Rob Verheem 2011
EIA & SEA: a short state of the art
Adaptation Fund 19 June 2011
What is NCEA?
• independent knowledge institute on EA
since 1987
• 100% subsidized by Dutch government
• The Netherlands: EA quality review
• International cooperation: supporting EA
systems of Dutch partner countries
NCEA key activities
• Quality review
• Capacity development
• Knowledge center
NCEA partners
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OECD
World Bank
African Development bank
NORAD, Danida, Sida
International Association for Impact
Assessment
What is Environmental Assessment?
OECD DAC:
• analytical & participatory approach
• to integrate environmental considerations
into planning & decision making
• to evaluate the inter linkages with
economic and social considerations.
EA = EIA & SEA
• EIA = EA at project level
• SEA = EA at strategic level
How does SEA relate to EIA?
Policy
Plan
SEA
Programme
Projects
EIA
Acronyms
EIA = assessment of projects
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• Social and Environmental Assessment
• Integrated Environmental Assessment
SEA = assessment of policies, plans, sector reform
• Strategic Environmental Assessment
• Strategic Social & Environmental Assessment (SESA)
Why is EA used?
• Objectives most mentioned in practice:
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to identify better opportunities
to prevent costly mistakes
to build stakeholder commitment
to reduce poverty more effectively
to prevent conflicts
EA & the Paris Declaration
Development agencies and partner
countries jointly commit to:
• strengthen the application of EIA
• develop and apply common approaches
for SEA
Legal status world wide
EIA:
• legally mandatory in all countries
• mandatory in multilateral institutions & development
banks
SEA:
• mandatory in all developed countries & World Bank
• fast growing in developing countries and most
development banks
How to do EA?
• EIA: reasonably uniform approach world
wide
• SEA: many forms and shapes; tailor
made depending on context
What are key elements of EA?
dialogue
information
enforcement
What are key elements of EA?
incl. gender,
CSO
vulnerability
transparency,
risk, scenarios
accountability
How to manage EA in practice?
decisions influence dialogue
information
Issues for the AF
• How to reduce the risk of maladaptation:
EA to compare alternatives
• How to increase stakeholder
engagement: covered by any good
practice EA
• When to require EA: check e.g. IFC &
when country regulation requires it
Issues for the AF
• Who should pay: proponent of the project or
the plan
• Work load of AF secretariat: reduced, when
quality review part of the EA
• How to include gender issues: can easily be
included in EA, but no easy answers
Costs and delays
Cost and time involved in EA are:
– cost and time of analysis
– cost and time of stakeholder engagement
– cost and time of inter agency cooperation
– cost and time of communication with
politicians
Possible next steps?
• A closer look at:
– EA requirements of multilaterals
– EA requirements of recipient countries
• Match with:
– requirements and limitations of the AF
(secretariat)
Possible support of NCEA
www.eia.nl:
–EA information
–country profiles (EA regulation)
–case studies
–links to EA sites of multilaterals