Implications of COVID-19 restrictive measures on democratising environmental governance through EIA in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 restrictions have so far managed to weather the pandemic and avert an unmanageable public health crisis, but the same restrictions are undermining access to public participation rights which are the ‘heart’ of a rights-based environmental governance. Using data collection procedures motivated by phenomenological research, this study explores the implications of Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 restrictions on public participation during environmental impact assessment (EIA). The objectives of this research study were to understand the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on public access to environmental information; public participation during environmental decision making; and access to administrative justice on environmental matters during EIA. Research findings show that lack of new EIA regulations to guide EIA public participation during the pandemic aggravated a roll back to the era when human rights related to the environment were ranked as petty third generation rights. In view of this, it is argued that, for EIA’s to realize one of its intended objectives (promotion of democratic environmental governance), Zimbabwean authorities should move away from the ‘new normal rhetoric’ and modernize the public participation process with inclusive consultative platforms. This research recommends future researches to assess how Covid-19 restrictions had affected access to substantive environmental rights and environmental democracy.