ID: 62
Presenting Author: Fernanda Veronez
Status: pending
This paper analyzes how Environmental Impact Statements in Brazil communicate (or fail to communicate) environmental impacts, revealing systemic barriers that foster misinformation and opacity.
Communication is a key element in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), ensuring that findings are transparent, accessible, and relevant to both decision-makers and the public. However, in Brazil, communication practices in EIA remain weak and inconsistent. This paper presents the results of a document analysis of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) to assess how environmental information is shared with the public. The findings reveal a pattern of excessively exhaustive reports, filled with unnecessary details and lacking focus on the project’s potentially significant impacts. Rather than communicating clearly, many EISs obscure relevant information in technical language and voluminous content, making it difficult for non-specialists to understand. This study highlights systemic barriers that hinder transparency and public trust, exposing how poor communication undermines the purpose of EIA as a participatory decision-support tool. Areas for improvement include preparing studies that prioritize relevant information, particularly those related to significant environmental impacts, and adopting clearer and more accessible formats for communication. By discussing these limitations, the paper underscores how misinformation, even when unintentional, can negatively affect the transparency, legitimacy, and credibility of the EIA process in Brazil.
Professor at Federal Institute of Espirito Santo - Brazil
Coauthor 1: Ana Paula Dibo
Coauthor 2: Juliana Siqueira-Gay
Coauthor 3: Luis Sánchez