Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) - the concept, general procedures and application in geothermal resource development

Abstract

The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) concept is a rapidly evolving approach at the level of policies, plans and programmes aimed at sustainability. The multi-stage approach is gaining popularity as a legal requirement in several countries and can be seen as an extension of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) to facilitate strategic decision making. Recently, SEA approaches have also been introduced by multilateral and bilateral donor agencies and by other international development organisations. As with EIA, these "conditionalities" are becoming an important part of SEA practice in developing countries and a vector for their wider introduction and adoption for domestic applications. This paper provides a detailed description of the SEA process and its application in a geothermal resource expansion programme in Kenya; key recommendations from the SEA indicate that the programme is sustainable if mitigation measures are implemented to the later