How Robust is Executive Summary in an Environmental Impact Assessment Report for Decision-making: An Indian case-study

Abstract

Executive summary part of an environmental impact assessment report has not received the attention of EIA researchers and professionals even though it is the only part that is often read by most of the stakeholders including decision makers in place of the main report. It is very important that the executive summary is written in a simple non-technical language highlighting key issues and findings from the detailed EIA study while being crisp especially in the developing countries where a large number of development projects are proposed for the economic development and the decision makers are under pressure of time. Executive summaries of 34 EIA reports of different project sectors and prepared by different consultants were evaluated. It is found that these have low robustness, are long, incomplete, and do not justify the term ‘executive’. Guidelines are proposed for comprehensive, effective and objective executive summary to aid decision making.