METAP-PAP/RAC training module on ICZM

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METAP-PAP/RAC training module on ICZM

• Module 2 Strategic environmental assessment
  (SEA) in coastal zone management

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1. What is SEA?

• What is SEA?
• What are its objectives?
• What are the methods?
• What is the outcome?
• What are the limitations and risks?
• How does SEA work in ICZM?

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2. SEA Definition

• Strategic Environmental assessment
• is the systematic and comprehensive process of
  evaluating the environmental effects of a policy,
  plan or program and its alternatives.
• Source The Practice of Strategic Environmental
  Assessment, by Riki Thrivel and Maria Rosario
  Partidario, 1996

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SEA looks answers to 5 questions

• What are the potential direct and indirect
  outcomes of the proposal?
• How do these outcomes interact with the
  environment?
• What is the scope and nature of these
  environmental interactions?
• Can the adverse environmental effects be
  mitigated?
• What is the overall potential environmental
  effect of the proposal after opportunities for
  mitigation have been incorporated?
• Source Canadian Guideline on SEA, 2000

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SEA 5 reasons to follow SEA in ICZM

• aims for sustainability
• brings stakeholders together
• helps towards systematic planning
• considers environmental impacts
• works as a tool for mitigation

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5 reasons why SEA is often NOT applied yet in
planning

• requires systematic planning
• requires transparency
• requires stakeholder participation
• requires for environmental considerations
• requires a change in values, attitudes and use of
  resources

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3. Environmental policy and SEA

• Many general environmental agreements and
  conventions include a requirement for
  environmental assessment
• Biodiversity Convention 1992
• or a request for public participation
• World Charter For Nature 1982

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Convention on EIA in a Transboundary Context
1991(The Espoo Convention)

• UN/ECE
• one country has to inform those countries that
  are potentially going to be affected and invite
  them to participate
• a protocol on SEA under preparation in connection
  with the Espoo Convention

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The EU SEA directive

• EU SEA directive aims at
• preservation, protection and improvement of
  environmental quality
• protection of human health
• prudent and rational utilisation of natural
  resources
• based on the precautionary principle

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The EU SEA directive

• The SEA directive requires the integration of
  environmental considerations into plans and
  programs which set a framework for future
  development.
• The instrument for assessing environmental
  consequences of plans and programs is the SEA

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The EU SEA directive

• Sustainable Development as guiding a principle
• DefinitionTo cover the needs of the present
  generation without compromising the possibility
  of future generations to cover their needs.

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The EU SEA directive Plans to be considered are
strategic plans in

• Energy
• Waste
• Industry (including mineral extraction)
• Telecommunications
• Tourism
• Transport infrastructure (including transport
  corridors, port facilities, airports)
• Urban and country planning
• Land use
• Water resources management

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The EU SEA directive

• Plans and programs have to be changed, if
  necessary, in the light of environmental
  information.
• This information is best provided by means of a
  systematic approach, i.e. by SEA

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Mediterranean regional policies

• presentation by PAP/RAC

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Non-binding support

• OECD Environmental Strategy 2001
• enhances public participation in decision making
• financing bodies World Bank 2002

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Environmental Policy national level

• In order to be implemented, the policy has to be
  defined and substantiated by
• Environmental legislation
• Regulations (standards, guidelines etc.)
• Enforcing agencies

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Environmental Policy

• Important soft issues
• capacity (in public agencies, private firms,
  NGOs) training
• public awareness education

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Short presentations

• SEA in national legislation and environmental
  policy in the participantscountry (ies)

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Towards SEA

• Reasons and motivations for SEA

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SEA a sustainability element in decision making

• The SEA, in assessing effects, has to take into
  consideration the following three dimensions and
  their interlinkages
• economic
• social
• environmental

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SEA making a planning process more logical and
broadly approached

• It helps
• to look at interlinkages between economic,
  ecological and social aspects
• to weigh different alternatives
• to build scenarios
• to cope with risk assessment

• It uses
• existing information
• models
• expert opinions
• experience
• common sense
• public views
• decision makers needs

