Proposal for the Inclusion of Sustainability Principles and Criteria in the Environmental and Sociocultural Impact Studies (EIASC) in Venezuela

Propuesta de Inclusión de los Principios y Criterios de Sostenibilidad en los Estudios de Impacto Ambiental y Sociocultural (EIASC) en Venezuela

Abstract

A proposal for the Inclusion of Sustainability Principles and Criteria in the Environmental and Sociocultural Impact Studies (EIASC) in Venezuela was developed, proposing a new complementary approach to the current Environmental Impact Assessment methodology, as well as the introduction of sustainability concepts. such as the Earth Charter, Sustainable Development Goals, Ecological Footprint, Climate Change, among others, in order to recover this instrument as a preventive and predictive tool in decision making during the early phases of project design. For this purpose, a bibliographic review was carried out on the concept of sustainability in the existing legal framework in Venezuela. Likewise, the content of the main chapters of the EIASC was reviewed to identify opportunities for improvement, and the Bellagio Principles were applied to evaluate the sustainability of the EIASC instrument in Venezuela. Based on the findings and results obtained, new concepts and approaches were proposed for each chapter that can be applied in the preparation of new EIASC, as well as the next steps to follow at the methodological and institutional level.