Appraising Projects - Environmental Feasibility

• ensure that environmental considerations are explicitly addressed and incorporated into the green light decision,
and that there are no unmanageable environmental obstacles ahead of the project. This allows anticipating,
avoiding, minimizing, or offsetting the adverse significant bio-physical effects of the infrastructure. It is also very
relevant that all the measures required for the environmental approvals be taken to prevent unnecessary delays
in the project schedule.
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). generally includes the following.
1. A full description of the area to be influenced by the project in order to characterize the main environmental
fragilities before the construction of the infrastructure. This should include both the physical (land, water, and so
on), and biological (flora, fauna, and so on) characteristics of the area;
2. An analysis of the project’s environmental impact on the area previously described (including direct and
secondary impacts), immediate or long-term effects, and temporary or permanent consequences. These effects,
depending on the nature of infrastructure, may involve greenhouse gas emissions, fauna disruption, waterway
interventions, wastewater disposal, and so on;
3. An identification of the consequences of the construction of the asset in terms of its main inputs, such as
material consumption, water usage, and energy sources; and
4. A full description of the physical and biological aspects of the area after the construction and operation of the
infrastructure.
 Appraising Projects - Assessing Social Feasibility
• The following list is a minimum set of socials issues, which should be addressed as a part of the social feasibility exercise.
• Will the project produce any population or demographic movement, such as the change in size of the communities
affected by the project?
• Will the project significantly alter the economic structure of the local economy or generate any significant change in
relative prices, such as land value? What kind of social impacts can these economic changes produce?
• Will there be a significant change in the general access that the communities have to natural resources, such as drinking
water and energy?
• Does the local community have effective governance mechanisms to deal with the long-term effects of the project in
areas such as land use regulation, negotiations over business transactions, and other such issues?
• Will the project increase or decrease the demand for public goods or services, such as education or health?
• Are there groups (indigenous groups, women, ethnic minorities, and so on) who will be differentially impacted by the
project?
• Will the project interfere with the local labor market during or after construction?
• Does the background of project staff (for example, urban, educated, skilled, foreign language-speaking, expatriates,
different customs, and so on) differ significantly from local communities and provide potential for misunderstanding and
conflict? and
• Will an influx of newcomers seeking opportunities associated with the project disrupt traditional social structures and
create undesirable effects, such as crime, violence, disease, or conflict due to religious and ethnic rivalries?