EIA system performance explained by actor capacity: A comparative case study of EIA on gold mining in Ghana

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a “systematic and integrative process” (Wood, 2003) in which an investor, the proponent, is legally obliged to produce an assessment of the environmental (and in some cases social and/or economical) impacts of a proposed activity in a report to the competent authority containing project design details and mitigation measures to prevent or reduce negative impacts. In this way EIA aims to ensure that environmental implications of decisions are taken into account before decisions are made. This research focuses on the hypothesis by Kolhoff et al. (2009) that the low performance of the EIA system in developing countries is a result of the gap between the ambitions as laid down in legislation and the capacity of actors in the EIA system. Ghana is selected as the focus country for this research because, as a low to middle income country with an ambitious EIA legislation but low EIA performance (Kolhoff et al., 2012), it suits the aims of this research. The central research question for this study is: To what extent do actor capacities influence EIA system performance in Ghana? The EIA system is defined in this research as the EIA regulations and the capacities of the actors involved (Kolhoff et al., 2009). EIA system performance is measured in terms of achieving the goals of EIA: to contribute to well-informed decision-making and environmental protection. The definition of capacity for this research is formulated as the set of attributes or abilities that help an actor to achieve its goals. The actor capacities identified in this research are: ownership, power, knowledge, resources, network, leadership and adaptability. This research focuses on establishing a measurable relation between the effect of actor capacities on the performance of the EIA system in Ghana. After establishing the conceptual framework and operationalizing the conceptual framework in relation to the Ghanaian EIA process, two case studies are analyzed using the operationalized conceptual framework: the Ahafo South project and the Nzema project, two large-scale gold mines in Ghana. Based on a comparison of the results for the two cases and an analysis of current developments in Ghana’s mining sector, the main conclusions with regard to the effect of actor capacity on EIA performance are that the capacity of ownership, defined as the ability of an actor to identify with EIA process goals, is a key determinant with regard to EIA system performance. Furthermore, it is established that, when an actor possesses limited knowledge, resources and/or network capacity, the actor is hampered in its goal attainment. With regard to leadership, a collaborative interaction style is associated with high EIA system performance, though this is a co-varying relationship rather than n explanatory relationship. With respect to adaptability it is shown that if an actor, when faced with resistance, exhibits a shift in the use of knowledge, resources and/or network, then this actor shows high goal attainment. IF the actor’s goals are aligned with EIA process goals, the resultant effect is high EIA performance; if the actor is not oriented towards EIA goals, the effect is low EIA performance.