Climate change considerations in environmental impacts assessment (EIA) practices: learning from climate sensitive projects in Rufiji Basin Tanzania

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Abstract The assessment of climate change mitigation and adaptation in environmental impact assessment (EIA) practices has been mostly inconsistently addressed. Studies that use data validation from experts and relevant authorities to address the socio-political context that influence the process have been inadequate. This study aimed to bridge the gap by examining the extent to which climate change mitigation and adaptation in EIA practices in Tanzania have been considered and the broader social-political context that influence the process. A mixed research design employing sequential methods was adopted. Both primary and secondary data was used. Primary data was obtained from 22 environmental experts through a close-ended questionnaire and interview with six key informants, while secondary data was obtained from 19 EIA reports issued between January 2020 and January 2022. Purposive sampling was used to select key informants and simple random sampling was used to select environmental experts and EIA reports. Content analysis was employed to assess qualitative text data to generate descriptive information. Statistical Package for Social Sciences enabled the processing and analysis of quantitative data through frequencies and percentages. The findings revealed that 23.3% and 10.5% of reviewed reports considered climate change mitigation, and adaptation respectively, reflecting that the degree of consideration was low and was mainly limited to mitigation. A close link between the EIA legal frameworks and the EIA practices was observed and it was recommended for a review of basic frameworks to mandate and include details on climate change mitigation and adaptation assessment in environmental impacts assessment practices. The study recommends building capacity of experts and authority, preparing clear climate change assessment guidelines, and availing reliable climate data at the local level to facilitate modelling.

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