“Fragile and sensitive environments exist all over the world, from mountains to coasts and deserts to ice. How do we know whether our activities can respond to this sensitivity or whether they will permanently damage the environment? We wanted to make it easy for our staff to determine what the risks are and how to handle them,” says Joseph Attwood NRC Environment and Climate Change Adviser.
Environmental Impact Assessment, or EIA, is a process that is used all over the world over to assess the possible damage that an activity can have on the environment. It is a process that reviews the sensitivity of the environment and looks at the impacts coming from a project. It then calculates and determines the limits that need to be applied to ensure that there is no permanent damage to the environment. This could be the quality of a drinking water source, it could be people living in a town or it could be wildlife in a forest.
Humanitarian operations are one such activity that could have a negative impact on the environment.
“It is essential that we ensure that these activities that may harm the environment are limited so that the environment and the people that rely on it are protected,” says Attwood.
A simple survey lets the aid worker determine the risks to the environment.
The app “NEAT” (the Norwegian Refugee Council Environmental Assessment Tool) is an innovative mobile phone based ‘app’ that has been developed to help those working to implement humanitarian operations understand the sensitivities of the environment they are working in. NRC staff can use it to plan their operations with these sensitivities in mind. NEAT also informs and educates so that users can learn and adapt their responses to suit the need. NEAT is a step away from the usual lengthy process of environmental impact.
“NEAT has been designed specifically to enable environmental issues to take their place at the forefront of decision making. Its user friendly interface makes it simple for NRC field operatives to keep environmental protection in mind when designing projects. Environmental protection is essential in building resilience and reducing conflict,” he says.
