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Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

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existence of a strong lobby could be more important than flexibility within the<br />

Government. In response, Ms. Zaamwani turned the assertion over to any of<br />

the environmentalists gathered at the workshop.<br />

The representative of Greenpeace said that as a practical<br />

environmentalist, he recognized the problems that arise by insisting on a fullblown<br />

Environmental Impact Assessment before any surveys or work had<br />

been carried out. On his own behalf, he said that this requirement was not<br />

practical.<br />

Ms. Zaamwani was asked about the level within the company at<br />

which the decision on the environmental impact assessment is given. This<br />

participant pointed out that in the United States environmental analyses are<br />

treated in a different way than full-blown Environmental impact assessments.<br />

This participant said that there are certain specified activities that lead to an<br />

automatic request for an environmental impact assessment because the<br />

activities are of public interest or there is a specific issue at stake. He said that<br />

otherwise, if the local mining manager decides that there is no need to go on<br />

the full-blown EIS immediately, the manager provides a statement to that<br />

effect. He said that the license would be granted on that basis. He also said<br />

that every time the mining company moves on to a different set of activities it<br />

is required to provide an EIA. He said that when it appears that there is a<br />

potential for damage, the full-blown EIA is then requested. This participant<br />

wanted to know if the current practice in Namibia considered this approach.<br />

Ms. Zaamwani said that she thought that the Act imposes the<br />

obligation on the senior management of the company to make the decision<br />

because if anything went wrong the directors would be held responsible. She<br />

said that in most cases, companies contract an independent consultant to<br />

make that assessment and submit these findings to the Ministry.<br />

It was suggested that since there are different levels at which one<br />

could assess what is about to happen to the environment, and that this<br />

approach is utilized in the UK for example, the Government of Namibia could<br />

consider this approach, thereby alleviating the scale of the EIA.<br />

INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 787

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