ABSTRACT
It is apparent from Chapter 18 that the benefits of project EIA are generally believed to outweigh its costs. The widespread acceptance of the utility of EIA in improving the quality of decisions about proposed projects has led to active consideration of, and growing practice in, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) or the environmental assessment of policies, plans and programmes (PPPs). This is a consequence of the emerging awareness that project EIA may occur too late in the planning process to ensure that all the alternatives and impacts relevant to sustainable development goals are adequately considered. The application of SEA to the development of PPPs is widely perceived to have the potential to streamline and strengthen project EIA and to contribute towards the aims of sustainable development.