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SEA raising public awareness

• the public is informed
• the public is activated
• the public is taken into the planning process
• the public includes the stakeholders, the general
  public living in the area and anyone interested
  in the matter

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SEA for historical reasons

• EIA (environmental impact assessment)
• CIA (cumulative impact assessment)
• IEA (integrated environmental assessments)
• participatory planning
• participation in decision making

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Environmental impact assessment (EIA)

• Aims
• identify potential environmental impacts of a
  project
• identify mitigation measures
• provide opportunities for the public to get
  information and to present their views

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EIA

• Objectives
• identifies projects that are environmentally
  unacceptable
• finds ways to mitigate their adverse
  environmental impacts
• provides material for decision making process
  (EIA, permits etc.)

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EIA

• Conditions
• institutional framework
• information on the local environment
• information on the project (plans)
• tools for the assessment

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EIA

• Main steps
• deciding whether the activity needs an EIA
• planning the EIA its scope and content
• informing the public and hearing their views on
  the EIA plan
• carrying out the assessment
• informing the public on the EIA result, hearing
  their views on it
• decision making process

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EIA

• Tools
• existing information
• models
• expert opinions
• experience
• common sense

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EIA

• Limitations, risks
• predictions of a future situation
• results of computer models considered as true
• political issues in the decision process
• EIA is limited to a specific project

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EIA

• Important questions
• how to deal with issues where there is great
  uncertainty?
• how to integrate the assessments of social,
  economic and ecological issues?
• how to identify the relevant information from a
  massive database?
• how to get the decision makers to take the
  outcome into consideration?

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The Planning Hierarchy

• The main steps with which to deal

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Planning Hierarchy 2

• Who is doing What in Planning?

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Planning Hierarchy 3

• Environmental Assessment and Environmental
  Management related to the various steps in the
  Planning Hierarchy.

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SEA
EIA
Environmental Management and Monitoring (EMM)
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Planning Hierarchy 4

• An example from the
• IVZM Sector

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EIA applying models
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CIA

• Cumulative Impact Assessment
• considering not only a specific project, but also
  other projects (already realised, planned, to be
  implemented independently from the project, a
  condition for the project or a consequence
  thereof)
• focus on a region (e.g. river basin) instead of a
  specific site

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IEA

• Integrated Environmental Assessment
• an approach for research to assess different
  issues (e.g. eutrophication, tourism,
  agriculture) simultaneously to show the issue in
  a more comprehensive way for the decision maker
• it often includes the use of indicators
• and development of scenarios

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Participatory planning

• A planning approach or philosophy which includes
  all interested parties (stakeholders)
• Special emphasis is on participation of the
  public, i.e. the population living in the project
  area and/or affected by it

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Participatory planning

• Stakeholders
• owner or author of the project
• involved authorities
• planners and contractors
• project beneficiaries
• project affected persons (PAPs)

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Participatory planning

• Tools
• pubic hearings
• participation of PAP representants
• making reports available publicly
• legal grievance system
• not only giving information, but also receiving
  it and taking it seriously

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Participation in decision making

• Variation I people are informed of a decision
• Variation II people are informed of the process
  before the decision is made
• Variation III people may participate in the
  process before the decision making (planning the
  decision)
• Variation IV people may participate in the
  decision making (agreeing on the decision)
• Variation V people may appeal against the
  decision

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Case presentation

• motives and reasons for carrying out SEA in an
  ICZM process in the country of the participant

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SEA step by step

• including a strategy for participation and
  assessment into the ICZM planning process
• It should include
• the aims, timing, methods for participation in
  each step members of planning groups the
  importance and function of the participation
• in which stages alternatives are analysed
• how to collect and distribute information
• methods, timing and reporting of the entire
  assessment

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Steps

• Preparation of a state of the environment report
• use previous material
• list strengths, weaknesses, threats and
  opportunities

• Study environmental impacts of existing ICZM
  plans
• from monitoring results

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SEA steps

• Include a vision for sustainable development for
  the region

• Integrate environmental aspects to the contents
  of the ICZM plan

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SEA steps

• Report of the assessment
• this can be linked with the plan or provided as a
  separate report

