Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
Sadler and Verheem (1996)[1] define Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as the formalized, systematic and comprehensive process of identifying and evaluating the environmental consequences of proposed policies, plans or programmes to ensure that they are fully included and appropriately addressed at the earliest possible stage of decision-making on a par with economic and social considerations.
Since this early definition the field of SEA has rapidly developed and expanded, and the number of definitions of SEA has multiplied accordingly. SEA, by its nature, covers a wider range of activities or a wider area and often over a longer time span than the environmental impact assessment of projects.
SEA might be applied to an entire sector (such as a national policy on energy for example) or to a geographical area (for example, in the context of a regional development scheme). SEA does not replace or reduce the need for project-level EIA (although in some cases it can), but it can help to streamline and focus the incorporation of environmental concerns (including biodiversity) into the decision-making process, often making project-level EIA a more effective process.
SEA is commonly described as being proactive and ‘sustainability driven’, whilst EIA is often described as being largely reactive.[2]
- ↑ B. Sadler and R. Verheem, “Strategic EIA: Status, Chal- lenges and Future Directions,” World Bank, Washington, 1996
- ↑ Convention on Biological Diversity 2010: What is impact assessment?
