Henrieta Martonakova ([e-mail])

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Henrieta Martonakova(henrieta.martonakova_at_undp.
org)
Strategic Environmental Assessment for
Environmental Mainstreaming
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Presentation Outline

• Brief introduction to SEA
• Latest developments
• - in region
• - UNDP
• SEA and Biodiversity
• SEA and Adaptation to Climate Change

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• SEA Range of analytical and participatory
  approaches to integrate environmental
  considerations into policy, plans and programmes
  and evaluate the inter linkages with economic
  and social considerations (OECD, 2006)
• not a single, fixed and prescriptive approach
• largely principle-based
• continuous, iterative and adaptive
• applied throughout the entire decision-making
  process
• focused on strengthening institution and
  governance
• adapted and tailor made

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SEA is not

• An approach for mainly developing environmental
  strategies, programmes and action plans, but
  rather for developing area based and sectoral
  plans, which take account of the objectives
  formulated in environmental strategies,
  programmes, etc.
• A responsibility of the environmental ministries
  and authorities but rather of sectoral ministries
  and authorities responsible for area strategic
  development (regional government, municipality,
  etc.)

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SEA Up-streaming environmental considerations
into the decision-making hierarchy
Source OECD. 2006. Applying Strategic
Environmental Assessment Good practice Guidance
for Development Co-operation.
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Key entry points for SEA in country development
processes
Lead authorities Focus area/entry point Instruments (e.g.)
National Government and Cross-Sector Ministries (e.g. Departments of Finance/Planning) National-level overarching strategies, programmes and plans National Policy reforms and Budget Support programmes Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) MDG-based National Development Strategies Development Policy Lending
Sector or Line Ministries (e.g. Mining, Health, Agriculture) National sectoral policies, plans or programmes (e.g. energy or health sector reform) Infrastructure investment plans and programmes Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Sector Budget Support Sector Policy Lending Loans Equity investments
Sub-national, regional and local Governments National and sub-national spatial development plans and programmes Technical assistance and investment
International/trans-boundary agencies Trans-National plans and programmes Technical assistance and investment
Source OECD. 2006. Applying Strategic
Environmental Assessment Good practice Guidance
for Development Co-operation.
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SEA is effective if

• Integrates environment in a cross-cutting manner
  to other sectors
• Address broader social concerns is not only
  environment
• Is a process integrated within the broader
  strategic national development planning process
• Is adapted to national government specificities,
  and ensures capacity needs assessment and
  capacity building
• Encourages broad and effective participation to
  ensure local ownership and innovation in the SEA
  process
• Is reliable and relevant
• includes economic and financial analysis of
  costs and benefits of policy measures

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SEA in Europe and the CIS region

• EC SEA directive in force from July 2004
• UNECE SEA Protocol
• - Signed by EU and SEE countries, Armenia,
  Georgia,
• Moldova Ukraine
• Ratified by Albania, Bulgaria and Czech Republic
  (in ECIS
• region)
• Accession indicated by Azerbaijan, Belarus and
  Kazakhstan

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Belgrade SEA Initiative

• Invited to be adopted by the Belgrade conference
  by Armenia, Belarus and Moldova
• Main objective to support capacity development
  in EECCA
• Priority actions related to Protocol
  implementation issues in EECCA
• Development of effective SEA procedures
• National transposition of the Protocol
  requirements
• Development of appropriate SEA guidelines
• Developing necessary capacities for SEA
• Evaluating SEA processes
• Explaining benefits of SEA to decision-makers
• UNDP, UNECE and REC partnership
• Initiating the Belgrade SEA Strategy
• Organizing the' SEA side event at the Belgrade
  conference

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OECD DAC Guidelines and Reference Series
Strategic Environmental Assessment Applications
in Development Co-operation

• Produced by the OECD DAC Network on Environment
  and Development Co-operation Task Team on
  Strategic Environmental Assessment.
• Task Team co-chaired by UNDP and Department for
  International Development (DfID), with over 25
  partners
• Task Team received 2006 International Association
  for Impact Assessment Institutional Award for aid
  agency cooperation.

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UNDP SEA Implementation Plan

• .supporting UNDP environmental mainstreaming
  agenda
• Outcomes
• Supporting SEA application in development and
  implementation of (MDG-based) national and
  sub-national development strategies, policies,
  plans and programmes
• Supporting SEA application for integrating
  environment and energy aspect into the UN and
  UNDP programming
• Capacity development for SEA implementation both
  in countries of the region and within UNDP staff

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UNDP comparative advantage for SEA support

• Long and strong tradition in working with
  national and local governments since they are
  responsible for applying SEA in development of
  national and sub-national strategic documents
• Wide and well established environmental portfolio
  (referring to GEF in particular) creating
  opportunities and entry points for SEA
  application on one hand and providing good
  substantive input for analytical part of the SEA
  process (needs assessment, impact assessment,
  etc.) on the other hand
• Strong involvement of UNDP in the framework
  national and regional development programming
  (e.g. UNDP Crimea Integration and Development
  Programme and UNDP Upper Drina Regional
  Development Programme)