• Monitoring
• include a monitoring programme for the ICZM plan
  and to its SEA elements

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SEA challenging questions

• the applicability of assessments
• timing
• tiering
• alternatives
• specific assessment methods and approaches
• reporting
• public participation

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SEA and awareness building

• SEA is a planning tool where participation plays
  a major role
• to reach active and fruitful participation,
  public awareness is needed
• on the planning process
• on the participatory process
• on the coastal zone setting
• on the issues to be assessed

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SEA and awareness building

• awareness is also the basis for political will to
  carry out and take into account the results from
  an SEA
• awareness and participation go hand in hand
• awareness motivates to participate
• participation adds up on awareness capacity

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Discussing in groups

• how to link awareness building and participation
  into SEA in ICZM

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SEA and planninghow to tie the two together
OR
OR
planning and SEA integrated
planning
planning
SEA
SEA
decision
decision
decision
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SEA and planning how to tie them together

• plan the SEA when you plan the planning process
• include same people into the planning and the SEA
• ideally SEA can be fully integrated into the
  planning process so that
• SEA provides information that is relevant to the
  planning
• SEA provides information at the time when it is
  needed

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Key issues in capacity building for SEA

• political will
• public awareness
• information used, analysed and provided
• linking ecological and social data with
  economical data
• special needs in local, regional and national
  level
• special needs of decision makers, authorities,
  organisations, entrepeneurs, local people

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SEA main caution

• There is no single best methodology for
  conducting a Strategic Environmental Assessment
  of a policy, plan or program proposed.
• Source Canadian SAE Guideline

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SEA

• What to do for carrying out an SEA? This depends
  on
• the policy, plan or program at hand
• the type(s) of environment to be affected
• the socio-economic situation in the area
• there is no single best way, every case has to be
  considered separately.

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SEA points to be addressed

• Effects on the environment to be determined
  include the consideration of
• secondary,
• cumulative,
• synergistic,
• short, medium and long term,
• permanent and temporary,
• positive or negative effects.

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SEA main questions
Frequency and duration Will the effect be a one-time only occurrence? Will it be a short-term or long-term effect?
Location and magnitude Will it be local, regional, national or international in scope? What is the anticipated scale of the effect?
Timing Is the effect likely to occur at a time that is sensitive to a particular environmental feature?
Risk Is there a high level of risk associated with the effect, such as exposure of humans to contaminants or pollution, or a high risk of accident?
Irreversibility Is the effect likely to be irreversible?
Cumulative nature Is the effect likely to combine with other effects in the region in a way that could threaten a particular environmental component? Source Canadian Guideline on SEA, 2000
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SEA limitations

• in comparison with an EIA, SEA is not limited to
  one specific project
• therefore, it is a more comprehensive approach
• this also means that it is less precise
  (precision decreasing, the higher in the planning
  hierarchy we are)

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SEA risks

• projections of a future situation since we do
  not know all the conditions, we have to accept
  that such a projection will never be completely
  true!
• errors in the assessment
• acceptability of results in the face of these
  uncertainties

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SEA what to do?

• What can be done to face these risks?
• use the best possible database for making
  assessment
• provide a range of a potential outcome instead of
  precise values
• lay assumptions open
• seek consensus (participatory approach!)

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Literature

• SEA directive
• http//europa.eu.int/comm/environment/eia/home.ht
  m
• REC material
• http//www.rec.org/REC/Programs/SofiaInitiatives/
  EIA/Policy.shtml
• Mikulic, Nenad Jiri Dusik recent developments
  of strategic environmental assessment in central
  and eastern Europe.2000
• scientific articles
• Cherp, A. Environmental assessment in countries
  in transition Evolution in a changing context
  2001(Journal of environmental management)
• World Bank
• Strategic Environmental Assessment in World Bank
  Operations Experience to Date, Future Potential
  (Kjörven O. H. Lindhjem) Strategy Series 4 May
  2002- WB. Environment Department