Memoire Online - Addressing climate change through environmental assessment tools in planning processes: international practices and perspectives for Niger

CIPSEM - Centre for International Postgraduate Studies in Environmental Management

40^th INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE COURSE ON ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FOR DEVELOPING AND EMERGING COUNTRIES

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT TOOLS IN PLANNING PROCESSES: INTERNATIONAL PRACTICES AND PERSPECTIVES FOR NIGER

ABSTRACT

The occurrence of global climate change (CC) particularly in developing countries is fully confirmed by the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on CC (IPCC) published in 2013/2014 and human activities are the main causes of observed changes in climate today. The nature and type of development that occurs, has implications on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as the vulnerability of society to CC impacts. Therefore, it has been widely recognised that there is a need to integrate consideration of CC and its impacts in development policies, plans and programmes (PPP). Nowadays, many countries have developed legislations on environmental assessments tools mainly Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) which integrate CC in the assessment of PPP. This paper assesses first the integration of CC in the European Union Directive on EIA, the European Union Directive on SEA and the Niger's Legislation on EIA and second compares the EIA procedure in European Union and in Niger. The latter considers as main criteria the integration of CC in five key steps of an EIA procedure. A literature review on the relationships between CC and the environmental assessment tools, including the relevance of the integration of CC in EIA and SEA and how this topic is currently addressed worldwide is carried out. The study reveals that Niger Legislation on EIA does not provide any requirement regarding CC mainstreaming in EIA process in the five steps considered for the comparison while the EU Directive on EIA requires consideration of CC in the three steps even though it does not provide any specific requirement regarding CC in the project appraisal and the project monitoring steps.

Keys words: climate change, environmental assessment, European Union, Niger.

Figure 2: Modifications of the Environmental Assessment Procedure to Address CC Adaptation

Figure 3: Administrative Procedure of Environmental Impact Assessment in Niger 14

Table 1: Comparison of EU EIA Directive and Niger Ordinance 97-001 on EIA and its Decree 2000-397 on

Table 2: Actions to be carried out for the Implementation of the Recommendations 28

This final paper would not have been possible without the help of many institutions and people whom I would like to thank warmly. The honor comes first to UNEP/UNESCO/BMU for giving me an opportunity to be part of the 40th International Postgraduate Course on Environmental Management for Developing and Emerging Countries.

I would like also to thank the dynamic CIPSEM staff for their assistance, availability and efforts made to achieve the educational objectives of our training course.

I express my profound gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Dr. Jochen Schanze for having accepted and supervised me and also directed the conduct of this work.

Thanks to all my lecturers from various institutions in Dresden and abroad who inspired me with their many lectures and excursions and to all the institutions that accepted us in their premises for excursions.

I would like to thank my home organisation, the General Directorate of Environment and Sustainable Development of Niger for allowing me to attend this course and my family for its patience during my stay in Dresden.

Finally, thanks to all my fellow course participants for their openness and brotherhood/sisterhood spirit and moral support.

3.2. Assessment of the European Union Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment 16

3.3. Assessment of the European Union Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment 21

MESU/DD: Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Salubrité Urbaine et du Développement Durable

UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNDP: United Nations Development Programme

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background

Climate change (CC) is a main concern worldwide at the level of governments, communities, and businesses due to rising understanding of possible CC impacts on trade, security, ecosystems, and the well-being of humans and other species. In addition, the occurrence of global CC particularly in developing countries is fully confirmed by the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on CC (IPCC) published in 2013/2014 and human activities are the main causes of observed changes in climate today (Ogbonna and Albrecht, 2015). Such anthropogenic influences that contribute to CC include the burning of fossil fuels, the combustion of biomass, agriculture, and deforestation. Globally, awareness of CC and impact and risk research have increased in recent times. As a result, there are several actions from many stakeholders in the public and private sectors especially at the national and local levels that focus on understanding the challenges that besiege CC issues and reducing the associated effects (Hallegatte et al., 2011).

CC also poses a serious challenge to economic development. The nature and type of development that occurs has also implications for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as the vulnerability of society to CC impacts. Therefore, it has been widely recognised that there is a need to integrate consideration of CC and its impacts in development policies and projects (Agrawala et al., 2010).

In Niger, the issues of the environment are governed by many legal documents such as the Constitution of November 29th, 2010 and the Law 98-56 of December 29th, 1998 that outline the role that government and non-government institutions should play in the environmental management. Niger has also signed numerous international environmental agreements. In response to the adverse effects of CC, Niger signed and ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on CC (UNFCCC) on June 11th, 1992 and July 25th, 1995 and the Kyoto Protocol on December 1996 and March, 2004 (MESU/DD, 2015) respectively and signed the Paris Agreement on CC in 2016.

For the implementation of the UNFCCC, Niger created the National Council of Environment for Sustainable Development (CNEDD in French) in 1996 to coordinate and monitor the national policy of environment and sustainable development. The CNEDD has prepared the first and the second national communications to the Conferences of Parties (COP) respectively in 2000 and 2009 and elaborated the National Action Programme for Adaptation to CC in 2005 to reduce harmful effects of CC in line with the UNFCCC requirements (UNDP, 2013).

In addition, since 2011, the integration of CC becomes a requirement in planning processes as stated by the Decree 2011-057 of January 2011 (article 3)¹: `'the CNEDD should ensure that CC and adaptation dimensions are integrated in the development policies, strategies and programmes».

