DEVELOPING GUIDANCE FOR SEA IN DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

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DEVELOPING GUIDANCE FOR SEA IN DEVELOPMENT
COOPERATION

• JON HOBBS
• Chairman
• OECD DAC TASK TEAM ON SEA

Workshop on Development and Environment. Beijing,
China March 21-22 2005
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Scope of presentation

• Key Concepts and Definitions
• Why are Development Agencies interested in SEA?
• What doing about it
• What makes a good SEA?
• A quick review of one initiative to consider if
  it was an SEA.and a good one.

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• WHAT DO WE UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF
  ENVIRONMENT?

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ENVIRONMENT ?

• Traditional
• The living and non living (biophysical) world
  around us and the goods and services it provides
• Environment is
• The biophysical, social, economic and cultural
  dimensions of our surroundings

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CHARACTERISTICS OF ENVIRONMENT?

• Multi dimensional
• Uncertain and Unpredictable
• Interconnected
• Dynamic

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Environmental Management Requires?

• Multi- disciplinary Problem Solving
• Balanced Integrated Decision Making
• Environment Development
• Social Economic Environmental
• Production Consumption (Life cycles)
• Local-Global
• Openness not secrecy
• Holistic approach
• Doing things differently

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Environment Gets?

• Territoriality
• Displacement activity
• Tokenism
• Avoidance Strategies
• Under-management
• Simple (Simplistic) Solutions

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CONNECTIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
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GROWING TRENDS WE CANNOT IGNORE

• Altered Bio-Chemistry
• Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
• Climate Change
• Accumulation of wastes
• Persistent Chemicals

• Declining Renewable
• Resources
• Energy crisis
• Freshwater Scarcity
• Food Shortage
• Soil Erosion
• Desertification

• Ecosystem Decline
• Wetlands
• Coral Reefs
• Coastal Zones
• Bio-Diversity
• Habitat

• Social Disintegration
• Underemployment
• Inequity
• Political Repression
• Family Breakdown
• Human Rights
• Gender Issues

• Over Population
• Population
• Migration
• Child Labour
• Urbanisation
• Resurgent Disease

• Persistent Deprivation
• Sanitation Health
• Illiteracy
• Access to water Energy
• Family Planning
• Shelter
• Poverty

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ROOT CAUSES OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS?

• MUST ADDRESS CAUSES NOT SYMPTOMS
• Technology and Policies
• Affluence and Attitudes
• Poverty

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ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION EXACERBATES POVERTY

• Poor are often
• Most vulnerable to stresses in their environment
• Natural Hazards
• Man made-
• pollution / conflicts
• Most directly dependent on the resources around
  them for their livelihoods.
• Most excluded from decision making and resources.
• .

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POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENT INTERLINKED

• Improved Environmental Management supports
• Livelihoods
• Reduces vulnerability
• Addressing poverty has environmental benefits
• Addressing environmental concerns has development
  benefits.
• Environment not an end in itself or separate
  consideration
• Env a means to address poverty and growth

Poor people part of solution not problem
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What does this mean for Environmental Assessment
and Management in a Developing Country?
THE DEVELOPING COUNTRY DILEMMA Cannot afford to
use modern technology with poor environmental and
social standards nor Uncritically import richer
countries environmental and social standards into
developing country situation Choice of
priorities approaches must be Developing
Countries.
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• BENEFITS OF POLICY
• LENDING?
• COUNTRY OWNERSHIP
• MORE ACCOUNTABLE
• GOVERNMENT
• LONG TERM PLANNING
• REDUCED TRANSACTION
• COSTS
• MORE EFFECTIVE
• GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS

THE CHANGING NATURE OF DELIVERING INTERNATIONAL
AID
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A MORE STRATEGIC APPROACH
Bilateral Development Agencies
International Institutions
Civil Society Private Sector
DEVELOPING COUNTRYS PRIORITIES
National Strategies
Policies, Programmes,Plans Projects
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1 SUCCESSFUL UPSTREAM ASSISTANCE REQUIRES
SHARED GOALS ?

• Mutually agreed goals and targets
• Millennium Development Goals

• National Strategic Frameworks
• Poverty Reduction or Development Strategies

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2 SUCCESSFUL UPSTREAM ASSISTANCE REQUIRESGOOD
GOVERNANCE

• Greater transparency, accountability and openness
• Strengthened government institutions
• Improved financial and budget management
• Fairer administrative and judicial systems
• Multi stakeholder participation
• Democratic accountability
• Protection of human rights
• Rule of law
• SUPPORTED BY RIGOROUS POLICY APPRAISAL