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BRC SEA Focus

• Support to the Belgrade SEA Initiative
  implementation
• Capacity development for SEA application in the
  countries as well as within UNDP
• Regional SEA training for trainers (South
  Caucasus and EE)
• On-line SEA training for UNDP staff under
  development
• SEA pilot projects Azerbaijan (spatial
  planning) Crimea (regional development strategy
  preparation)
• Awareness raising on SEA benefits and potential,
  and on entry points for its application
• Capacity development of COs in SEA application
  (training, fact sheets, guidelines)
• Identification of potential national SEA
  interventions / projects and their implementation
• Resource mobilization for national SEA
  interventions / projects and their implementation

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Areas for COs support

• Awareness raising on SEA benefits and potential,
  and on entry points for its application
• Capacity development of COs in SEA application
  (training, fact sheets, guidelines)
• Identification of potential national SEA
  interventions / projects and their implementation
• Resource mobilization for national SEA
  interventions / projects and their implementation

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SEA for mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change
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SEA for Mainstreaming Adaptation to CC

• Draws upon guidance in the Adaptation Policy
  Frameworks for Climate Change (APF) and in the
  OECD DAC Guidance on SEA
• Objective
• To support national development priorities
  through
• improved policies, plans and/or programmes.
• support climate change adaptation mainstreaming
• leverage SEA frameworks in place

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Rationale for SEA and APF combination

• SEA supports the integration of adaptation
  measures and strategies simultaneously with other
  environment concerns national and sub-national
  development and sectoral strategies, policies,
  plans and programmes
• More systematic consideration of climate change
  adaptation in strategic development planning
  processes as SEA is supported / required by
  national and even international legislation in
  many countries, expanding the usership of the APF
  
• APF strengthens SEA by providing the explicit
  steps necessary for integrating future climate
  change risks and adaptation into the SEA process,
  helping to ensure that development policies and
  plans do not increase risks to the target system
  in the long term

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SEA basic stages

• Establishing the context for the SEA
• - Screening
• - Setting objectives
• - Identifying stakeholders

2. Implementing the SEA - Scoping (in dialogue
with stakeholders) - Colleting baseline data -
Identifying alternatives - Identifying how to
enhance opportunities and mitigate impacts -
Quality assurance - Reporting
3. Informing and influencing decision-making -
Making recommendations (in dialogue with
stakeholders)
4. Monitoring and evaluating - Monitoring
decisions taken on the policy, plan or
programme - Monitoring implementation of the
policy, plan or programme - Evaluation of both
SEA and the policy, plan or programme
Source OECD. 2006. Applying Strategic
Environmental Assessment Good practice Guidance
for Development Co-operation.
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SEA approach for adaptation mainstreaming-
examples of adaptation-related questions for each
SEA stage

• Stage 1 Establish the context for the approach
• What development objective(s) or outcome(s) are
  sought?
• Are the objectives in line with national
  environmental
• objectives and sustainable development policies?
• What kind of information is available on
  environmental
• challenges, climate change vulnerability and
  projected
• impacts, and what does the information suggest?
• On which time horizon are climate change risks
  expected?
• Who are the stakeholders and how should they be
  engaged
• in the SEA approach to Adaptation?
• Is there a need for institutional strengthening
  and capacity building
• on the SEA approach to Adaptation?

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• SEA approach for adaptation mainstreaming-
  examples of adaptation-related questions for each
  SEA stage
• Stage 2 Implement the approach
• What are the relevant criteria and indicators for
  the assessment?
• What methods should be used to assess future
  vulnerability and
• adaptation needs, characterize future
  climate-related risks, etc.?
• What impacts will climate change likely have on
  the effectiveness
• of the policy, plan and programme, and the target
  population?
• What impacts will the policy, plan or programme
  have on
• environmental sustainability and development
  outcomes?
• What responses (options) would reduce climate
  risks impacts
• and improve development outcomes?
• What are the barriers, costs, and impacts of
  those options?
• Are the views of stakeholders being included in
  the process?

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• SEA approach for adaptation mainstreaming-
  examples of adaptation-related questions for each
  SEA stage
• Stage 3 Inform and influence decision-making
• What are the main conclusions on adaptive
  measures?
• Are there adequate mechanisms for these to be
  reflected in the
• policy and decision-making process?
• Are financial resources sufficient to implement
  the activities
• identified as needed to ensure sustainability and
  other
• development outcomes?
• Stage 4 Monitor and evaluate
• What is the strategy for reviewing, monitoring
  and evaluating
• impacts?
• What indicators will be used for monitoring? How
  will they be
• tracked?

