Closing the Performance Gap: The Challenge for Cumulative Effects Management in Alberta's Athabasca Oil Sands Region

Abstract

This paper comments on the origins and record of the multi-stakeholder Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA) and the Regional Sustainable Development Strategy for the Athabasca Oil Sands Area, initiatives launched in the late 1990s to address the cumulative environmental effects of oil sands development in Alberta. There is clear evidence of a growing gap between expectations regarding these initiatives and their performance. Opportunities for closing this gap include improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of CEMA, a stronger role for the Government of Alberta in providing leadership and support, and attention to underlying obstacles to cumulative effects management.