Environmental impact assessment review
According to international standards and scientific best practice, any given physical development must be preceded by an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). EIAs help ensure that the environmental implications of decisions are taken into account prior to the authorization of those projects.
On Barbuda, domestic law (the Barbuda Physical Planning Act 2003) also requires that an EIA be conducted for any development. While EIAs should also be made public, the Antigua and Barbuda Department of Environment website only features a limited number of EIAs. In particular, there is no publicly available full EIA either for the Palmetto Point or Coco Point developments - a concerning fact because of the location of the Palmetto Point within the protected Codrington Lagoon National Park (CLNP), which was designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in 2005.
On World Wetland Day 2022, a group of United Nations Special Rapporteurs highlighted that "preparing environmental and human rights impact assessments prior to commencing activities near sensitive ecosystems and following their recommendations is absolutely essential." The Special Rapporteurs expressed their concerns with respect to the EIA for Palmetto Point, noting that "questions remain as to whether Barbuda’s population was meaningfully consulted, whether they gave their free, prior and informed consent at all stages of the project, and in specific, and whether recent additions to the project such as a golf course and the yacht marina were discussed."
Further, a case is pending before the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in which Barbudans are challenging the decisions of three government agencies to approve the airport construction in breach of planning laws and the failure to obtain a comprehensive EIA.
GENEVA, 2 February 2022 -- “Construction in fragile areas threatens natural environments including wetlands as well as aquatic and coastal ecosystems. It can also affect the human rights of the local population, including the rights to a healthy environment, food, drinking water and sanitation and cultural rights, especially if local people rely on the areas’ rich biodiversity for their livelihoods."
-- UN experts
Read more here.
Developing a methodology
Together with local and international partners, GLAN has started assessing the EIAs that are available for each of the developments on Barbuda, and continues to request the disclosure of the non-public EIAs. As in the case currently pending before the London-based Privy Council relating to the construction of the airport, certain fundamental questions come to the fore, such as the impacted communities' right to consultation prior to any major development receiving authorization. In addition, a systematic approach to the review of each of the EIAs allows GLAN and its partners to identify patterns and common deficiencies to be on the lookout for -- relating to the description of the "positive" impact the developments, the listed mitigation measures, or the references to existing scientific studies.
In this way, GLAN and its partners are developing an EIA review methodology which can be reproduced in similar physical development scenarios. Indeed, the elite tourism projects and the international airport on Barbuda - described as disaster capitalism efforts - are not the only ones of their kind in the region. In other Caribbean states, similar projects have been proposed or are already ongoing - whether it is another resort near Grenada's only wetland, construction of a cruise terminal and tourist village near Belize"s Barrier Reef and atolls, or other similar sites.
GLAN is reviewing international standards and scientific best practice for EIAs to produce a systematic analysis guideline document for any EIA relating to similar types of development. Such a guideline document will be able to assist future litigation efforts, both in Barbuda and beyond.
Potential impact of lack of an adequate EIA
Video -- Watch biologist and activist John Mussington explain how building a luxury tourism resort and 18-hole golf course on top of a wetland will irreparably alter the ecosystem of Barbuda - and why a proper, publicly available, EIA is required for such a project.