Forum: cumulative effects assessment state-of-the-art

Abstract

This paper reflects on the current state-of-the-art of cumulative effects assessment (CEA), monitoring and management, highlighting recent advances in regional science supportive of CEA practice, the expansion of practice to include non-regulatory regional-scale applications of CEA, and the uptake of CEA across diverse development sectors. We address how the role of CEA is rapidly evolving as an environmental justice tool, as a core component of environmental governance and planning, and as a means to protect Indigenous rights and territories. We also explore how the global shift to renewable energy sources and the related demand for critical minerals is a real and urgent opportunity to get CEA right.