1.2. Problem Statement

Niger, country located in the sub-Saharian zone of Africa has suffered for several decades the detrimental effects of CC with irregular precipitations badly distributed in space and time. The climate is arid to the north, Sahelian (300-600 mm) to the west, to the south-central and to the east and Sahelo-Sudanian (> 600 mm) in the extreme south-west. Only 1% of the territory (extreme southwest) receives more than 600 mm of rain per year, while 89% of the territory, located in the northern part, receives less than 350 mm of rain per year (IFAD, 2013). The spatial, annual and inter-annual variability of these precipitations expose populations to deficits in frequent agro-pastoral production. As a matter of fact, its Sahelian climate is reflected in recurrent dry years that have become more frequent since 1968 (CNEDD, 2006). This situation is linked to the nature of Niger's climate and to CCs whose manifestations through the adverse effects of extreme weather events constitute a major handicap for the development of the country. Recurrent droughts cause negative impacts on the natural environment, such as the loss of forest resources, loss of biodiversity, land degradation and depletion of water resources. By undermining ecosystems, CC compromises food production in general and increases the rivalries and tensions between human communities for access to natural resources.

With a population estimated at 17,807,117 inhabitants in 2013 (INS-Niger, 2014), Niger has a low-diversified economy characterised by a high dependence on the primary sector (agriculture and livestock). By assessing the structure of Niger`s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014, it is clear that the primary sector is predominant and contributes to 35.5% followed by the tertiary sector (38.6%) compared with only 18.9% for the secondary sector dominated by the exploitation of Uranium (UNCEA, 2015).

That is why Niger now focuses on industrial development through the extractive and agro-food industries which can be a pillar for the national economy and contribute to strengthening the country's economic development. In addition, the contribution of the industrial sector to the formation of GDP has remained negligible with fewer companies in the mining sector (Uranium, Coal and Gold).

However, industrial units are considered to be polluting enterprises because they are responsible for the emission of considerable quantities of pollutants, the effects of which are detrimental to the human health and the biophysical environment. Therefore, the integration of the concept of sustainable development into the planning systems for the implementation of major industrial projects becomes essential to meet society's growing concerns about economic, social and environmental issues.

In order to deal with this situation, Niger has put in place a legal framework for environmental protection, in particular that related to environmental and social assessments, in accordance with international

1 Decree 2011-057/PCSRD/PM of January 27th, 2011 that modifies and completes the Decree 2000-072/PRN/PM of August 04th, 2000 concerning the creation, assigning and composition of CNEDD.

commitments on environment. However, the legal texts governing environmental and social assessments in Niger have been adopted almost 19 years ago² and present enormous inadequacies in the sense that they do not take into account the CC dimension in the development and implementation of national or/and sectorial policies, plans and programmes.

It is therefore imperative to rethink the mechanisms of dealing with global environmental problems, in particular, CC through updating the legislative environmental framework and appropriate ways of planning, but also by strengthening the environmental assessment for the implementation of policies, plans and programmes with a view on synergy of action, taking into account the views of stakeholders (public participation) and response to current demands.

1.3. Objectives

The overall objective of this study is to assess the integration of CC mitigation and adaptation in the environmental assessment procedure in Niger and European Union.

y' Analyse the integration of CC issues in environmental assessment tools in Niger and European

y' Compare the Environment Impact Assessment procedure in European Union (EU) and Niger;

y' Propose recommendations to the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Niger.

1.4. Approach

y' A literature review about CC, the environmental assessment tools and the relationships between them. This includes the relevance of the integration of CC in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and how this topic is currently addressed worldwide. The views of researchers and that of international and national credible institutions from books, articles and internet is used as research sources;

y' An analysis of the current situation in terms of integration of CC issues in environmental assessment guidelines and directives taking the examples of the European Union EIA Directive, the European Union SEA Directive and the Niger Ordinance on Institutionalisation of EIA is considered;

2 Refers to the Framework Law on Environmental Management No. 98-56 of December 29th, 1998 and Ordinance No. 97-001 of January 10th, 1997 on Institutionalization of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

y' A comparison of the European Union EIA Directive and the Niger legislation on EIA is based on the review of literature on theory and concept of mainstreaming CC in Environmental Impact Assessment.

y' An analysis of the EU SEA directive to get inputs for a new bill on SEA to Niger that does not have any legislation regarding that environmental assessment tool;

y' From the analysis and the comparison derived recommendations for the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Niger to integrate CC dimensions in environmental assessment tools.

The following documents are used to carry out the analysis and the comparison of environmental assessment tools:

y' Niger Ordinance 97-001 on Institutionalisation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of January 10th, 1997;

y' Decree N°2000-397/PRN/ME/LCD of 20th October 2000 on EIA administrative procedure in Niger y' Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of certain plans and programs on the Environment;

y' Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment.

2. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT TOOLS IN PLANNING PROCESSES

2.1. Description of Relevant Concepts 2.1.1. Climate Change

Climate Change is defined by the United Nations Framework Convention on CC (UNFCCC, 1992, article 1)³as `'a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods». In this definition, the UNFCCC makes a distinction between CC attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric composition and climate variability attributable to natural causes.

2.1.2. Environmental Assessment

The concept of environmental assessment derived its origin from the United States National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) but it has been considered, some years ago, to have the same meaning as an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). As a matter of fact, many countries have been implementing EIA and an equivalent or comparable process in those countries is called environmental assessment (Parent, 2002; cited in Cissé, 2013).

