitation in Mozambique

Millennium Challenge Account is undertaking projects in four provinces in Mozambique - water and sanitation, financial support, land programme...

 

This presentation about a road project. Part of the N1 Road system, almost 150km of N1, 11m wide, 1.5m paved and 0.5m unpaved shoulders.

3 different phases - feasibility and IA; engineering design and resettlement; Construction

• In Mozambique Law 30m right of way on each side of the road.
• Corridor of ImPact - looked at 10m, 20m and 40m for each side of central line, and 15m for sensitive places, also deviated where needed from existing infrastructure and buildings.
• Almost 1200 PAPs, loss of land, houses...

Established Green and Red Zones

• Red - no go areas for contractors
• Green - free for contractor to work in

 

The resettlement team was the same as design and implementation team because of limited time.

 

Key stakeholders were identified - Provincial, district and administrative authorities, communities

 

Used the Keep it Simple and Standard Approach.

 

• Opened new market areas
• Built new stores/commercial structures
• Built new boreholes
• Developed a RAP radio programme
• Issued identity documents
• Undertook public consultation
• Ensure traditional ceremony to ask the Gods to help the programme go well.
• PAP involvement important in RAP

Main challenge was the limited time to undertake the RAP

Having community liaison committees important.

 

Q&A

• Members of the resettlement committee included the Administrator of the District, Traditional Leader, most influential members of the community and other representatives both men and women.
• There was limited time because it was an MCC funded project that needed to be completed in 5 years.

Resettlement Planning in a Development Context I - Presentation 1

Environmental Effects of Post-Disaster Rehabilitation

During the last few years Pakistan has been severely impacted by climate change related disasters.

Want to talk about the super-flood that we experienced a few years ago.

 

Pakistan has an agrarian economy over 60% rural population.

Vulnerable to climate change - 3 cyclones and 2 droughts as well as the super-flood covering an area off five European countries, affected ov 20 million people.

A major increase in water related infectious diseases including Dengue which had not been seen before

 

Aim to convert the natural disaster challenge into an opportunity. Create an entry point for health and hygiene programme.

 

Launched the "Upscaling Rural Sanitation in Flood Areas"

Aim to create demand and supply side management through:

• Using existing women health visitors
• Sensitising and awareness raising in local communities
• Strengthening local entrepreneurs to provide sanitation products

Evaluated the programme using:

• Over 5000 households in 361 villages
• 90% wanted to live in their own houses even with the disaster
• 75% suffered mental trauma
• 90% had access to water
• 56% aware of water contamination issues
• ...
• Children we a major focus using them as agents of change through local schools
• 42% reduction in open defecation (OD)
• 23 villages OD free
• Media, esp. TV, played a big role

 

Conclusion

• Awareness played a vital role - that building sanitation first before the rest of the home was vital for health
• Positive step to managing natural water resources
• Identified financial and capacity gaps
• Important step towards sustainable development
• Need financial, technical and research support to subsidise construction and products, developing local skills and creating low cost technologies.

 

Q&A

Developing an organisational and legal framework at national, provincial and district levels.

Most of the people did not want to move but the increasing construction near waterways had to be cleared and those people had to be relocated. Whe people lived away from the waterways they were rehabilitated.

 

Community Responses to New Energy Sources: role of IA: Discussion

 

 

Size of aboriginal communities in NT?

How long expecting the wells to be operational?

Has anyone thought about the aboriginal people owning some of the project or shares in the project?

Suggest that you might look at Nigeria and developing community trusts as a way to manage these royalties?

5-600 people

Expecting production for 6-10 years

Difficulty is that most of the land available is already taken by companies so we can't set up our own company but are looking at joint venture and looking at equity but many companies don't want to do it as we want to have free carry equity so all risks with the company (5% has been worked up).

Looking at setting up associations and kick-starting investments but still need to look at how to distribute the money.

Lot of literature on communal management of such monies .

Sierra Leone ethanol project, did not see many maternal health indicators?

How was monitoring developed?

What was the communities reactions and expectations? Has it increased trust or raised additional concerns?

With all the findings of the study, how much of the outcomes of the study how much of this was implemented and caapcity of company to implement; and is there a role for governments nd other stakeholders in monitoring?

