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Interesting take on sustainability on Colombian Development

Interesting take on sustainability on Colombian Development Picture from Colombia where Dewhurst will work on a geothermal project
Francisco Rojas 16 Jul 2014

Kara Dewhurst defends the effectiveness and practicality of social impact assessments (SIA) in the initial stages or geothermal development as a way to ensure success by talking about her company´s operations in Colombia.

As reported by ThinkGeoEnergy last month, Kara Dewhurst gave an explanation of social impact assessments (SIA) and their relevance for the geothermal industry and more particularly on Dewhurst’s operations in Colombia. 

In a recent article published in Renewable Energy Website, she provides more details on the subject, stating that SIA are very common in other sectors similar to geothermal yet this sector does not utilise SIA’s as much as it should and also blaming their uneven regulation among other issues.

Regarding the benefits that SIA can provide, She states that “Most projects outline an environmental management plan (EMP), and in some cases an environmental and social management plan (ESMP), which again suffers from a lack of attention paid to the social component. SIA can help mitigate the direct negative human impact of the project, but often political resistance to the project is a much larger problem that can be costly and even derail a project before it begins. A well-organized resistance movement can receive national attention, and attract international NGOs and human rights groups, especially where indigenous populations are involved.”

Appropriate CSR should tackle both the social concerns alongside with the environmental ones in order to be successful.

To read the full article, follow the link bellow:

Source: Renewable Energy World Website