Why serve soup with a fork?: How policy coherence for development can link environmental impact assessment with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) re-focused development cooperation on universal and transformative development aimed at improving the quality of life of people in all world regions, while simultaneously conserving natural resources. Critics, however, have correctly questioned whether appropriate policy methods and tools exist for the adequate implementation of transformative development. These challenges are even more significant given that the implementation of the SDGs falls to nation-states. This article asks “Can the transformative development promoted by the SDG’s be achieved through the policy tools presently utilized by nation-states, such as environmental impact assessment (EIA)?” The study responds to this question through a critical examination of EIA in Mexico in relation to mining. Empirical analysis focuses on the proposed Caballo Blanco open-pit mine in Veracruz state. The case can be considered critical because it is often presented as a success, given that a broad coalition of actors prevented the mine from opening through activities directed at EIA. This article questions this narrative because it shows how EIA actually can undermine transformative development through the use of cost-benefit logics. The article concludes that policy coherence for development (PCD) can potentially support EIA as a methodology through which transformative development can be promoted. PCD can improve the “normative effectiveness” of EIA when used as an evaluation criteria. Otherwise, EIA may undermine the implementation of the SDGs which would be comparable to serving soup with a fork.