We did have maternal health indicators - access to antenatal care and services provided, beast feeding practices, vaccination status of children

We recommended strengthening local health centres and using them to collect routine data to help with monitoring.

Food security was an issue and the project started a farmers development programme to enhance food security by improving food production and storage.

Also included health education within the programme of mitigation and enhancement.

Often communities can have research fatigue or see you as just another passing NGO. We had a good local partner which increased credibility with community and government.

Used existing studies and experiences to develop the mitigation measures and monitoring programme. Did include local health stakeholders. We identified who should do what in the management plan and suggested the project work with government and NGOs.

How can big oil and gas companies play a role in informing the debate without being accused of spinning the issues to their benefit?

Need to understand the regulatory process and that we work within that framework. Therefore we allow the due political process to take place and not act in the spirit of for example a moratorium on this in South Africa.

We also involve local water experts for example to guide our approach in a particular project. Developing a sensitivity analysis of the potential water impacts. Also funding research and science behind the key issues e.g. Development of a water atlas which has been put in the public domain for government and NGOs to use.

 

Reflections on the presentataions and the discussion

• Conflict seems to be a key theme
• Range of interests involved - substantive ( affecting water and sacred sites); process (regulatory and IA processes); emotive (personal and social narratives)
  
• Mediation and negotiation process

 

Work in communities where millions of Rand go into a community and now people don't trust the Chief, the complexity is immense, how do you help communities make informed choices, see the short term benefits and miss the long term harm.

 

Try and use a range of approaches to communicate the information about the issues but often a single person makes the decision for the whole community even though some people disagree. This over time might lead to a breakdown in trust within the community. Changes people's values as they become more materialistic and money focused. Also where some communities benefit and get money and others don't then neighbouring communities ask why them and not us.

Would like to hear about what communities worry about e.g. In Sierra Leone project?

During the scoping study we had focus group discussion during a field visit and asked about what they perceived about their health and wellbeing and their concerns. We also do key informant I views and the Chief as well.

 

How far is HIA integrated with SIA given the internal conflicts that emerge in communities?

It's important to draw on the knowledge the emerges from both types of IA.

Community Responses to New Energy Sources: role of IA: Presentation 4

Hydraulic Fracturing in Australia's Northern Territory

Northern Land Council deal with land that is subject to two types of tenure - freehold and "native title"

Hydraulic fracturing new to aboriginal communities.

Caught by surprise by this kind of development.

Travelled to the US to gather information.

Last 10 years the number of proposals has increased dramatically.

 

Environmental concerns:

• Main concern is around water similar to the US
• Major acquifers in NT.
• Aboriginal communities rely exclusively on groundwater acquifers.
• The best development areas also have the most valuable water resources.
• Multiple wells are likely to have a cumulative and widespread impact of 10,000s of wells.
• No strategic IA only individual project IAs
• Also an issue of abandonment of projects and implications for future generations. Impacts of abandoned wells in 150 years.

 

Controls:

• Refuse access to the land so no project
• Develop better legislation with Government where we can't refuse access
• Negotiate with companies to build to the highest standards
• Seek companies to test integrity of wells during construction and regularly during operation. But who does this after wells a abandoned.

Social concerns:

• Resource curse as large amounts of royalty may be released e.g. $2 billion to a community of a few thousand
• Local communities not able to access work opportunities
• Develop mechanisms to manage the royalties
• Seek a minimum percentage to have local employees
• Investigating industry specific local training centres

 

Cultural concerns:

• Water has a cultural and spiritual significance to aboriginal communities
• Drilling beneath sacred sites on a case by case basis ESP where sacred water systems are changing regularly
• What about extracting oil/gas from another clans land is this theft and 'cultural assault'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Community Responses to New Energy Sources: role of IA: Presentation 3

HIA of fuel ethanol project in Sierra Leone

Used the standard HIA methodology

Undertook a baseline survey which used a range of indicators:

• Household and community level
• Personal status, structural and health system indicators
• Involved questionnaire survey, clinical field work, water quality analysis, soil analysis for parasites

 

Prevalence of malaria parasitaemia

• 45% morbidity in the country
• The only community that had low prevalence because they had mosquito bednets

Anaemia prevalence was low

 

Nutritional indicators

• Some local people were lending land to the project so wante dot check the baseline for wasting, stunting and underweight.
• Significant stunting.

