OSCE supports roundtable discussion on applying Strategic Environmental Assessment in Kazakhstan
An OSCE-supported two-day roundtable discussion on the possible application of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) under the Espoo Convention Protocol in Kazakhstan concluded on 16 November 2017 in Astana.
The SEA, adopted in 2003 in Kyiv, is a protocol to the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 1991 Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment. The document provides a model for evaluating the environmental and social consequences of a government’s draft plans, strategies and programmes by ensuring active public participation in the decision-making process.
The two-day event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in co-operation with Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry, the UNECE, the United Nations Development Programme, the European Union Delegation to Kazakhstan and the Human Health Institute, a local NGO.
Participants reviewed the experiences of countries from Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus on adapting local legislation in line with international standards and discussed present environmental assessment practices in Kazakhstan. There was special attention on the details of an ongoing pilot project on applying the SEA to Kazakhstan’s Concept for Development of Fuel and Energy Complex until 2030.
“The SEA is an important way to analyze and communicate environmental and health considerations related to development strategies,” said Ambassador György Szabó, head of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana. “The OSCE Programme Office actively encourages Kazakhstan’s government to support the implementation of the SEA as an essential part of good governance practices.”
“At the Ministry we need to adopt a more efficient approach to ensure the consideration of sustainable development aspects in the implementation of government projects, programmes or strategies,” said Bakytzhan Dzhaksaliev, Deputy Energy Minister. «We consider the SEA protocol’s application an important tool to evaluate the impact on people’s health and the environment to avoid costly mistakes at a later stage.”
The event is part of the Programme Office’s multi-year efforts to promote sustainable development and good governance in the host country.