The Public Participation Shifting of Environmental Impact Assessment During Covid-19 Outbreak

Abstract

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not only about development and protecting environment, but also about public participation during all the process. It is not an exaggeration that public participation is claimed as one of the key indicators of the effectiveness of EIA. Therefore, even in pandemic conditions while development still must go on at the same time, public participation can be avoided in the EIA process. In a wide range of international arrangements and national regulation, there are several guidance in accommodating public participation such as the Aarhus Convention 1998 and Indonesian national regulation. This article compares and analyses those legal procedures in mitigating unexpected conditions. The result shows that both of them are still feasible to be applied even in abnormal circumstances. Some barriers are identified especially related to implementing advanced technology. Therefore, how these aspirations are conveyed and accepted must be done in various alternative ways.