 

HIV prevalence

• Prevalence in the area was low at 1-2%
• But in Freetown and other major urban areas the prevalence was near to 30%
• Questioned community knowledge about HIV infection routes - only just under 4% had adequate knowledge

 

Analysis of impacts

• Significance of malaria likely to be moderate but if mitigation measures implemented then could be positive/beneficial.
• ...

Community health management plan

• Management was based on level of impact and who would manage it and developed monitoring indicators to measure process and outcome.
• Should do repeated health indicator surveys at sentinel sites
• Record available routine health data
• Structural indicators - general infrastructure, primary health unit, drinking water points
• Process indicators - availability and u of condoms, availability and use of bednets,
• Outcome indicators - ...

This particular ESHIA was considered outstanding in comparison to 19 other ESHIAs.

 

 

 

 

 

Community Responses to New Energy Sources: role of IA: Presentation 2

Non-technical risks of tight and shale gas exploration

All risks and opportunities associated with regulatory, public, socio-economic, governmental and environmental aspects of project operations.

 

1. Design of facilities
2. Protecting water resources
3. Using IA process and stakeholder engagement
4. ...
5. ...

 

• Tight and shale gas has low porosity and permeability therefore the facilities needed above ground are larger than traditional wells.
  
• Hydraulic fracturing required to 'flow' the gas by forcing water (99%) and sand (1%) through small holes in illed pipe sent through the sandstone/shale layer.
• Fracking used in I nous try for over 60 years.
  
• 1 to 1.5km underground and length of fractures relatively small (?1-300m)

 

IA process is over and beyond legal compliance, as needed.

HSSE and Social Performance Control Framework

Use industry good practice

 

IA includes local experts

Independent expert group informs IA

Peer review of findings

 

Community concerns:

• Use of water - reuse, recycling, waterless approaches
• Contamination of water sources
• Footprint of the facility
• Visual impact

Community is very important and ensure that we engage with them and have detailed long term monitoring. have citizen participation forums. Allow them to inform mitigation plans and involvement in monitoring.

Also have social performance plans to support communities.


 

Wrap Up

• Increase in energy demand
• Need to recognise the need to develop unconventional sources
• Need everyone to come to the table and regulators need to have fair regulations and consistent enforcement

 

Community Responses to New Energy Sources: role of IA - Presentation 1

Energy Transformations and IA

What might be new or different about new energy sources?

• Scale
• Dispersed communities
• Coexistence
• Competing
• Evidence on impacts
• Project approval timeframe

 

 

 

Human RIghts IA and Extractive Industries - Session I, Presentation 6

HRIA: lessons from the field

"...looking for an omnibus, not a smorgasbord..."

"...box ticking prevails..."

 

HRIA methodology should:

• Use objective, liable data - emotional and political issue
• Be comprehensive - all rights
• Be transparent - analysis must be transparent about why your findings are what they are
• Listen to rights holders
• Clearly rate positive and negative impacts - untangle and show them both, can work in tension with each other

 

What value does HRIA add?

Came to this as a sceptic

 

Example: Green Resources, forest action project in Tanzania

• All public and internal documentation made it look excellent
• Ask workers the working conditions were poor
• Poor housing, sanitation and drinking water
• Done by NGO company reacted negatively
• Later company changed many aspects including pay.

Example: Paladin, uranium mine in Malawi

• Public criticism but had undocumented positive impacts
• HRIA helped improve processes further

 

Example: Dole

• HRIA showed positive impacts
• People laid off also had positive things to say.
• But some local communities do face traffic and increase in local prices.

 

Conclusion

• HRIA analyses things not picked up in other assessments.
• Can benefits businesses

 

Human RIghts IA and Extractive Industries - Session I, Presentation 5

How doing HRIA has changed how I look at SIA

How I became an 'expert' in HR - sociologist/SIA practitioner, 15 years experience in mining assessment, steep learning curve,...

Don't have a methodologically rigorous approach to HRIA (an important gap)

How do you define whether a company is respecting HR.

