The IES has published a new report with guidance on how to transform environmental consenting processes into 'a team sport', moving from an adversarial process towards an integrated one.
Read the report: 'Adversarial to integrated: how to make environmental consenting a team sport'.
What does the report contain?
Public opinion over recent years has made clear that people want a healthy environment, but they also need social and economic outcomes including housing, infrastructure, and renewable energy projects. Sustainable development shows that mutual social, economic, and environmental benefits can be achieved together, so environmental consenting needs to work in a way that produces multiple benefits at the same time.
Reimagining environmental consenting as a team sport allows everyone to work together for mutual social, economic, and environmental benefits. Rather than a system built on false dichotomies, environmental consenting can support sustainable development where everyone wins together.
The report sets out seven principles as an aspiration for environmental consenting:
- All involved parties act as one team working towards sustainable development.
- The public are the beneficiaries of social and environmental outcomes.
- Disagreement is viewed as an asset which can assure high standards.
- Environmental consenting is purpose-driven and proportional.
- Systems are rational, coherent, flexible, and accessible.
- Decisions are fair, robust, and informed by evidence at an early stage.
- Processes are aligned with one another using framework-level governance.
Throughout the report, those principles are supported by practical guidance on how to make those aspirations real through an approach which emphasises trust, purpose, flexibility, and communication. Recommendations are also outlined for policy makers seeking to reform consenting processes to embed these aspirations from the outset.
What next?
Over the next 30 years, urgent environmental, economic and social crises require the delivery of the healthier environment that the public demands. By working together as a single team with a shared vision, that ambitious action can be realised in a way that maximises social, economic, and environmental benefits for the good of humanity and the natural world.
- Read the report: 'Adversarial to integrated: how to make environmental consenting a team sport'
- Join the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Community or the Environmental Policy Implementation Community (EPIC)
- Join the IES as a member, or support the IES by joining as an Affiliate
- Get in touch with Joseph Lewis (joseph@the-ies.org) to share your perspective or to get involved in our work on environmental policy
- Read ‘Transforming the planet’ to learn more about the future of environmental science and how environmental consenting can shape the future of the natural world
Evidence-informed decision making relies on collective trust and close working relationships, so our processes must become integrated and cannot fall into the trap of being adversarial by nature.
A better future for environmental consenting can be achieved as we overcome those barriers, leading to mutual and lasting benefits for humanity and the planet.