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WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL
PROFESSIONAL WORKING TO INTEGRATE ENVIRONMENT?
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The Decision Making Hierarchy
Sustainability
Sustainable Development
Instruments
SEA
Policy PP
Methods
ECO EFFICIENCY
Tools
EIA
Techniques
EMP
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EIA SEA
PROJECTS POLICIES, PLANS AND PROGRAMMES
WELL DEFINED PROCEDURES AND PRODUCT ORIENTED OUTPUTS ONGOING AND ITERATIVE PROCESS
REACTIVE INFLUENCE (AT BEST NO GO) (TOO OFTEN USED TO JUSTIFY EARLIER DECISIONS) POTENTIAL PROACTIVE INFLUENCE ON KEY POLICY CHOICES
LIMITED CONSIDERATION OF CONTEXT OF PROJECT CONSIDERS CONTEXT OF PROJECTS (helicopter view)
TENDS TO MITIGATE NEGATIVES SEEKS OUT OPPORTUNITIES
FOCUS ON DISCRETE PROJECT MORE LIKELY TO CONSIDER CUMULATIVE AND SYNERGISTIC IMPACTS (SYSTEMS APPROACH) (CIA a part of SEA but not sufficient)
CONSIDERS LIMITED ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERS BROAD RANGE OF SCENARIOS
REVIEWS AN EXISTING PROPSAL and HELPS PUT PPPs INTO PRACTICE HELPS DEVELOP AND APPRAISE PPPs
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Country Environmental Analysis CEA
Strategic Processes for Sustainability
Strategic Environmental FrameworkSEF
Regional Environmental AssessmentREA
Strategic Impact Assessment SIA
Comprehensive Options Assessment
Integrated Assessment IA
Integrated Trade Assessment
Poverty Impact Assessment PIA
Cumulative Impact Assessment
Sustainability appraisal SA
Strategic Environmental Analysis
Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA
Sectoral Environmental Assessment
Analytical Strategic Assessment ANSEA
Participatory Poverty Assessment
Integrated Environmental Assessment IEM
Policy Appraisal
Poverty and Social Impact Assessment PSIA
Strategic Overview
Energy and Environment Reviews EER
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Typology of SEA approaches
International
GEF-based studies
UNECE SEA Protocol EU SEA Directive
Nile Basin
Regional
Formal Near equivalents
Para SEA
Formal prescribed in international or national
EIA-type instruments Near equivalent processes
of environmental appraisal of policies/laws, and
broader SEA-type processes/methods Para SEA
Dont meet formal specifications or strict
definitions but share some characteristics or
elements and have same overall purpose
New UK ODPM Guidance on SEA
W Bank CAS PRSPs
Integrated land use Planning, NZ RMA
Canadian SEA of PPP Dutch E-Test Danish SEA of
Bills, etc UK policy/plan appraisal
Dutch SEIA
National
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CONTINUUM ADJUSTING THE RESPONSE TO THE NEED
POLICY
APPRAISAL
Need Integrating Environment
Need Understanding the linkages
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Strategic Environmental Assessment

• SEA is a family of tools for up-streaming
  environmental and social issues into development
  planning, decision-making and implementation
  processes at the strategic level.
• (Based on World Bank, 2002)

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How to do SEA?

• There is no ONE SIZE FITS ALL (Recipe)
• But there are common principles (Ingredients) and
  process elements (Ways to cook)
• Therefore many forms and shapes (Types of cake on
  menu)
• SEA is a family of tools all with broad common
  goals (Meal)
• Responses need to be flexible and adapted to
  needs and context of application
• Availability of resources (time, data)
• Early codification (straight jacket) is counter
  productive.

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• Selected key Guiding Principles of SEA
• Measures of success

• Integrated
• Identifies key environmental, social and economic
  effects and interrelationships, trade offs and
  policy implications
• Sustainability led or driven
• Identifies best practicable option for
  sustainable development
• Credible
• Involves robust, evidence based assessment
  using available methods.
• Comprehensive yet Focused
• Addresses the key issues (opportunities and
  constraints) pertinent to development
• Accountable and Transparent
• Well documented and subject to independent checks
  and verification
• Participative
• Involves interested and affected people including
  the poor and marginalised
• Outcomes oriented
• Delivers practical results/ benefits in terms of
  the development agenda.

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The Standard SEA Process

• Screening/ Scoping
• Agree need for an SEA and what to do/ preliminary
  scan of ppp
• Find stakeholders, start planning process
• Develop a shared vision on problems/objectives/al
  ternatives
• Do a consistency analysis new versus existing
  objectives
• Assessment (Gathering the info for decision
  takers)
• Set TOR for the assessment of alternatives
  identified
• Do the assessment and document it
• Organise independent quality assurance
• Decision making
• Discuss with all stakeholders the preferred
  option
• Make recommendations
• Monitoring the decision taken
• Monitor the implementation and consider the
  results

Plan
Do
Check
Act
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What value does SEA add?

• Better informed decision making
• Better prospects for sustainable outcomes
• Identifies the best development option/ pathway
• Delivering on MDG 7 is the overriding focus for
  SEA in Development Cooperation
• Makes AID more effective.
• Contributes to Good Governance
• Helps make Strategies more robust

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• Millennium Development Goal 7
• WSSD Johannesburg Plan of Implementation called
  for more integrated approaches to planning,
• WCD and EIR
• High Level Forum on Development Effectiveness
  (March 2005)
• PARIS DECLARATION ON AID EFFECTIVENESS

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OECDsDevelopment Assistance Committee (DAC)

• OECD (30-members) inter-government think tank in
  key areas of economic and social policies
• DAC (23 members) permanent body where bilateral
  donors work with multi-laterals towards
  coordinated, effective and adequately financed
  support to LDCs
• Environet Mainstreaming environment
• Key areas of activity Development effectiveness
  peer review -- policy coherence, evaluation, good
  practice reference papers and guidelines.

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Task Team on Strategic Environmental Assessment
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THE CURRENT STATUS OF SEA IN DEVELOPMENT
COOPERATION

• Increasing focus of interest and work for
  international development agencies
• Formal requirements for SEA established by the
  World Bank, ADB and others
• SEA is rapidly developing next stage in the
  decade-long process of mainstreaming
  environmental and social considerations.
• Much recent progress, but much to do to make SEA
  effective and widely applied
• Mostly being applied opportunistically- not
  routinely