Sadler (1996, p.15) defined environmental assessment as ^?a systematic process that consists of assessing and documenting the opportunities, capabilities and functions of natural resources and systems, in order to facilitate sustainable development planning and decision-making in general and to anticipate and manage the negative impacts and the consequences of development adjustments in particular^?. This definition, though seems to be broad contains some key terms such as `'assessing», `'anticipate» or `'negative impacts» and specifies the objective of environmental assessment. Cherp (2001) defined environmental assessment as ^?a formalised, systematic and comprehensive process for identifying, analysing, and evaluating environmental consequences of a proposed action, consulting the views of the affected parties, and taking the findings of this evaluation and consultation into account in planning, authorising, and implementing this action.^?While the first definition leant on process and impacts, the former one includes the issues of public involvement. Depending on the level of application, environment assessment can be considered a synonymous of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).

As mentioned above, the environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been considered as the same as the environmental assessment deriving from the same origin that is, the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Since then, many countries have been using it as tool in development projects planning

process even though the approach differs from one country to another. The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA,2009) defines EIA as `'the process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigation the biophysical, social and other relevant effects of proposed development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made».

The term `strategic environmental assessment' was coined in 1989 (Thomas et al., 2002) and an understanding of the concept was derived from that of project-based environmental impact assessment (EIA) and the principles of SEA and EIA were perceived to be the same. As stated by Dalal-Clayton and Sadler (1999, p.1), an internationally agreed definition of SEA does not exist, but the interpretation offered by Sadler and Verheem (1996) is among those which are widely quoted: "SEA is a systematic process for evaluating the environmental consequences of proposed PPP initiatives in order to ensure they are fully included and appropriately addressed at the earliest appropriate stage of decision-making on par with economic and social considerations». Moreover, SEA is often considered as a complement to project-based Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) so that environmental assessments are conducted at all levels of decision-making; from PPP formulation to project management and implementation (Chaker, et al., 2005).

2.1.3. Public Participation/ Public Involvement

As public participation or public involvement is one of the most important aspects in planning processes, a clear understanding of the concept is supposed to allow an effective evaluation of the procedure of the environmental assessments tools (SEA and EIA). André, et al. (2006) defined public participation as `' the involvement of individuals and groups that are positively or negatively affected by, or that are interested in, a proposed project, program, plan or policy that is subject to a decision-making process». This definition highlights the involvement of all stakeholders whether they are positively or negatively impacted by the planning process in the management of their resources and the definition of strategies for a better future of their living area. In addition, public participation is one of some important elements of Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration regarding the right of the public to access environmental information, decision-making and to judicial and administrative proceedings⁴.

2.2. Relevance of Mainstreaming Climate Change in Environmental Assessment Procedures

2.2.1. Climate Change in Strategic Environmental Assessment

Climate Change can be seen as a typical cumulative environmental effect resulting from many individual factors for which appropriate answers must be found. SEA is needed to provide a framework for evaluating and managing a wide range of environmental dangers and contribute to the incorporation (or «mainstreaming») of CC considerations into PPP. Nevertheless, the empirical evidence and experience on

the area of CC mitigation and adaptation concerns in PPP through SEA is not well developed (Suzaul-Islam and Yanrong, 2016). The questions that have to be asked in this context are: which roles can SEA play regarding to CC? How far can SEA contribute to the mitigation of negative effects of CC? How the impacts of the PPP on CC and the CC induced impacts on the PPP themselves should be considered?

From the questions raised above, it is clear that the mainstreaming of CC into SEA faces many challenges. One that has to be mentioned is that dealing with the effects of CC in SEA throws up the question as well about how risks can be dealt with that are brought about by CC because the effects of CC do not only have destructive extents that are difficult to predict, but they also occur with a probability that is very difficult to determine and affect societies or social groups with differing vulnerability or resilience (Weiland, 2010). For example, as noted by Lee and Walsh(1992 cited in Larsen et al. 2013) in the early stages of SEA, the most likely significant challenges faced when developing and implementing SEA are how ensuring that uncertainty is satisfactorily handled at each step of the assessment procedure.

Other challenges are those regarding the mainstreaming of some issues such as the gender in the context of adaptation responses, the way the indigenous people will be affected by CC and the multi-sectoral coordination of the process in all stages of an SEA procedure (OECD/DAC, 2010).

Finally, the assessment of CC impacts for human activities such as agricultural sector that contributes to a significant share of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 17% directly through agricultural activities and an additional 7% to 14% through changes in land use(OECD,2015) is another issues that has to be handled while considering CC in SEA.

2.2.2. Climate Change in Environmental Impact Assessment

Mainstreaming CC into national policies, plans, and development projects is a very important way to reduce vulnerability to climate impacts and variability, increase the adaptive capacity of communities and national activities facing climate impacts, and to ensure sustainable development (UNDP, 2012). One of the most compelling reasons to integrate CC in EIA is that every project is designed with some assumption about the climate in which it will function and the design criteria must be based on probable future climate that is CC over the life of the project. For example, most of the huge projects like buildings, highways, harbor facilities, mining, etc. have relatively long life time of decades and partly even hundreds of years and for such kinds of projects the EIA is required. Thus, it is important to take into account the influence of CC on the project and how the project will affect the surrounding environment under future conditions while undertaking EIA of projects. Effective integration of CC considerations requires that project-relevant short-medium and longterm CC impacts are identified using appropriate climate projection models and CC `'scenarios» (CARICOM et al., 2004).

Another reason for mainstreaming CC in EIA procedure is that it constitutes a useful mechanism to implement substantive provisions of legally binding international environmental agreements as EIA is accepted as a universal approach to inform and influence decision-making on crucial socio-environmental matters among which climate change plays a paramount role (Sánchez and Croal 2012). Besides, the

mainstreaming CC in EIA is one of the commitments of the Parties at the UNFCCC whereby they are invited to undertake measures to mitigate or adapt CC in PPP implementation,' (Article 4.1f)⁵.