Used IFC Standards (that company had committed to, to measure respect and due diligence)

Used DIHR's HR Compliance Assessment Toolkit

Changed from HRIA to a Human Rights Assessment - because of inclusivity/baseline

 

Classification of findings:

• Violation
• Infringement
• Failure of respect
• ...
• Enhancement

Areas intifed through HR

• Consultation
• Environment
• Labour
• Security
• Land acquisition
• Economic and social investment
• Access to remedy (Respect of HR in judicial system)
• Cross cutting issues - conflict, indigenous (collective) rights, gender, weakness of state protection of HR

Found on the web www.oncommonground.ca

 

 

3 differences between HRIA and SIA

• Importance of understanding country context in HRIA
• Scope of responsibility - often clients don't want to take responsibility for indirect social impacts, scope under HR is broader
• Rights based approach - requires participation and integration of rights holders

 

Challenges

• Attribution
• Authority - community vs expert evidence/experiences
• ...

 

Final Thoughts

• Looks beyond compensatory practices - social investments don't make up for negative impacts
• Like SIA multiple stages and levels
• Legitimate scope of the review beyond SIA regulations
• due diligence
• Shifts of the paradigm
• Realpolitik
• Cumulative effects

Human RIghts IA and Extractive Industries - Session I, Presentation 4

Lessons Leaned from the Extractive Sector

• Recommend integrating into existing processes
  
• Instigated by site level staff
  
• Able to identify both risks and opportunities/positives
  

 

"Protect, Respect and Remedy" both their partners and workers as well as communities.

 

8 lessons learned

1. Companies need to "know and show" - have a policy, conduct due diligence (assess, integrate, track and communicate e.g. doing it is linked to pay to ensure it is done by staff)
2. One part of integrated approach - have executive and operational governance structures for HR, linked to policy and strategy and integration plan and monitoring structures and progress
3. Need to be robust and include engagement - keep up to date with international standards, review local context including liaising with local lawyers, talk to stakeholders,
4. Respect all rights - International Bill of Rights (economic, social and civil; env and community health; land and property acquisition; security; labour; ...
5. Customised to companies existing processes
6. Should include opportunity maximisation
7. Need to be integrated into company processes and decision making
8. HRIA practitioners need to engage company throughout the process

 

Practical challenges

• Integrating into already busy jobs - link between HQ and site
  
• Measuring impact of policies and processes
  
• Internal communication
  
• Integrating HR into the supply chain
  
• Assessment and policy fatigue
  
• Community awareness of corporate human rights policies and grievance systems
  

 

Way of bringing existing policies together and tends to reinforce and ensure that policies are appropriate.

Human RIghts IA and Extractive Industries - Session I, Presentation 3

HRIA and Management - one size fits all?

Human Rights in Asia

• Different country contexts
• Political diversity
• High risks for HR
• History of HR abuses and challenge for business
• Asian companies and their stakeholders not always using the language of HR
• Narrowing in. On specific rights can be an opportunity for engagement
• People development and alleviation of poverty
• HRIA in the local context

Often focus on economic rights than political or other rights.

Commonalities can be found to start a discussion on HR with businesses.

 

Are companies in Asia prepared?

• Of those who disclosed, energy companies were further down the road on dealing with HR than other industrial sectors.
• Korea and Thailand had high scores followed by India and Indonesia.

 

CSR Asia are surveying companies on whether they have systems I place for intifying and assessing HR impacts in their operations. Showe that while most did not have a system HR was high on the company agenda.

 

Similar to other IAs, community engagement is an important part of HRIA.

 

Challenge in finding examples of best practice in HR.

 

Example: Cairn Energy in India

• Commitments enshrined in values and principles - respect, relationships and responsibilities
• 2005 CSR and guiding principles reconfirming universal declaration on HR
• 2005 Human Rights Handbook developed a rights aware approach
• Sharing awareness with oth stakeholders.
• Right to water in Rajesthan - essential action (complying with law and regulations); expected action (meeting principle expectations of stakeholders); desirable action (increasing access to water in local area)

One size does not fit all

• different challenges in different countries and localities
• HRIA will be context specific
• HRIA opportunity for communities to get involved
• Can help to change mindsets of companies and other institutional stakeholders.
• Integration or standalone

 

 

 

Human RIghts IA and Extractive Industries - Session I, Presentation 2

Should we take the 'Impact' out of HRIA

Fundamental change for business in tms of how they use people.

