Response to environmental assessments and sustainable finance frameworks

Abstract

Dusik and Bond (2022) ask whether the EU Taxonomy will change the mindset over the contribution of EIA to sustainable development. They argue that the EU Taxonomy changes the sustainable development narrative with an emphasis on positive contributions to specific environmental policy objectives and do-nosignificant-harm to any other environmental objectives. They argue that EIA systems would need to evolve to, firstly, allow EIA processes to generate certificates of compliance with EU-Taxonomy-related policy objectives, and secondly, shift beyond adverse impacts and proactively explore positive impacts. In responding to their paper, I strongly endorse their view that the EU Taxonomy for sustainable finance frameworks has the potential to radically improve environmental outcomes and avoid tradeoffs in sustainable development between economic gains and environmental losses. However, while the response sees a role for impact assessment, the response puts forward a broader framework for implementing proactive interventions and their assessment, using the adaptive cycle as the basis for operationalising sustainability.