As stated by Agrawala et al., (2010), despite the tremendous need of mainstreaming CC in EIA, few countries notably Australia, Canada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kiribati, the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, have actually moved towards operational guidelines and/or adjustment of regulatory frameworks to incorporate adaptation to CC within EIA procedures. Among them, Canada and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have established detailed operational guidance on incorporating consideration of CC impacts and adaptation within EIA procedures. For example the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEEA) provides general guidance to incorporate adaptation and mitigation to CC. Figure 1 below summarises the recommended procedures for addressing CC impacts developed by the CEAA. Each of the steps proposed can mark entry points in the generic steps of a traditional EIA procedure.

Step 1-Preliminary Scope for Impacts Assessments Considerations
· Focus on general considerations and readily accessible information; · Are they likely impacts considerations associated with the project that should be addressed in greater detail; · Document a rationale as to why or why not; · If there are no likely impacts considerations that should be addressed in greater detail, no further analysis is required; · Proceed to Step 2 if further analysis is required;		Step 2- Identify impacts considerations
· Identify project sensitivity to possible changing climatic parameters ; · Conduct more detailed collection of regional CC and project specific information; · Clarify changing climatic parameters (magnitude, distribution and rate of changes);
Step3-Assess impacts Considerations
· Assess range of possible changes to climatic parameters; · Determine the range and extent of possible impacts on the project; · Assess the potential risks to the public or environment · Based upon the risks to the public or environment resulting from the effects of climate on the project, determine whether impact management is required; · If no further action is required, document impact analysis. No impact management required; · Proceed to step 4 if further action is required;
Step 4-Impacts Management Plans
If the project is likely to pose risks to the public or environment resulting from the effects of CC: · Clarify mitigation measures to reduce project vulnerability; · Clarify adaptive management plan to reduce risks associated with CC; · Incorporate ongoing information gathering and risk assessment; · Distinguish between public and private sector risks and responsibilities
Step 5- Monitoring, follow up and Adaptive Management

In addition, the integration of CC adaptation considerations should be undertaken within the existing environmental impact assessment framework, with little modification to existing procedures (CARICOM et al., 2004). Less modification required to existing environmental impact assessment procedures to address CC adaptation considerations are given in the figure 2 below.

Regarding the CC mitigation of projects impacts, it is difficult to determine with certainty that a given source of GHG has a measurable cause-and-effect relationship on local, regional, or global climate. As such, the incremental contribution of a project to national or global GHG emissions cannot be linked to specific changes in global climate (Ohsawa and Duinker, 2014).

Figure 2: Modifications of the Environmental Assessment Procedure to Address CC Adaptation Considerations

3. INTEGRATION OF CIMATE CHANGE ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS TOOLS IN NIGER AND EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES

3.1. Assessment of Niger Legislation on Environment Impact Assessment 3.1.1. History of Environmental Assessment (EA) Procedure in Niger

Niger officially entered into the EA procedure in 1997 with the adoption of the Ordinance 97-001 of January 10th, 1997 on the institutionalisation of EIAs. Article 4 of the Ordinance requires that development activities, projects or programs that may affect the natural and human environment, because of their size or their impact are subject to the prior authorisation of the minister in charge of environment. The authorisation is granted on the basis of an environmental impact assessment prepared by the developer.

The operationalisation of EIAs in Niger began in 1998 with the creation of the Bureau of Environmental Evaluation and Impact Assessment (BEEIA) and the three implementing decrees of the ordinance adopted in 2000. The implementing decrees are:

y' Decree 2000-369 / PRN / ME / LCD of 12 October 2000⁶ on the responsibilities, organization and functioning of the BEEIA;

y' Decree 2000-397 / PRN / ME / LCD of 20 October 2000 on the administrative procedure of Environmental Impacts Assessment;

y' Decree 2000-398 / PRN / ME / LCD of 20 October 2000 determining the list of activities, works and planning documents for which environmental impact assessments are required.

As far as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is concerned, it is important to stress that there are no specific guidelines in Niger. In practice, SEA is conducted in the same way as EIA or sometimes in accordance with the funding institutions requirements like World Bank. That represents a huge gap and deficiency in the strategic planning of PPP.

3.1.2. EIA Procedure in Niger

The Decree 2000-397 sets out the administrative proceeding to be followed in assessing and examining the environmental impacts of a project and specifies the content of the EIA report and the public consultation mechanism. The stages of the proceeding shall include project notification, screening, scoping, realisation of the EIA, review of EIA report, authorisation of project and monitoring conditions (Art. 4). In addition, Article 7 of the decree defines the content of an EIA report.

3.1.2.1. Project Notification

The project Notification is a brief description of the project, its location, potential positive and negative environmental impacts which it is likely to generate and the schedule for its completion. It is submitted to the ministry of environment by the developer. It must be accompanied by maps, plans, sketches and other relevant documents helping to situate the project in its context.

3.1.2.2. Screening

The screening allows determining if an EIA is required. It is conducted by the BEEIA, within a period of ten days from the date of receipt of the notification to give the minister of environment its opinion. The minister shall notify the developer within 48 hours from the date of receipt of the BEEIA opinion. At the end of this period, the developer may consider his project notification as agreed.

3.1.2.3. Scoping

During this phase, the terms of reference (ToR) are elaborated by the project developer in collaboration with the BEEIA in case an EIA is deemed necessary. The ToR identifies the important environmental issues including concerned populations opinion and guide the EIA so that investigations and resources are focused on those aspects of the project that are likely to produce significant adverse impacts. They are submitted by the project developer to the ministry of the environment via BEEIA for approval.

