3. Strategic Asessments Flashcards
The need to apply IA to …. led to the development of SEA
strategic levels of decision-making
SEA?
impact assessment process aims to mainstream environmental, social, economic, health issues and ensure sustainability of strategic decisions
process inform planners/decision-makers/affected public on sustainability of strategic decisions
facilitates search for best alternative
ensures democratic decision-making process
enhances credibility of decisions
leads more cost + time effective EAs at project level
- support informed, integrated decision-making
- contribute to enviro. sustainable development
- reinforce project EA
formal process of systematic analyses of the enviro. effects of development policies, plans, programmes, other proposed strategic actions
systematic and comprehensive process of evaluating at the earliest possible stage the enviro. effects of a policy, plan or programme and its alternatives
Best-practice/SEA principles
integrated
sustainability-led
focused
accountable
participative
iterative
integrated
addresses interrelationships biophysical, social, econ
tiered to relavant sector policies, transboundary regions, project EA, decision-making
ensures appropriate EA of all strategic decisions relevant to achieve sust development
includes consideration of social, health, other effects
+COMPREHENSIVE SCOPE should cover all levels, types of decison-making likely to have significant enviro.,etc. impacts
sust-led
facilitates identification of development options and alternative proposals more sustainable
how development options/proposals contribute toaward enviro. sustainable development
focused
sufficient, reliable, usable info for development planning and decision-making
+DECISION-RELEVANT
should focus on infor/issues relevant in decision-making
+FIT-FOR-PURPOSE
should be customised in context/characteristics of policy/plan making
+OBJECTIVE-LED
process refers enviro. goals/priorities
key issues of sust development
customized to decision-making process
cost-time effective, should achieve objectives within limits of available policy, info, time, resources
accountable
responsibility of agency leading strategic decision
rigor, balance, fairness, impartiality
independent verifications
documents on justification how sust issues were take into account in decision-making
+TRANSPARENT; clear, understood requirements, procedures
participative
informs, involves public/government bodies throughout decison-making process
adresses inputs/concerns
clear, easy understood info requirement
ensures access to info
should provide appropriate level of public information and involvement
iterative
assessment results available ealry so can influence decision-making process, inspire future planning
sufficient info on impacts or implementaing strategic decision to judge whether decision should be amended, provide basis for future decisions
Different SEAs forms
- Policy SEA:
review of government actions broadly (existing or proposed) - Sector plan/programme SEA
review of development/investment program for particular sector, series of projects, cumulative effects - Spatial plan/regional SEA
reiew of multi-sector development/investment programs for particular region or land-use plan for one area - issue-based (factors for specific issue-climate change)
- temporal - social/econ change
- technological
- standard project- framework/class assessment
–> not one-size-fits-all, addresses all levels and tyoes of strategic decision-making
Different SEA models
a. EIA-based
b. Environmental appraisal
c. Dual-track system
d. Integrated policy and planning system
e. Sustainability appraisal
General guiding practice SEA
-should begin as early as can, before irreversible decisions are made
-purpose = inform decision (NOT a study)
-examine alternatives to identify opportunities to reduce enviro. effects
-flexibility in SEA, according to context
-use of existing mechanisms to conduct assessment, involving public, evaluating performance, reporting result
-provide right info at right time for decision-making
-review, document outcomes of SEA process
-appropriate form of analysis, compare major alternatives, use methods relevant/consistent task, gains vs. losses
Policy vs. plan vs. programme
–> challenge terms overlapping, mean different things in different countries, often no clear distinction between them
Policy:
guiding intent, defined goals, objectives, priorities, proposed direction. what is being done
–> SEA looks at the formal, not informal
Plan:
strategy/design of actions, incorporate policy (ways to implement it)
Programme:
schedule of proposed commitments, activities, instruments to be implemented within or by a particular sector/area of policy
SEA vs. EIAs (general)
EA on its own not enough (only includes small number of proposals), downstream end of decision-making process
SEAs rounds up, scales up coverage from projects to policy, plans, programmes, strategic decisions (greater diversity-multi-stage process encompassing spectrum of approaches, diverse arrangements/procedures/methods). addresses issues upstream in decision-making process, helps focus/streamline EIA of projects
–> gets at the source of enviro. impacts (rather than treating symptoms only)
–> extends the aims/principles of EIA upstream in decision-making process, beyond project-level and when major alternatives can still be considered
–>SEA NOT replace project EIAs
SEA as a proactive tool
anticipates and prevents enviro. damage caused by sector policies and plans
key objective: provide early warning of large-scale and cumulative effects (including those resulting from many smaller-scale actions that not assessed in EIA)
proactive approach to integrating enviro. considerations into higher levels of decision-making, consistent with its principles
