Case study: Integrated Impact Assessment – Faroe Islands
The challenge
Before moving into new regions, oil and mining companies are under increasingly
effective global scrutiny to ensure that as much attention is paid to the host
community as to the physical environment. It is also increasingly apparent that
the social context can play an important part in determining whether, and at
what
pace, hydrocarbon and minerals exploration, development and extraction can
proceed.
Exploration and production in a new province always has an impact on the host
country and this is exacerbated when the host is a small and isolated state
with
both a unique way of life and a fragile ecosystem. In such cases - be it in the
Amazon, Sahara, North Atlantic, or elsewhere - it is necessary for an
extractives
company to do more than undertake a run-of-the-mill environmental impact
assessment (EIA). Instead it is advisable, and in some cases mandatory, to
commission
an Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) which examines the potential impact of
the
extractives business in a more holistic way.
Our client's requirement
BP commissioned Menas Associates, in association with the University of the
Faroe Islands, to prepare an independent study to identify the key issues that
might
arise from hosting an oil industry, and to make specific recommendations for
mitigation measures and for further studies. The role of the IIA was to survey
the
economic, political, social and environmental context within which a future oil
industry might operate, and to chart the principal impacts that might occur on
the Faroe Islands during the phase of oil-related exploration and production,
and
beyond.
Our approach
Led by our own small island specialists, Menas Associates brought together an
inter-disciplinary team of experts who – together with our Faroese counterparts
–
undertook extensive fieldwork and examined all the aspects of the issue in
great
detail before producing a two-volume report.
The first volume - see below - was presented to the Faroe Islands government
and
was then widely circulated within the local community. This was followed by
parliamentary and radio debates about the "Menas Report" which
enabled the
Faroese people to understand and appreciate the likely impacts of a future oil
industry.
The outcome
Although BP did not discover any oil and eventually left the Faroe Islands, the
legacy of the IIA was significant in deepening the understanding of all
stakeholders (the remaining IOCs, the host government and broader community)
about the
potential impact of an oil and gas industry in the Faroes. The “Menas Report”
has
also become a blueprint for similar studies in other potentially fragile
societies around the world.
See attached report:
Open PDF...
Regions covered
Island states
Services provided
Integrated impact assessment