3.1.2.4. Realisation of the EIA

This step is under the responsibility of the developer and is conducted according to the (ToR). The developer conducts the inventory leading to the description of the initial state of the biophysical and human environment; identifies and assesses the impacts, carries out the choice and analyses the alternatives, proposes mitigation and improvement measures, develops an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) that defines the monitoring conditions and elaborates the EIA report.

3.1.2.5. Review of Impact Assessment Report

The draft EIA report is submitted for a review to the BEEIA, which has twenty-one days to review the EIA report and submits its results to the minister of the environment. There are two types of reviews:

3.1.2.5.1. Internal Review

It aims to ensure that the content of the draft report complies with the requirements of the ToR and that of Article 7 of the Decree 2000-397 on the content of an EIAR. It is conducted by the BEEIA which transmits an admissibility notification of the report to the developer.

3.1.2.5.2. External Review

y' The BEEIA conducts a field verification mission to compare the information contained in the draft EIAR and the reality on the ground and organises a public hearing to take better into account social concerns. This activity leads to the elaboration of a field and public consultation report.

y' In the meantime, an ad-hoc committee composed of the project' stakeholders is set up by the minister of environment via BEEIA to examine the quality of the EIA report at a workshop to be organised for that purpose. The field and public consultation report elaborated by the BEEIA is also presented during the workshop.

3.1.2.6. Authorisation of Project

At the end of the workshop, the BEEIA reports the results of the EIA procedure to the minister of environment within seven days from the date of receipt of the ad-hoc committee's meeting report. The final decision is supported by the field and public consultation and the ad-hoc committee meeting report. On the basis of these reports, the decision will either be an authorization (issuance of the Certificate of Environmental Compliance) for the implementation of the project or a rejection of the EIAR, hence its resumption with new ToR.

3.1.2.7. Monitoring Conditions

Monitoring conditions are the responsibility of the developer, the CA and the BEEIA. Prior to the implementation of the project, the CA identifies the impacts that need to be monitored as well as the relevant indicators. It will also specify the schedules for monitoring and evaluation, people responsible for follow up and the measures to be taken in case negative impacts would exceed expectations. As a result, the project developer submits to the BEEIA the ESMP that allows the elaboration of the environmental specifications and an agreement to be signed between the project developer and the BEEIA. Figure 3 below outlines the EIA administrative procedure in Niger.

Figure 3: Administrative Procedure of Environmental Impact Assessment in Niger

3.1.3. Public Participation

Public participation in the EIA procedure in Niger is legislated by Articles 10 and 11 of the Decree 2000-397 on the EIA procedure. The publicity mechanism of the EIA is done through informing the population of the eventuality of the project, consulting the people concerned by the project during data collection for the elaboration of the EIAR, and making accessible the EIA reports to the public at the BEEIA. Moreover, the decree states that this population should be informed and concerted about the content of the EIAR by all appropriate means. After approval of the project by the CA, the EIA and the final decisions are consulted at BEEIA office.

3.1.4. Climate Change in Niger EIA legislation

No provision, neither the Ordonnance 97-001 nor the decree 2000-397, refers to the consideration of CC regarding impacts and mitigation or enhancement measures during the implementation of a project. The project mitigation measures are mentioned in Article 7 of the Decree 2000-397 but they are related to biophysical and human components such as water, wildlife, air, population health, etc., not global aspects such as CC. Nevertheless, there are provisions related to the protection of the atmosphere and the fight against global warming in Law 98-56 on the management of the environment (Article 37-41), but decrees on the application of that law are not yet adopted.

3.1.5. EIA Procedure Limits

3.1.5.1. Inadequate Public Participation

Article 11 of the Decree No. 2000-397 provides that» the EIA reports and final decisions shall be consulted at the BEEIA office. Under no circumstances can they be loaned and /or taken away by private individuals». The Decree does not provide another mechanism for widespread dissemination such as the posting of the draft report in the localities concerned or a time period given for the public to express their comments or concerns. In addition, only few institutions receive a copy of the EIA report (article 8) and the remaining members of the ad-hoc committee do not receive the final copy of the report after the project approval while international best practices, in particular the World Bank Group standards, advice wide publicity of EIAs (World Bank, 1999).

3.1.5.2. Environmental Monitoring Missions Funded by the Project Developer

Although it has not been clearly stated in the legislative texts, costs related to environmental monitoring are estimated in the Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), i.e., supported by the developer. That could reduce the independence and impartiality of the BEEIA staff conducting the monitoring.

3.1.5.3. Ambiguity Related to the Scope of the EIA as a Tool

From the statement of Article 4 of Ordinance 97-001, it is clear that EIA is compulsory both for projects and for development programmes. This creates an amalgam with respect to the scope of both tools (EIA and SEA).

3.1.5.4. Failure to Categorise Projects Subjugated to EIA

The Decree No. 2000-398 / PRN / ME / LCD of October 20th, 2000 determining the list of activities, works and planning documents for which environmental impact assessments are required does not classify the various projects into categories. That does not allow knowing the ones that require a thorough EIA, or a simplified EIA.

3.2. Assessment of the European Union Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment

3.2.1. Presentation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure in EU

The current environmental impact assessment procedure in the EU is governed by the Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of April 16th, 2014 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment adopted from the amendment of the Directive 2011/92/EU. It entered into force on May 15th, 2014. Member States (MS) had to transpose it into their national legislation as from May 16th, 2017 at the latest and communicate to the European Commission the national legislation adopted in order to comply with the directive.