What does it mean if we take impact

 

What did Profesor Ruggie say:

Is a critical component of human rights due to due diligence,....

 

One of the major insights business people gain in becoming aware of their rights not just generating impacts on them. This can equalise power, can provide a way of influencing decisions.

 

Accessing HR Impacts:

• Human Rights Context - people centric, factors, history
  
• Relevance of specific rights - context, prioritise
• Effectiveness of management - systems, performance, perceptions
• Education cutting across all three of the above.

 

What is social context within which the project sits and what aspects could lead to human rights abuses.

History of the project for existing projects by looking at previous SIAs can identify themes that continue to be seen as significant e.g water.

Use the context review to prioritise issues - what are the key areas that are most valuable to focus on.

HRIA can be very expensive so prioritisation can help to make it cost-effective.

Review of organisational culture and systems - parent and project

Education is important to make project teams aware.

Closing questions:

To what extent are hybrid approaches valuable?

Where does it sit in relation to traditional IA methodologies?

How do we realise the full potential HR offers for change?

 

Human RIghts IA and Extractive Industries - Session I, Presentation 1

 

 

 

Why is HRIA going to add value to companies?

What are the challenges and opportunities?

 

Mechanism to identify, predict and respond to a Project's potential impacts on an individual's access to human rights entitlements.

Do no harm perspective but can also look at enhancing access to HR.

 

How is HRIA different from SIA?

• Individual rather than community perspective
• Focused on universally agreed upon standards
• Sphere of impact rather than sphere of influence
• ...

Added Value:

• Projects occurring challenging contexts - geographically, socially, joint venture approaches with state extractive companies
• Opportunity to contribute to sustainable and equitable development
• Above only happens if HR is respected
• HRIA brings and added dimension to risk assessment and management: uses a common international standard, broadens scope of assessment; clarifies and delimits distinct roles and responsibilities; more emphasis on looking at what companies have done to ensure access to rights; reinforces international standards/guidance for management of known risks

 

Example 1: Potential HR impacts

• Access to remedy - lack of project grievance mechanism
• Right to life - loss of ASM, land take, resettlement, use of state security,
• Prohibition against torture, cruelty - Project leads to community tension which leads to arrests and torture
• Right not to be subject to slavery/forced labour
• ...

Example 2: Ghana

• National Commission undertook a study on HR and mining.
  
• Helped clarify roles and responsibilities of state and company.
  
• Changed internal company awareness about HR and how they might affect it.
  

Key challenges - So many challenges

• Lack of business leadership and strategic commitment
• Understanding the language and perspective and mindset of HR
• Finding a way through the explosion in guidance IPIECA, EU developing guidance
• Integrating HR into management processes
• Confronting the brutal facts - lot of sensitivity and concerns about litigation and liability
• Managing the State and Company roles

Lots of opportunities for change and move things forward that bring benefits to business and society.

 

 

 

Human Rights Impact Assessment: 1 year on

 

A lot of organisations and practitioners still grappling with what HRIA is about.

Lot of challenges but also lots of experience.

 

 

IAIA AGM and Rose Hulman Award

 

Aim to create an endowment to provide a core base for our funding.

Special Symposiums have worked well.

Have prepared and submitted to the Rio conference.

Capacity building being undertaken, being able to modernise within and between members - IAIA Connect; fast tips and electronic round table; ...breaking away from a on e a year conference to year round communication and development. External development agency support much appreciated.

IAPA journal has new publisher Taylor & Francis; thanks to the team who reviewed the competitive applications.

Translation is a key issue and we need to go beyond materials only in English.

The numbers of participants is a really welcome sign that IA and meetings like this are seen as important.

Annual report summarised.

Rose Hulman awarded.

Frank Lloyd Wright said "We create a house and then it creates us" and that applies to IAIA which has shaped my life.

 

 

Around the World in 80+ min with HIA in the Energy Sector - Session II, Discussion

When do projects look at chronic diseases rather than infectious diseases such as HIV because of the boom town effect of extractive industries coming in?

Excellent point, obesity is an issue for Ghana and Mongolia because of the boom town effect with people having disposable income to buy things. sHIA is not a panacea but a good way of bringing stakeholders together.

