engleski

Problems of evaluation of immeasurable factors in the cost benefit analysis of Croatian environmental protection study

As required by the legislation of the Republic of Croatia (and also according to the laws of the European Union member countries), every major investment requires the elaboration of an Environmental Impact Assessment Study. An important part of such study is the presentation of the relation of socially-economic and ecologic indicators through a costs-benefit analysis. Every investment has both useful and harmful impacts on the environment. Direct implications (in the literature referred to as: measurable, financial, economic or market impacts) can be determined more or less exactly. The problems arise in the assessment and evaluation of the indirect impacts (in the literature referred to as: immeasurable, non-economic, ecological, non-market impacts). This paper presents some of the indirect costs assessment and evaluation methods as well as of the short-term and long-term impacts on the environment depending on whether we analyze the situation during the construction phase, or the situation in the phase of the utilization of the investment. Sustainable development requires productive investments that generate profit from which a part should be invested into the environmental protection as a condition for sustainable development, which, all together, constitutes a closed circle.

environmental impact assessment; EIA legislation; indirect impacts

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