Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Mining Sector

This report provides analysis and case studies that highlight how strategic environmental assessment (SEA) can improve mining sector governance.

Not to be confused with environmental and social impact assessments (ESIA), which apply to individual projects, SEA applies more broadly and is defined by the OECD as a range of analytical and participatory approaches that aim to integrate environmental considerations into policies, plans, and programs, and evaluate the interlinkages with economic and social considerations.

SEA can improve mining governance by

• providing better insight into environmental, economic, and social trade-offs, increasing the likelihood of positive outcomes;
• raising awareness about unsustainable development options to prevent costly mistakes and conflicts;
• increasing understanding of the cumulative impacts of multiple smaller developments and the opportunity to improve the coherence between projects;
• enhancing credibility of government decisions, leading to more public trust in the planning process and more support for plan implementation.