ABU DHABI, UAE – The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has introduced the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) planning program in line with UAE’s Year of Sustainability.
SEA will aid in evaluating environmental impacts and guiding the investigation of alternatives and potential mitigation and monitoring efforts associated with strategic projects, plans and development programs.
The program will promote sustainable development and a healthy environment for future generations, while also supporting the national strategic target of Net Zero by 2050.
The SEA program is in accordance with UAE Federal Law No. 24 of 1999, which gives EAD the authority to request an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for projects or facilities.
The SEA program is a form of impact assessment study.
The decree signed by the Board of Directors in 2022 provides EAD the authority to request an SEA not just for projects and facilities but also for master plans, development programs and strategies implementation.
Faisal Al Hammadi, Executive Director of Environmental Quality Sector at EAD, said that the SEA ensures that environmental considerations are taken into account during the initial design phase of projects, plans, and programs.
The program focuses on studying alternatives to find the best possible scenario that maintains the balance between environmental protection and economic and social development.
It also helps offset negative environmental effects such as greenhouse gas emissions, to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
The SEA program allows for the study of alternative project designs and implementation approaches, guiding the development of proper mitigation measures and environmental management plans that prevent or reduce any associated environmental impacts.
The SEA applies to all sectors responsible for developing master plans, strategic projects and development programs.
It mainly applies to government and semi-government entities, but it may also apply to other key strategic projects.
As part of the EAD-managed process, an Environmental Management Framework has been developed to guide the client on the steps forward.
The framework defines project objectives, identifies roles and responsibilities, ensures that training programs are in place and sets the requirement for environmental monitoring and audit.
After the assessment is complete, the clients need to start implementation of the environmental management framework to ensure successful implementation of SEA recommendations.
An SEA report offers several benefits, including the prevention, reduction, and offsetting of negative environmental effects such as air pollution, land contamination, and climate change, among others.
The report helps avoid impacts to critical and environmentally sensitive habitats, declared or proposed protected areas.
The report provides early warnings of potential cumulative impacts and enables access to a wide range of alternatives to minimize the cumulative environmental impacts of projects, plans, or programs.
It also ensures wide consultation and engagement with the concerned government authorities at an early and effective stage.
An SEA ensures that the significant environmental effects of implementation are monitored, which enables the early identification of unforeseen adverse effects, allowing appropriate remedial action to be taken, where necessary.
During the development of the SEA program, an extensive benchmarking study was conducted, involving many countries and organizations in the region and globally, including the UK, Hong Kong, Canada, South Africa, Australia and Lebanon.
SEA is a structured and proactive multi-phase process that includes a screening phase to determine if it is required.
A scoping phase to define the SEA report’s scope of work, a phase for stakeholder engagement, and an assessment and preparation phase.
This includes an assessment of impacts, a study of alternatives, and the setting of mitigation measures and review of the SEA by EAD.
This is followed by the decision-making phase, which will result in the acceptance or rejection of the proposed project, plan, or program based on the SEA’s outcomes.
Then the monitoring phase of SEA recommendations and their efficiency in protecting the environment.
To ensure that the regulated community is aware of EAD’s requirements, a detailed training program has been developed.
The training will be delivered in a series of workshops, with the training material and recorded training video available online.
EAD will provide training to Environmental Consultancy Offices (ECOs) and amend their registration requirements to ensure that the consultancies are capable of successfully conducting an SEA report.