According to Article 3 of the Directive, the EIA shall identify, describe and assess the significant effects of a project on the biophysical and social factors of the environment and the interaction between them. Moreover, the effects of the project on the factors shall include the expected effects like the vulnerability of the project to risks of major accidents and/or disasters that are relevant to the project.

Two types of projects are under the scope of the Directive: projects of Annex I having significant effects on the environment that should be subject to a systematic assessment and projects of Annex II that do not necessarily have significant effects on the environment in every case. For the latter, the MS shall determine whether the project shall be made subject to an assessment through a case-by-case examination or thresholds or criteria set by them.

3.2.2. EU Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure

From the Directive, the important phases identified are: screening, scoping, realisation of the EIA, assessment and evaluation of the EIA procedure, granting or refuse of the development consent and the determination of monitoring conditions. Because of its cross-cutting character, public consultation is treated differently from the above mentioned phases.

3.2.2.1. Screening

The screening is the first phase that starts when the developer notifies or informs the Competent Authority (CA) about his project proposal for a request for development consent. If the project is listed among those of Annex I for which an EIA is required, there is no need for screening. For those listed in Annex II, the developer shall provide detailed information on the characteristics of the project and its likely significant effects on the environment. Based on the information provided by the developer, the CA shall make its determination whether the project requires an EIA or not and states the main reasons for requiring or not such assessment with reference to the relevant criteria listed in Annex III of the directive( Article 4 (5)). The CA shall make its determination within 90 days from the date of submission of all the information required by the developer. In exceptional cases (nature, complexity, size, location of the project), the CA may extend that deadline and shall inform the developer in writing of the reasons justifying the extension and of the date when its determination is expected (Article (4(6)).

3.2.2.2. Scoping

Where an EIA is required, the developer shall prepare and submit an EIA report. This report shall include the minimum information as listed in Article 5 (a to f). Where an opinion is issued about the description of the project, the EIA report shall be based on that opinion, and include the information that may reasonably be required for reaching a reasoned conclusion on the significant effects of the project on the environment, taking into account current knowledge and methods of assessment (Article 5(1)).

Where requested by the developer, the CA, taking into account the information provided by the developer in particular on the specific characteristics of the project, including its location and technical capacity, and its likely impact on the environment, shall issue an opinion on the scope and level of details of the information to be included by the developer. The CA shall consult the authorities likely to be concerned by the project by reason of their specific environmental responsibilities or local and regional competences before it gives its opinion (Article 5(2)).

3.2.2.3. Realisation of the EIA

After the scoping is completed and the ToR are defined, the developer carries out the EIA and submits the EIA report as required by Article 5 and other provisions of the directive related to the public participation or trans-boundary issues to the CA.

3.2.2.4. Assessment and Evaluation of the EIA

Prior to the assessment and evaluation of the process, some requirements are set to ensure the completeness and quality of the environmental impact assessment report. Among those requirements:

y' the developer shall ensure that the environmental impact assessment report is prepared by competent experts;

y' the CA shall ensure that it has, or has access as necessary to, sufficient expertise to examine the environmental impact assessment report; and where necessary, shall seek from the developer supplementary information, in accordance with Annex IV, which is directly relevant to reaching the reasoned conclusion on the significant effects of the project on the environment;

y' Member States shall, if necessary, ensure that any authorities holding relevant information make this information available to the developer.

As the requirements mentioned above are made, the competent authority assesses and evaluates the EIA report to decide about the granting or refuse of the development consent.

3.2.2.5. Project Appraisal

When the results of consultations and the information required in Articles 5 to 7 are gathered and submitted by the developer, the CA has to decide about the granting or refuse of the development consent within a reasonable period of time (Article 8a (5)).The decision of grant or refuse of the development consent by the CA shall incorporate at least:

y' A reasoned conclusion on the significant effects of the project on the environment, taking into account the results of the examination of the information presented in the EIA report and any supplementary information provided by the developer or through the public consultation;

y' Any environmental conditions attached to the decision, the features of the project and/or mitigation measures envisaged, if possible, offset significant adverse effects on the environment as well as, where appropriate, monitoring measures.

3.2.2.6. Determination of Monitoring Conditions

In the case the development consent is granted the CA shall determine the procedures regarding the monitoring of significant adverse effects on the environment and sets the type of parameters to be monitored and the duration of the monitoring which shall be proportionate to the nature, location and size of the project and the significance of its effects on the environment. Existing monitoring arrangements resulting from EU legislation other than this directive and from national legislation may be used if appropriate, with a view to avoid duplication of monitoring (Article 8a).

3.2.3. Public Participation in EU EIA Procedure

The directive provides that the public concerned shall be given early and effective opportunities to participate in the environmental decision-making procedures and be entitled to express comments and opinions when all options are open to the CA before the decision on the request for development consent is taken (Article 6(4)). Moreover, the determination made by the CA shall be available to the public.

Pursuant to Article 6(2), the public shall be informed electronically and by public notices or by other appropriate means, of the following matters early in the environmental decision-making procedures:

y' the fact that the project is subject to an EIA procedure and, where relevant, the fact that Article 7 applies(if another member state is concerned);

y' details of the CA responsible for taking the decision, those from which relevant information can be obtained, those to which comments or questions can be submitted, and details of the time schedule for transmitting comments or questions;

y' the nature of possible decisions or, where there is one, the draft decision; y' an indication of the availability of the information gathered and submitted to the CA;

y' an indication of the times and places at which, and the means by which, the relevant information will be made available;

The time-frames for consulting the public concerned on the EIA report shall not be shorter than 30 days (Article 6 (7)). If the project is likely to have significant effects on the environment in another Member State, the public participation mechanisms detailed in Article 7 of the directive shall be applied.

