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.
