ID: 1792
Presenting Author: Yirabari Nulog
Session: 615 - Public trust in regulatory systems and environmental assessment.
Status: pending
Compares Nigeria and Canada to show how transparency, participation, and information integrity shape public trust in environmental assessment.
Environmental Assessment (EA) regimes should ensure informed decision-making, accountability, build public confidence in environmental and development governance. Notwithstanding, weak communication, poor disclosure, and a lack of transparency continue to erode public trust in this regulatory systems. Building on ongoing PhD research comparing the Nigerian and Canadian Environmental Impact frameworks under the lens of human rights, public participation and environmental justice, this paper examines how proper communication and efficient information management in EA processes can shape perceptions of acceptability, equity, and ecological justice. The study examines how information management impacts peoples’ trust and the realisation of environmental rights. Adopting a human-right based approach; it examines the Nigerian Environmental Impact Assessment Act, and Canadian Impact Assessment Act. SC 2019. Findings reveal that in Nigeria, misinformation, restricted access to project data, and tokenistic consultations perpetuate cynicism and enthrone exclusion, while in Canada, the gains of participatory provisions have been eroded by the provisions of the Building Canada Act, 2025. The submission is that the integrity test of an EA includes open and sincere communication, transparent community involvement, and the adoption of their views, rather than just legal and technical processes. The conclusion is that building trust in EA requires stronger legal assurances for accessibility of information, and honest integration of community knowledge and regulatory literacy.
Yirabari Israel Nulog, Doctoral Student, Dalhousie University, Researches Environmental Justice, Human Rights, and Environmental Assessment in Nigeria & Canada
Coauthor 1: Yirabari Nulog