Podnebne spremembe v okoljskih presojah : med normativno zahtevo, metodološko odprtostjo in investicijskim tveganjem

slovenian

2026

volume 52, issue 5

Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

The article examines the integration of climate change into environmental assessments, in particular strategic environmental assessment, environmental impact assessment and appropriate assessment of effects on protected areas. It proceeds from the finding that climate change is already recognised in the international, European and Slovenian legal frameworks as a legally relevant element of spatial planning and permitting procedures. Nevertheless, its treatment in practice remains methodologically inconsistent, often too narrow and insufficiently connected with issues of long-term, cumulative and indirect impacts. The central thesis of the article is that environmental assessments provide an appropriate legal framework for integrating climate change considerations, but that their effectiveness depends not only on the normative framework, but above all on the quality, timeliness and methodological consistency of the assessment. Climate change cannot be treated as an ordinary environmental factor, as it encompasses issues of greenhouse gas emissions, climate resilience, land use, natural carbon sinks, biodiversity and future climate-related risks. The article specifically emphasises that an inadequate treatment of climate-related factors not only reduces the effectiveness of environmental assessments as a preventive instrument of environmental protection, but also gives rise to environmental, nature-conservation, public-law, intergenerational and investment-related risks. These risks may materialise in the form of requests for supplementary documentation, delays in procedures, project modifications, stricter financing conditions, legal disputes or the annulment of permits already issued. The essential challenge for the future development of environmental assessments is therefore no longer whether climate change should be integrated into assessments, but how to ensure its early, scientifically substantiated, verifiable and legally robust consideration.

12.10.2026