When a decision to grant or refuse development consent has been taken, the CA shall promptly inform the public and the authorities likely to be concerned by the project (Article 9). He shall make available the following information:

y' the main reasons and considerations on which the decision is based, including information about the public participation process( summary of the results of the consultations and the information gathered; and how those results have been incorporated or otherwise addressed) and the comments received from the other affected Member State if it is the case.

3.2.4. Climate Change in EU Directive on EIA

The issues of CC are highlighted in many paragraphs of the preamble but also in Annex III, and IV of the EU EIA directive. In addition, the risk of major accidents and/ or disasters which are relevant to the project concerned, including those caused by CC, in accordance with scientific knowledge(Annex III,(1)(f)) is one of the criteria to determine whether the projects listed in Annex II should be subject to an EIA.

Annex IV which refers to the information for the EIA report also requests that the report shall contain a description of the likely significant effects of the project on the environment resulting from the impact of the project on climate such as the nature and magnitude of greenhouse gas emissions and the vulnerability of the project to CC (Annex IV (5) (f)).

3.3. Assessment of the European Union Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment

The European Union Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment is the Council Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment adopted on June 27th, 2001 and entered into force on July 21st, 2004. The purpose of the directive (Article 1) is to provide a systematic framework for considering the environmental effects of public sector plans and programmes, and to provide a high level of protection for the environment, as well as to contribute to the integration of environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans and programmes, with a view to promoting sustainable development.

In pursuance of Article 12(3) of the Directive⁷, the application and effectiveness of the directive has been assessed and a first report was sent by the Commission to the European Parliament and Council in 2009⁸. In addition, a study on MS' progress and challenges experienced in the application of the SEA Directive for the period 2007-2014 was also carried out in 2016⁹ in order to prepare the second report.

3.3.1. Limits of the EU SEA Directive

The SEA Directive does neither provide detailed specifications about the procedures for public consultation nor clarifying the methods of communication with the public even though it states that it is the responsibility of every Member State to determine the detailed arrangements for the information and consultation of the authorities and the public (Article 6(5)).

Regarding the integrating of CC issues, the shortcomings that have been raised from the report on the application and effectiveness of the SEA Directive are the lack of a well-established methodology to determine impacts related to CC and the inexistence of specific guidance to CC issues. In fact, these issues are considered in SEA Directive on a case-by-case basis concerning some plans and programmes with a potential significant impact on the climate such as energy and transport (Article 3). Moreover, Annex

I of the directive which refers to the information to be provided in the SEA environmental report includes `'climate factors» but does not provide further details about how the vulnerability of the plans and programmes to CC or theirs impacts on CC can be assessed.

7 Article 12(3): Before 21 July 2006 the Commission shall send a first report on the application and effectiveness of this Directive to the European Parliament and to the Council.

8 report from the commission to the council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the committee of the regions on the application and effectiveness of the directive on strategic environmental assessment (directive 2001/42/EC), Brussels, 14.9.2009 COM(2009) 469 final.

9 Study concerning the preparation of the report on the application and effectiveness of the SEA Directive (Directive 2001/42/EC) Final Study. European Union, 2016.

4. COMPARISON OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE IN EUROPEAN UNION (EU) AND NIGER

4.1. Criteria for Comparison

As mentioned before, there is no legislation or guideline regarding the SEA in Niger. That is why the comparison concerns only the European Union EIA Directive and the Niger Legislation on EIA. It is carried out based on the review of literature on theory and concept of mainstreaming CC in EIA and considering the key steps in the Procedure. The comparative analysis identifies the steps of the EIA procedures in which CC issues are taken into consideration.

These steps are: (1) screening, (2) scoping, (3) assessment and evaluation of the EIA, (4) project appraisal and (5) monitoring conditions.

The comparative study aims to highlight the similarities and differences with related to CC and EIA legislation in EU and Niger in the five steps cited above.

4.2. Results

Table 1 shows that the EU EIA Directive 2014/52 requires the CC mainstreaming in the three steps out of five chosen for the comparison i.e. the screening, scoping, and assessment and evaluation steps even though it does not provide any specific requirement regarding CC in the project appraisal and the project monitoring steps.

In contrary, Niger Legislation on EIA does not provide any requirement regarding CC mainstreaming in EIA procedure in the five steps considered for the comparison.

Table 1: Comparison of EU EIA Directive and Niger Ordinance 97-001 on EIA and its Decree 2000-397 on Administrative Procedure

CC mainstreaming in EIA steps	EU Directive 2014/52	Niger Ordinance Decree 2000-397	97-001	and
Screening	The risk of major accidents or disasters, including those caused by CC is one of the criteria to determine whether the projects listed in Annex II should be subject to an EIA	Nil
Scoping	A description of the factors likely to be significantly affected by the project including climate (GHG emissions, impacts relevant to adaptation); and the impact of the project on climate and the vulnerability of the project to CC are required (Annex IV)	Nil
Assessment and Evaluation of EIA Procedure	The Competent Authority assesses and evaluates the EIA based on the information required in Annex IV recalled during the scoping.	Nil
Project Appraisal	Nil	Nil
Monitoring Conditions	Nil	Nil

4.3. Discussions

The comparison of EIA legislations has enabled us to note two completely different systems, on the one hand, Ordonnance 97 001 and its implementing Decree 2000-397 of Niger which do not include any provision related to CC considerations in the EIA procedure and on the other hand, EU Directive 2014/52 which requires that these aspects be taken into account not only when defining the criteria for screening but also in the scoping and the assessment and evaluation of the EIA report by the Competent Authority. Though the EU Directive entered into force few years ago (2014), the MS had until May 2017 to transpose it into their national legislation.

