Guest Speaker Series: Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA): Legal and Institutional Gaps in Armenia

About the Event:

Understanding the environmental and social impacts of business operations is an essential pre-requisite for the development and introduction of a system of environmental management. It is impossible to manage environmental and social impacts in the absence of methods for measuring their severity, significance, and locational characteristics. Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is a procedure for predicting, analyzing, and evaluating the impacts of a proposed action on the environment and ensuring that information regarding these impacts is taken into account in decision-making. Dr. Avagyan will focus on legal and institutional gaps in Armenia in adequately using ESIA’s as an environmental governance tool in Armenia.

About the Speaker: 

Dr. Hmayak Avagyan is an environmental expert with over 16 years of experience. His work has included environmental and social impact and risk assessment, auditing, and management during preparation and implementation of power transmission and distribution, heat supply, renewable energy, agricultural, landfill, mining, construction and urban development projects in Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. He also participated in the development of implementation guidelines for applying EIA provisions for mining projects in Armenia. His environmental decision-making documents have been adopted by the WB, EBRD, ADB, USAID and UNDP. Dr. Avagyan obtained his engineering PhD in 2003 from the State Engineering University of Armenia (now, National Polytechnic University of Armenia).

Language: English