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SEA may be applied for mainstreaming adaptation
in case of

• Applying adaptation at national, sub-national and
  sectoral level (not at the project level)
• Countries having legal obligations to apply SEA
• Countries developing capacity for SEA application
  by implementing SEA pilot projects

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Next steps for completing combined SEA APF
approach

• Identify pilot projects for testing the approach
• Revise the SEA approach to Adaptation methodology
  based on the gained experience
• Publish and disseminate the SEA approach to
  Adaptation guidance, case studies,
• Organize training
• Draft technical paper on merging SEA and APF
  is available at EEG Staff Work Space
• http//content.undp.org/go/bdp/eeg/Strategic-
  Environmental-Assessment

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SEA for Mainstreaming Biodiversity
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Overall objective of SEA

• To ensure that the conservation and sustainable
  use of biodiversity is pursued as a fundamental
  objective of strategic decision-making.
• To both advocate, to raise awareness of
  biodiversity issues, and to facilitate
  integration with environmental, social and
  economic considerations

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Biodiversity triggers for SEA

• Attention required when
• area affected by a policy, plan or programme
  known to provide one or more important ecosystem
  services
• policy, plan or programme concerned with
  interventions producing direct drivers of change
• policy, plan or programme concerned with
  interventions affecting indirect drivers of
  change (e.g. trade policy, poverty reduction
  strategy, tax measures)

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Examples of plans likely to require biodiversity
considerations

• Poverty Reduction Strategies
• National Park Management Plans
• Offshore oil and gas licensing plans
• Catchments or watershed management plans
• Waste Management Plans
• National or regional development plans
• Sectoral development plans, e.g. for mining,
  tourism, transport, water resource management,
  farming, forestry
• Integrated coastal zone management plans
• Housing strategies

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SEA has a mean to

• build biodiversity objectives into plan
  development
• provide an opportunity for those with an interest
  in, and responsibility for,
• biodiversity to influence plan-development
• identify biodiversity-friendly alternatives
• focus on the longer term and larger scales
• consider all the threats affecting biodiversity
  in an area, enabling identification
• and assessment of cumulative threats and impacts
• suggest effective mitigation strategies to ensure
  no net loss of biodiversity
• throughout the development and implementation of
  plans, allowing sufficient
• lead-time to ensure that effective mitigation
  can be put in place
• establish monitoring to provide necessary
  biodiversity data and to enable
• remedial measures to be taken.

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SEA and the Convention on Biological Diversity

• SEA requirement of the Convention (article 14,
  par. 1b)
• Each Contracting Party, as far as possible and
  as appropriate, shall introduce appropriate
  arrangements to ensure that the environmental
  consequences of its programmes and policies that
  are likely to have significant adverse impacts on
  biological diversity are duly taken into account
• Response to this requirement Voluntary
  Guidelines on Biodiversity-Inclusive Impact
  Assessment

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Examples of biodiversity-related questions for
each SEA stage

• Establishing the context for the SEA
• Is the plan likely to have a significant effect
  on biodiversity?
• What are relevant environmental / biodiversity
  policies and objectives and does the plan
  conflict with any of these?
• Which biodiversity experts need to be involved?
• 2. Implementing the SEA
• What are the main biodiversity implications of
  the plan and its proposed
• activities?
• Do existing objectives for biodiversity
  incorporate all important biodiversity
• interests relevant to this plan?
• What data on biodiversity exist and who holds
  them? Are there additional data requirements to
  understand biodiversity impacts?
• What are impacts on biodiversity associated with
  this plan and
• alternatives?
• What opportunities are there for avoiding impacts
  on biodiversity?

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Examples of biodiversity-related questions for
each SEA stage

• 3. Informing and influencing decision-making
• Has consultation influenced the content and
  direction of the plan to benefit biodiversity
  interests?
• 4. Monitoring and evaluating
• What indicators/measures are to be used as a
  basis for monitoring biodiversity issues and who
  will be responsible for data collection?
• Is there a high level of uncertainty about
  predicted impacts or plan outcomes for
  biodiversity? If so, recommend monitoring to
  reduce uncertainty.

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Sources

• Information on SEA and EIA for biodiversity,
  including case studies can be found in the
  Toolkit for
• Capacity Building for Biodiversity-inclusive
  Impact Assessment
• at
• http//www3.webng.com/jerbarker/home/eia
  toolkit/overall/home.html

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Voluntary Guidelines on Biodiversity-Inclusive
Impact Assessment

• Endorsed by the eight meeting of the Conference
  of the Parties to the CBD in Curitiba, Brazil
  (20-31 March 2006)
• Developed from initial applications of SEA and
  from initial practice lessons
• Guidance on whether, when and how to consider
  biodiversity in both project- and strategic-level
  environmental assessments
• Consider SEA as an approach for improving
  integration of national biodiversity strategy and
  action plans and national development strategies
  and promote the establishment of clear
  conservation targets through national
  biodiversity strategy and action plan process