Ultimately, the enhancement we need to deliver through environmental assessment is confidence that every approved undertaking will move us positively towards a desirable and durable future. In Canada, the most promising steps in this direction have been in several major project assessment reviews with public hearings and independent panels that applied a contribution to sustainability test. The most recent and advanced case is the review of a proposed C$16.2 billion natural gas infrastructure undertaking in the Northwest Territories. The Panel’s application of the contribution to sustainability test compared the cumulative effects, equity and legacy implications of a range of project pace and scale alternatives. The Panel concluded [...]
