Strategic Environmental Assessment For Transport

This report examines recent experience in developing environmental assessment internationally and makes recommendations on maximising the effectiveness of this new tool.

This report contributes to the development of effective procedures for incorporating adequate environmental assessments in all strategic transport sector decisions.

This report makes recommendations for good practice bringing the results of economic appraisals and environmental assessments before decision makers in the transport sector on the basis of reviews of recent experience in infrastructure planning and policy development in seven countries.

Assessing the full scale of environmental impacts is essential for effective planning of transport and land use. This is an analysis of transport and land-use planning using strategic environmental assessment (SEA). It establishes the effectiveness of SEA through comparative studies of practice in three countries: Britain, the Netherlands and Germany. The author shows that use of SEA is widespread but far from systematic. He demonstrates the advantages of adopting a systematic application of a comprehensive form of SEA derived from all the major current approaches. Only once this approach is fully understood and systematically applied will all the full benefits be achieved and environmental impacts be minimalized.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. This new book takes a nuanced look at building a sustainable transportation infrastructure and provides an overview of the harmful effect of various modes of transportation on the environment. The environmental impact of transportation is significant. Transportation is a major user of energy, it burns most of the world's petroleum, and is the fastest-growing contributor to carbon dioxide emissions. Although environmental regulations in many countries have reduced the individual vehicle's emissions, this has been offset by an increase in vehicles on the road and airways.

The practical application of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is becoming increasingly common. A growing number of SEAs are being undertaken around the world, and several countries have issued guidance on how these should be carried out. However, few countries as yet have formal SEA regulations, and few completed SEAs have demonstrated all the elements of current best practice. The Practice of Strategic Environmental Assessment aims to provide a unique analysis of SEAs which have been undertaken, drawing on a variety of methods and circumstances to illustrate how best practice can be achieved, and providing inspiration for those considering studying, commission or carrying out an SEA. Part I sets the rest of the book in context, giving a review of international SEA guidance and regulations, and discussing models and methodologies. Part II then analyses a comprehensive set of case studies from countries which have extensive experience in SEA, or which provide particularly good examples. The case studies are discussed in three sections ? sectoral SEAs, SEAs of land-use plans and SEAs of policies ? and provide examples of different scales and approaches, as well as country-specific experience. The final chapter draws out some constraints to effective SEA, as well as positive themes which show how effective SEA can contribute to wider environmental assessment. Written by an international team of SEA practitioners and experts, this volume will be of particular use to students of environmental policy and management, environmental consultants, local authorities, policy-makers and anyone involved in the commissioning, process or review of SEAs.

* The only comprehensive international sourcebook of SEA principles, approaches, and instruments with coverage of all major industrialized countries including the U.S., the U.K./Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Korea, and more than 50 transitional and developing countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific * The essential reference for all impact assessment practitioners, researchers, policymakers, aid and development agencies, and funders* Written by two world-renowned practitioners with support from the OECD, UNEP, and IIEDThis unique sourcebook provides a global, state-of-the-art review of the rapidly evolving field of strategic environmental assessment (SEA), describing trends in application and experience and practice across the globe in a variety of agencies and contexts. Drawing on published and unpublished material, and contributions from a wide range of individual experts, organizations, and agencies, it provides an unparalleled and invaluable understanding of what constitutes SEA and how and when it can be applied. It includes an international review of experience, practice, terminology, approaches, and tools of SEA, covering developed, transitional, and developing countries. A collection of case studies illustrates SEA practice in a range of countries and contexts. Included also: a full set of references and several appendices.

This unique sourcebook provides a global, state-of-the-art review of the rapidly evolving field of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) that is intended to serve as a baseline for the work of an OECD Task Team on SEA and a UNEP initiative on integrated planning and assessment. It describes trends in application and experience in different contexts worldwide, providing in-depth coverage of the status of SEA systems, and practice in developed, transitional and developing countries by a range of development agencies. The book draws on a large body of published and unpublished material, and contributions from a wide range of individual experts, organizations and agencies. It provides an unparalleled and invaluable understanding of the emerging scope and potential of SEA and describes how, when and where it is being used. The sourcebook includes a probing review of concepts, terminology, approaches and tools of SEA, and a comparative analysis of the different types of existing SEA systems. The volume also contains many case examples illustrating SEA practice in different countries and contexts, a full set of references and a number of appendices containing source materials.