PC, IUCN organise seminar on SEA in development planning process

The Planning Commission (PC) of Pakistan in collaboration with the international Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) organised a seminar aimed at contributing sustainable development in Pakistan by strengthening Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and introducing Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in development planning process.
Addressing the seminar titled 'Strategic Environmental Assess-ment Greening Development Planning in Pakistan' Dr Ishfaq Ahmad, Advisor Science and Technology, urged the need for better management as Pakistan, the world's 6th most populated country, was highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and global warming.
He further stressed the need for addressing the on-going energy crisis and financial recession in the country. The seminar was organised under the on-going National Impact Assessment Programme (NIAP) being jointly implemented by the Government of Pakistan and IUCN aimed at sensitisation of senior decision-makers and other stakeholders on the role of SEA in development planning. The seminar was attended by senior government officials, civil society representatives, lawmakers, academia, media persons and eminent personalities.
The programme aims at contributing to sustainable development in Pakistan by strengthening EIA and introducing SEA in Pakistan's development planning process. MAP has four partners namely; the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PEPA); Environment Wing, Ministry of Environment; Environment Section, Planning Commission and IUCN Pakistan. Technical assistance to the programme is being provided by the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) while the project is being funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands (EKN).
Dr Bobbi Schijf, Technical Advisor from NCEA, gave presentation on SEA. She said that though the concept of strategic environmental process was relatively new, it had already been accepted globally particularly in the developed world. Schijf emphasised that the SEA process involves understanding the environmental dimensions of planning processes and that policy making and planning needs to be looked at from an environmental point of view. Comparing SEA with EIA, she clarified that while EIA was a project level tool, focusing on the quantitative process, SEA was a tool for policy and decision-makers, more qualitative and focused on outcomes as opposed to the effects.
"As SEA has a broader outlook, and acts as a preventive tool by devising ways to address the needs of all the stakeholders, it is on the agenda of all the international forums and agreements," he added.
Dr Parvaiz Naim, a leading Environmentalist and an expert on SEA, delivered a presentation in which he focused on integrating SEA practices into the institutional development process in Pakistan.
Dr Naim said that while EIA had been a legal requirement in Pakistan for over two decades, SEA was more effective as it aimed to integrate environmental considerations into decision-making during the formulation of policies, plans and programmes.