A lot of gains made could be reversed by the increase in chronic diseases in low income countries. In one case a WB person recognised that a programme for malaria nutrition that some money should be spent on doing a sHIA to insider the wid nutritional issues.

 

Agree that sHIA is important in projects that involve men, money and mobility and unless this strategic assessment is done, e.g. Customs are involved, 8km truck queues.

 

Air pollution presentation - why the increase in winter levels?

PM10 are higher in winter indoors at home because in many towns in Portugal still use wood stoves for heating and in schools still use chalk which also generates particulates.

 

Fracking question - How was the water dealt with and communities affected?

Different ways depending on who the project proponent was. Larger companies tended to be better. Company would pay for wells to be upgraded and to not take local water. In US, fracking was taken out of drinking water regulations, so there are no jurisdictional power that local authorities can us.

 

I have concerns about HIA, can be difficult to identify health impacts and is quite complicated. Communication to community neds to take place and to spend time doing it.

 

Is there a need for another type of HIA, sHIA?

Reason for coming up with this was more for stakeholders so they could see that this was not a project level HIA, its the same approach but at a different level.

 

Concern that we are compartmentalisation HIA, is this a parallel activity or is this being integrated in with oth strategic assessment?

Often the environmental regulations mean that SEA cannot encompass the wider remit that the sHIA was trying to consider. sHIA allows for a depth and scope of analysis.

Most HIAs are done alongside environmental and social assessments.

There is a need to consider what is appropriate - integrated and standalone.

Around the World in 80+ min with HIA in the Energy Sector - Session II, Presentation 5

Health in the extractive industries

Major environmental, social and institutional changes often accompany discovery of oil and gas

 

Social:

• Rapid demographic change
• Great expectations about wealth and economic opportunity

Environmental:

• Land use changes
  
• Environmental degradation

Institutional:

• Strain on resource and operational capacity

 

Example: Luanda, Angola

• Sodium bromide used to thicken muds in oil drilling
• Outbreak of mass poisoning
• Because someone same the sodium bromide and thought it was table salt and repackaged and sold it on as table salt.
• This showed the need for institutional structures to deal with these kinds of wider and unforeseen impacts.

 

Need for Strategic HIA (sHIA)

• Gives a birds eye view
• Identify intervention packages and systems and capacities
• Framework for monitoring and evaluation at high level
• Sector or industry level health management system
  
• Engagement of relevant stakeholders

 

WHO piloting this in Ghana and Mongolia

• Regulatory capacity - EIA requirements for health considertaion; limited capacity for HIA; limited capacity to minotor occupational workplaces and OH systems development.
• Risk management systems - public health capacity and systems to monitor and respond to chemical incidents, including emergencies; health information system no adaptable to the new industry; ...

 

New model for sHIA

• Adding a systems diagnostic

 

Partnership between WHO, In country Government, Industry and Development Lenders to develop and implement these.

Around the World in 80+ min with HIA in the Energy Sector - Session II, Presentation 4

Shale Gas and Health: basics

Force sand and water into gas well and fracture the shale layer to enable the gas to be released.

Well and well heads, compression stations and roads it is a very visible aspect of the landscape.

Shale gas is found in many parts of the world.

Many linked to labour force coming in.

• Alcohol and substance abuse
• Crime and violence
• Change in local community networks and intact ions
• STIs and respiratory diseases
• Pressure on health services
• Income and employment
• Traffic related injuries and deaths
• Noise and dust
• Air pollution from flaring

 

Similar to other oil and gas health impacts.

 

What is different about Shale Gas?

• Water contamination with methane - into drinking water but still debate about where this methane is coming from and how much of it there is
• Water contamination with fracking chemicals - acids, formaldehyde, radioactive compounds, heavy metals; may contaminate drinking water
• Disposal of contaminated water - truck the water out and dump the water, often reused until the water is saturated with chemicals, sometimes this is injected back into the week but this may cause an increase in earthquakes
• Damage to water wells from the vibration making material fall into the well making it undrinkable

Where are we now?

