Journal of Environmental Management ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]] The role and functioning of environmental assessment: Theoretical reflections upon an empirical investigation of causation Matthew Cashmore à , Alan Bond, Dick Cobb InteREAM, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7TJ, England Received 2 October 2006; received in revised form 27 April 2007; accepted 19 June 2007 Abstract Environmental assessment is an intriguing policy phenomenon: it is employed in an ever-increasing range of contexts the world-over, yet research indicates it rarely efficiently or effectively achieves its principal purpose of promoting sustainable development. Increasingly, practical limitations in the effectiveness of environmental assessment are attributed to its theoretical shortcomings, particularly in relation to the conception of causation. This research advanced debate on environmental assessment by examining the theoretical implications of an empirical analysis of its causal operation in purposefully selected cases. The causal models derived from the research data illustrate the diversity of mechanisms through which environmental assessment can contribute to sustainability, and provide an insight into the complexity and contextuality of causation in the empirical realm. The research findings also highlight a multiplicity of societal expectations concerning environmental assessment’s contribution to sustainable development. It is concluded that the interplay of non-rational variables (such as power, agency, experiences and expectations) necessitates the pursuit of a reflexive accommodation of purposes, methods and context in environmental assessment practices. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Environmental assessment; Policy appraisal; Causation; Sustainable development; Governance 1. Introduction Environmental assessment—a collective term for forms of policy appraisal that address the probable environmental and social outcomes of human actions—is an intriguing policy phenomenon. Originating from vague aspirations espoused in the US National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the scale and rapidity of its institutionalisation is remarkable. It is now routinely employed in the appraisal of trade negotiations, poverty reduction strategies, government policies, and regional and local development initiatives in more than 100 nations and by various bilateral, multilateral and interna- tional organizations (Dalal-Clayton and Sadler, 2005; Eur- opean Commission, 2005; Russel and Jordan, 2006; Wood, 2003). Yet despite the remarkable institutionalisation of environmental assessment, empirical evidence indicates that its effectiveness in promoting sustainable development— which is generally interpreted to be its primary purpose (Glasson et al., 2005)—is limited (Cashmore et al., 2004; Taylor, 1984; Wood and Jones, 1997). A further characteristic of the phenomenon is that environmental assessment is a singularly theoretically underdeveloped field of endeavour (Lawrence, 1997). Increasingly, the twin issues of limited effectiveness and theoretical impoverishment are perceived to be linked (Cashmore, 2004; Dalkmann et al., 2004; Deelstra et al., 2003). Causation in environmental assessment (put simply, the causal mechanisms and outcomes through which it contributes to sustainable development) is a central focus of contemporary debate upon theory and effectiveness, albeit often unwittingly. The causal model that has underpinned mainstream practices since its inception developed from the modernist notion of ‘speaking truth to power’. Environmental assessment was envisaged as a tool that promoted sustainable development by generating scientific data which apolitical stakeholders (usually public administrators) used, alongside other information, to make rational design and approval decisions (Nilsson and Dalkmann, 2001). This was to be achieved predominantly ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman 0301-4797/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.06.005 à Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 1603 593797; fax: +44 1603 591327. E-mail address: m.cashmore@uea.ac.uk (M. Cashmore). Please cite this article as: Cashmore, M., et al., The role and functioning of environmental assessment: Theoretical reflections upon an empirical investigation of causation. Journal of Environmental Management (2007), doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.06.005