Key Recent Experiences in the Application of Sea in Brazil

Abstract

One of the requirements for a good Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is its capacity to adjust itself to the planned decision-making process. This paper presents recent experiences involving the application of SEA in Brazil in three different contexts. In the first case, an SEA was conducted to meet a request of the Ministry of Tourism for information to prepare the Development Plan for Sustainable Tourism in the North Coast. The second case is an initiative undertaken by the Secretary of Environment of the State of Bahia for the construction of a seaport-industrial complex in the region of Ilh eus (Bahia). Finally, an SEA commissioned by a group of environmental NGOs to assess options for the development of a mining-metal and chemical-gas complex in the Pantanal Region near the Bolivian and Paraguayan border is presented. The paper highlights the differences in the contexts of the three studies (responsibilities in the decision-making process, stages of the planning process, etc.) as well as in their methodological approaches. Difficulties, gaps, advances and findings in each case are also analysed to assess the effectiveness of each SEA.

Good Practices in Strategic Environmental Assessment Processes under the Brazilian Practitioners’ Vision

“…Although it represents GP as shown above, public engagement in SEA processes has been limited, resulting in a low degree of influence on decision making [27]. This fact, also verified in Brazilian SEAs [1] [4], shows that there is still a long way to go in making this GP a consolidated reality.…”

“…This system facilitates the incorporation of elements of sustainability, influencing the selection of environmentally adjusted alternatives in the initial stages of decision making [12]. It is, in fact, a crucial procedure for the success of both processes [4] [25]. In this way, it constitutes a GP.…”

“…The participation of professionals from the contracting entity of the SEA during to advances in terms of environmental governance [4].…”

“…The participation of stakeholders throughout the process has been considered one of the most evident GP in environmental assessments [4] [29]. In a sample of 100 reports of SEAs, 52% showed a public participation process in strict compliance with the law; there was only occasional involvement of interested parties in 29% of the cases and in five SEAs there was no action in this regard [25].…”

Avaliação ambiental estratégica e planejamento do setor de transportes paulista

“…• Discussão: orientações para o uso da AAE no planejamento de transportes paulista • Com foco: a baixa conformidade de atendimento a itens do critério "Com foco" denota a falta de transparência quanto ao uso da AAE e sua consideração no processo de tomada de decisão, como salientado por Silva et al (2014), na análise de casos brasileiros de AAE, o que demonstra uma fragilidade da relevância desse instrumento para os processos de planejamento no país, como verificado por Margato e Sánchez (2014);…”