JICA-RI Researcher Tetsuya Kamijo Presents Findings at The International Association for Impact Assessment Conference in 2019

In a session on Effective Biodiversity Mitigation Hierarchy, Kamijo spoke about a review of biodiversity mitigation measures in environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports. He proposed the introduction of green infrastructure and a mitigation hierarchy and the participation of ecosystem service beneficiaries in the consultation process. This would improve biodiversity mitigation measures based on the results of text analysis of mitigation measures in EIA reports.

During another session on Evolution of EIA Practice in Asia-Pacific Development Economies, he spoke about determinants of EIA report quality. He analyzed the quality of 160 EIA reports and showed that the alternatives analysis and public involvement were the determinants of report quality. The linkage between these two processes affected the report quality. He proposed the benchmark for satisfactory EIA reports.

In a subsequent Q&A session, the audience members from Mozambique, Uganda, Myanmar, and the Asian Development Bank made comments, asked questions on topics, such as study methods and provision of information. Biodiversity conservation and the EIA report quality are the constraints in developing countries and they showed the high interest in improving them.

He participated in sessions on strategic environmental assessment, public participation, and case studies from around the world and collected related information.