Water

Dams and Development E-Paper Contents

p. 29 of 74 BACK | NEXT Home Page of Dams and Development Foreword I. Why an e-paper on dams and development? II. Assessing options III. Participatory processes IV. Social impacts V. Environmental impacts Strategic environmental assessment International environmental conventions Environmental flows Cumulative impacts Cultural assessments Health assessments Greenhouse gas emissions Mitigation measures Hydropower industry's approach What do ADB policies say? VI. Benefit distribution VII. Dam safety and sustainability VIII. Existing projects IX. Improving governance X. What other organizations say XI. ADB, Dams, and Development XII. References Contact Us

How can problems be identified earlier? - Strategic environmental assessment

The International Association of Impact Assessment characterizes SEA as:

'A good-quality Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process informs planners, decision makers and affected public on the sustainability of strategic decisions, facilitates the search for the best alternative and ensures a democratic decision making process. This enhances the credibility of decisions and leads to more cost- and time-effective EA at the project level'.

SEA has entered into mainstream processes in Europe through a protocol of the UN Economic Council for Europe, was a recommendation of the World Commission on Dams and technical guidance on SEA is under preparation by the World Bank.

For details see:

• Guidance from the International Association of Impact Assessment
• Protocol on SEA - UN Economic Council for Europe
• SEA Directive of the European Parliament
• WCD Guideline on Strategic Impact Assessment
• World Bank Technical Paper
• South African Guideline Document on SEA

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