The Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) Guidelines for FAO Field Projects address both mitigation and adaptation issues, with a focus on identifying practices that could increase vulnerability to climate change.
The guidelines also request that in the screening process, potential impacts of a project on biodiversity be examined, as well as impacts on plant and animal genetic resources.
October 2011: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Guidelines for FAO Field Projects, which include climate change and biodiversity considerations. The FAO EIA guidelines include: a screening tool to identify projects that may require a fully-fledged EIA; guidance to FAO staff on EIAs; FAO standards for documenting and reporting; and roles and responsibilities in conducting an EIA.
On climate change, the guidelines address both mitigation and adaptation issues, with a focus on identifying practices that could increase vulnerability to climate change. The guidelines establish that the EIA may investigate whether adaptation should be a significant factor in the design of a field project.
On biodiversity, the FAO guidelines recall basic policy requirements that aim at limiting the impact of projects on biodiversity, including limiting the use of alien species, taking into account farmers’ traditional rights for diversification and conservation of genetic resources, and avoiding extraction of biotic and abiotic resources. The guidelines provide a checklist on sectors and disciplines, including biodiversity. The guidelines further request that, in the screening process, potential impacts of a project on biodiversity be examined, as well as impacts on plant and animal genetic resources. [Publication: Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines for FAO Field Projects]