• Full or partial moratorium until more is known
• More research is being commissioned by governments
• More calls for disclosure of details of cracking process and chemicals used

 

Around the World in 80+ min with HIA in the Energy Sector - Session II, Presentation 3

Capacity Building in Environment and Health

Common areas of concern in EH in participating countries:

• Lack of intersectional collaboration
• Lack of implementation and evaluation of risk assessment methodologies
• Lack of knowledge on how to do HIA and health in EAs
• Water quality, ESP in rural areas
• Air quality, ESP in urban areas
• Pollution prevention strategies and hazardous waste sites
• Energy policy

 

Capacity needs in EH

• How to use existing data for EH interpretation
• ...

 

Health in IA in participating countries:

• Have to abide by EU EIA and SEA Directives
• Some countries HIA is obligatory - Lithuania, Slovakia - but knowledge on EIA/SEA limited

Undertook an international HIA conference

• 70 participants from 8 countries
• 1 week in Riga
• Intermediate/Senior people were the target but got a mix of experienced and inexperienced professional but a good mix of health and environment professionals.
• Nominated by Ministries of Health and Environment.
• Key lectures on hot topics/ state of the art
• Country case studies
• Parallel workshops - Health in EIA, SEA and Quantitative Methods
• Training of trainers

 

Feedback from participants - most very happy, some not happy, would like to see more training opportunities and more with environmental ministry colleagues.

 

Conclusions:

• Need both Ministry of Environment and Health participants, equal numbers ideally
• Training included real case studies
• Training of trainers
• Publishing of these training materials
• Follow up workshop in Estonia and Slovenia

Around the World in 80+ min with HIA in the Energy Sector - Session II, Presentation 2

Filling the Gap between Air Pollution and Human Health

Air pollution an important environmental health issue.

 

Key ways to assess this:

• Can measure direct levels of air pollution
• Cam measure indirectly via modelling

 

SaudAr Project

• Relationship between ambient levels of air pollution and school children's health in Viseu in Portugal.
• 60 asthmatic children we studied
• The micro environments and daily activities were studied.
• Air quality sampling in schools and in homes
• Medical tests to evaluate the respiratory function of the children
• Most children spend time indoors at home and at school
• Findings: winter PM10 greater than 50ug m3 (WHO annual threshold 20ug m3)

 

 

Fumexp Project:

• Potential effect of forest fires on firefighters based on personal exposure measurements, fire characteristics, air pollutant levels in experimental and wildfires.
• Exposure standards were exceeded to CO and NO2 in experimental fires.
• Only CO in wildfires.

 

Inspirar Project:

• Evaluate industrial workers exposure to air pollution and health outcomes

 

Conclusions:

• Children affected by high levels of indoor air pollutants
• Firefighters are also affected by air pollution
• Industrial workers so far in the analysis are not exposed to higher levels of air pollution.
• Projects show the value of environmental and health professionals coming together to look at health impacts.

 

Around the World in 80+ min with HIA in the Energy Sector - Session II, Presentation 1

Cumulative impacts of oil and gas projects

Role of IA?

...

 

Cumulative impacts and policy

• Most intense where there is a policy/strategy vacuum
  

 

Example: water scarcity

• River being used by local communities along it for domestic and agricultural purposes.
  
• There are oil fields near the communities.
  
• High levels of water washed and water Bourne diseases
  
• Often no information about how communities currently use water and what amounts used.
  
• There is often little knowledge about the likely levels of future usage by oil fields.
  
• Raises local cumulative impacts - increases in waterborne diseases; increasing cost of water - poverty and inequality.

 

Example: Climate change

• Global cumulative impact
• More than 150,000 annual deaths at present globally
• Occurring within lifetime of new projects
• Still denial I'm some stakeholders
• Or that that it is not urgent

 

National climate change impacts likely:

• Increasing water scarcity
• Temperature extremes
• Reduced food supply
• Sea flooding

 

Ironic that the faster the oil developed the faster key Middle East countries are likely to face sea flooding issues.

 

Corporate climate change policies on the web:

• Almost all acknowledge the issues of climate change
• Propose mitigation measures
• Say they will monitor and report
• Some have independent evaluation

Often there is a disconnect between corporate level executives and project level teams and how they recognise and deal with climate change impacts.

 

Conclusion:

Excessive secrecy

Should HIA be challenging or complicit

Cumulative impacts poorly managed and there is a policy vacuum around it.

 

Around the World in 80+ min with HIA in the Energy Sector - Session I, Discussion

 

What is the role of public participation in the HIA process?

