Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

parts of the process, so it should be done with full awareness of the 
potential benefits.
The analysis of the collected information should reveal the 
areas which have the greatest weight, which significantly influence 
the process in general, or which require immediate action to 
prevent irreparable harm. There are many known methods to 
set priorities, and it is better to choose several of these methods 
because they give an opportunity to consider the process from 
different perspectives.
One of the most widespread methods is comparative risk analysis 
of population health, environ mental protection and quality of living 
conditions. Problems are ranked taking into account the selected 
criteria and mutual agreement on the acceptable level of risk.
Environ mental impact assessment is carried out in order to 
decide on what the consequences will be if nothing is done to change 
the existing situation and on what will be achieved through specific 
measures.  Both  of  these  borderline  cases  are  very  important  –  if 
they show that an action of a relatively small impact can be carried 
out relatively easily with few resources, it could be taken on to 
achieve rapid success, which would also earn public recognition and 
decrease the likelihood of unforeseen side results. Conversely, if a 
serious problem cannot be solved or the situation cannot even be 
improved by using all the available and potential resources, then it 
is better to divert resources to other targets.
All possible choices need to be analysed for their impact on the 
environ ment, costs and social implications. Impact on the environ-
ment involves two groups of issues: assessment of the effectiveness 
of a choice if the objective is achieved and the potential unforeseen 
impact on the environ ment. Even if it is not possible to predict the 
consequences of each action, it is desirable to determine many of 
them.  Although  each  situation  is  unique  in  a  sense,  much  can  be 
learned from others, using their experience.
Problems can be sorted 
in order of importance by 
several criteria:
 
Œ how much the 
pollution levels exceed 
the standards;
 
Œ how big the costs of 
environmental damage 
elimination will be;
 
Œ what the expected 
expenses for health 
care or other important 
areas are.

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