Nevertheless, the adoption of the directive that takes into consideration CC itself constitute an important step to enabling GHG awareness of projects subjected to EIAs, assisting proponents in managing or reducing risks associated with CC and ensuring the public that CC issues are considered in projects development. However, neither changing climatic parameters nor thresholds or limits of GHG emissions requirements concerning the environmental assessment of projects in the EIA have been explicitly mentioned in the EU Directive. That opening could lead MS to have different views on the degree to which and how GHG emissions should be assessed and controlled in each project but a review of previous EIAs conducted under the former directive and national legislations could help them to understand these views and identify reasonable and practical approaches to GHG emissions at the project level.

As pointed out in the previous chapters, the implementation of this new paradigm is a major challenge to overcome despite the tendency that CC will continue to harm the environment and jeopardize economic development. One of these challenges is how to link the GHG emissions from an individual project to their impact on CC because of the huge gap in scale between the global climate and the local climate affected by individual project.

Despite the challenges raised, it is probable that an appropriate assessment of the impact of project on climate and its vulnerability to CC would lead to propose proper mitigation measures and consequently enhance the project's sustainability and lifespan considering the need for mainstreaming the climate change in environmental assessment is increasingly expressed worldwide.

5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusions

Nowadays, incorporating CC considerations in Environmental Assessment is largely recognised as a way for determining whether PPP are consistent with legal framework CC policies and international commitments and initiatives to manage GHG emissions but also a mean to assist proponents in using best practices that adapt to possible CC impacts, such as changes in the frequency or intensity of extreme weather events, increases in mean temperatures or altered precipitation patterns and amounts. This paper

discussed on how CC issues are addressed worldwide through environmental impacts assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in planning processes with a focus on the European Union legislations in order to identify perspectives for Niger. It also compared the current EIA legislation in EU and Niger to identify differences, and similarities related to CC mainstreaming in EIA in order to learn lessons and to propose some ways of improvement. The assessment of the two legislations revealed that while the EU Directive made provisions about the assessment of the impacts of the projects on CC as well as the vulnerability of the projects to CC, the Niger's EIA procedure follows the traditional approach of undertaking EIAs, which only focuses on the assessment of the impacts of proposed projects or activity on the environment. Moreover, CC mainstreaming is not sufficiently considered in the SEA Directive as the directive does not provide a well-established methodology and specific guidance for determining CC impacts and Niger EA legislation does not have any provision about SEA procedure.

It emerged from this study the need for an establishment of clear defined legal provision on SEA incorporating CC and a revision of Ordonnance 97-001 of 10 January 1997 on the institutionalisation of environmental impact assessments and its implementing decrees 2000-397 and 2000-398 to not only incorporate CC in the EIA procedure but also clarifying the scope of the EIA, categorising projects according to their scope and nature, improving the coordination mechanism of the EIA procedure, public participation and financing of environmental monitoring.

The following recommendations are proposed to the ministry in charge of the environment of Niger.

For the above-mentioned recommendations to be effective, it is important to define the different stakeholders and their responsibilities for the implementation of the actions. The proponent of the project for the revision of Ordonnance 97-001 on EIA and its implementing decrees and the proposal of a new draft bill on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) taking into account the CC dimension, will be the ministry in charge of the environment which has under its responsibility the Bureau of Environmental Evaluation and Impact Assessment (BEEIA):

However, there are also other key stakeholders such as the General Directorate of Environment and Sustainable Development (DGEDD), the National Council of Environment for Sustainable Development (CNEDD), other sectorial ministries, the Technical Committee for Verification and Evaluation of Texts (COTEVET) of the General Secretariat of the Government, parliamentarians members of the Environment and Rural Development Commission and civil society (NGOs and Consultancy firms) working in the field of environment and environmental assessment.

It is also important to recall that the review and drafting of legislative and regulatory texts require the involvement of experts in this field, in particular environmental assessment experts and jurists, and is mainly conditioned by the availability of the necessary financial resources to achieve the assigned objectives. Therefore, the recruitment of a consultant for the revision and elaboration of these texts is essential. With regard to financial resources, the State's budget and other partners of the ministry in charge of environment are the potential sources of funding for this project.

This committee housed in the General Secretariat of the Government has an important role to play in this project because it is responsible for verifying and evaluating the conformity of all bills or decrees with the constitution and other laws of the Republic before passing them to the government for adoption. In this

project, they will be sensitised about the need to integrate the climate dimension into the environmental assessment tools and the deficiencies hitherto found in the implementation of the existing texts.

These parliamentarians will be sensitized on the ins and outs of these draft texts and the integration of the CC dimension in the environmental assessment tools so that they defend and facilitate their adoption by the National Assembly.

The table 2 below gives details of the actions to be taken, the responsibilities of the stakeholders for the implementation and the risks.

Table 2: Actions to be carried out for the Implementation of the Recommendations

Actions	Responsables of actions	Risks
1. Elaboration draft texts by the consultant	Consultant	- Administrative slowness - lack of interest of the targeted actors -lack of financial resources to carry out the actions -mismatched schedule with the parliamentarians agenda	2. Two-day pooling workshop to collect comments on draft texts
BEEIA/DGEDD/CNEDD
Consultant
BEEIA/DGEDD/CNEDD
BEEIA/DGEDD/CNEDD



BEEIA/DGEDD/CNEDD

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