HIA is a good tool to allow public to participate in any project, we have to make it more inclusive.


One of the issues is whether the informational findings of the HIA are public and shared, they need to be disclosed and made accessible and hence it's difficult for the public to get involved in making projects accountable. Public participation on health policies is also more difficult and complex.

 

Is the any guideline document for screening projects to decide whether a HIA should be done?


There are existing screening tool in HIA guidance such as the ICMM guide and IAIA publications.

 

Struggled with the reasons why health impact assessment isn't part of social impact assessment but the Ghana example showed clearly why HIA is different from SIA.

 

There a various levels of HIA - 1st order, 2nd order and 3rd order assessments. It is often confusing how wide ranging HIA is.

This is because there are environmental and social determinants, overlap with EIA on the environmental determinants and overlap with SIA on the social determinants.

As an SIA practitioner I grown to recognise the value of HIA, environment is not simply about natural systems the are social and cultural aspects.

 

3 issues seem to come out:

• Where and how to get HIA into regulation, at the right point in decision making process, often within EIA regulation but scope and clarity of what needs to assessed is a challenge.
• Can we look to industry and development banks to advocate on behalf of HIA. can we enhance the disclosure of the findings of HIA to enable public to be empowered.
• Public opposition is a key issue and that HIA can enhance trust and reduce concern in the planning and edition making process.
• Challenges to assessing health impacts of policy.

 

Around the World in 80+ min with HIA in the Energy Sector - Session I, Presentation 5

Risk Assessment of Danish Energy Policy 2008-11

 

Developing a methodology to undstand impacts of key policies an dtheir health impacts - developed a Rapid Full Chain Approach or Model

• Policy related issues have an impact on health determinants which change risk factors and lead to health outcomes and the likely sub-populations affected.
• 10 top down case studies
• 6-7 bottom-up case studies

 

Policy and decision makers wanted measurable determinants and to have concrete and quantifiable health impacts and measurable health outcomes.

Very difficult to quantify from policy to health determinant to risk factor and health outcome.

Aim to model how the various energy mix scenarios affect risk factors and key health outcomes - particularly environmental health outcomes.

 

Challenges:

• Definition of exposure (4% reduction in energy demand, number of wind turbines, level of pollutants emitted)
• Horizontal interactions (environmental - social - behavioural; qualitatively and quantitatively)
• Uncertainties

 

Around the World in 80+ min with HIA in the Energy Sector - Session I, Presentation 4

Oil and gas projects in Ghana

Post 1972 Stockholm Conference on Environment led to Ghana GOverenment to recognise role of environment in fostering sustainable development.

This led to institutionalisation of EIA.

....

EPA Act 1994 which was converted into EIA Procedures 1995 being enforced by Ghana EPA.

This raised consciousness of general public in 1980s and 1990s.

 

Better understanding by health sector of effect of work and development on:

• Health of workers and communities
• Transfer of costs to health system from these industrial projects
• Recognition of opportunities to undertake HIA
• ...

 

No systematic adoption of HIA I planning.

WHO introduced HIA in 1994 in the context of health impacts of hydropower dam developments.

Ad hoc applications from transnational mining companies.

 

2011 Bui Dam study in response to stakeholder concerns.

Limited scope:

Baseline data - malaria, schisto, nutrition, health services.

Gaps - effects on health determinants, land use, migration, psycho-social, construction phase issues.

 

What is the relation between HIA and EIA Regulations

Regulations say that scope of assessment mentions public health and should include environmental health and safety impacts...

 

But this opportunity to consider health have not been fully exploited. A study found that there was a lack of detailed health implications except for HIV considerations. This was because of International Lender requirements.

 

Reasons for inadequate coverage

• Lack of health expertise involvement
• Rather general nature of laws
• Lack of specific guidance on scope of HIA in EIA
• ...

The LIbreville Declaration calls for strengthening institutional systems and structures on considering health systematically.

 

Key Issues

• Existing framework in the energy sector does exist in current legislation.

But

• Lack of guidelines os cope of HIA and what proceeds should be undertaken
• Lack of capacity of HIA practitioners, regulators and policy makers
• Absence of clearly defined HIA components I review and monitoring of EIA implementation
• Lack of HIA requirements from International Lenders