Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
on Transboundary EIA, on SEA and on the Espoo Convention and its Protocol on SEA
Links and resources on SEA are available with the on-line Resource Manual to support application of the Protocol
What is EIA?
What does it do? What is the Espoo Convention?
What is SEA?
What does it do? What is the Protocol on SEA?
The Espoo Convention and Protocol on SEA, and bilateral agreements
Why are these international agreements important?
Which States are Parties or Signatories to the Convention and Protocol?
Which States can become Parties to the Convention and Protocol?
How do States establish bilateral agreements to support the Convention?
How does the Convention interact with other international agreements?
Guidance and examples
Where can I find general guidance on carrying out an EIA?
Where can I find examples of transboundary EIAs?
Where can I get training in transboundary EIA?
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What is EIA? What does it
do? What is the Espoo Convention?
Environmental Impact Assessment "is a systematic
process to identify, predict and evaluate
the environmental effects of proposed actions and
projects." (UNEP
EIA Training Resource Manual)
According to the Espoo Convention, EIA is "a
national procedure for evaluating the likely impact
of a proposed activity on the environment"
(Article 1(vi)).
Transboundary EIA is the same as EIA, but there
is an explicit consideration of potential transboundary
effects, including consultation and public participation
in the affected Party (i.e. the country that may
be affected by a project in the 'Party of origin'
or, more formally, the Contracting Party or Parties
to the Convention likely to be affected by the transboundary
impact of a proposed activity).
What does EIA do?
When done well, EIA has several potential benefits:
- It may help the project proponent to identify
project alternatives (alternative locations or
technology, for example) and mitigation and compensatory
measures that reduce the environmental impact
of the project. Suggestions may come from the
public, the EIA experts, the consultees and the
developer.
- It may provide for public involvement in the
project design, promoting understanding between
the community and developer. It may also promote
good governance in the longer term: for example,
Almer & Koontz
found that public hearings as part of an EIA process
"provide important indirect benefits that
can contribute to the capacity for democratic
governance and an active civil society".
See also
What is the Espoo Convention?
Click here
for an introductory slideshow presentation on the
Espoo Convention.
What is SEA? What does it
do? What is the Protocol on SEA?
General definition of Strategic Environmental Assessment:
"The formalised, systematic and comprehensive process
of evaluating the environmental impacts of a policy,
plan or programme and its alternatives, including
the preparation of a written report on the findings
of that evaluation, and using the findings in publicly
accountable decision-making." (Source: Therivel
et al)
According to the Protocol on SEA, SEA is "the
evaluation of the likely environmental, including
health, effects, which comprises the determination
of the scope of an environmental report and its
preparation, and the carrying-out of public participation
and consultations, the taking into account of the
environmental report and the results of the public
participation and consultations in a plan or programme."
(article 2.6).
What does it do?
UNDP/REC
Brochure on the Benefits of SEA, available in English 
and Russian
(revised; old
version - 3MB!).
See also EIA/SEA
Cost and benefits study, 1996, European
Commission (DG
Environment)
The IAIA has published performance criteria for
SEA, available here.
What is the Protocol on SEA? See an introductory slideshow presentation
For much more on the Protocol and numerous links and resources, see the Resource Manual.
Why are these international
agreements important?
They promote:
- Protection of the environment
- Sustainable development
- Public participation and good governance
- Standards
- International cooperation
- New approaches
Which States can become Parties
to the Espoo Convention and Protocol on SEA?
UNECE member States (see list)
can become Parties to either instrument. For other
UN Member States, the possibility of becoming a
Party is described below.
For the Espoo Convention, an amendment
to the Convention has been adopted (in 2001) to
allow non-UNECE member States to become Parties
to the Convention. To see the current status of
that amendment click here.
Once in the amendment is in force, the Meeting of
the Parties to the Convention may approve the accession
of a UN Member State that is not a member State
of the UNECE.
The Protocol on SEA includes a
similar provision. Once sixteen UNECE member States
have ratified (or accepted, etc.) the Protocol,
it will come into force after a delay of ninety
days. It is hoped that the Protocol will enter into
force by 2006 - click here
for the current status of the Protocol. Within one
year of the Protocol's entry into force, the first
'Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol' will occur.
It is this Meeting that may approve the accession
of a UN Member State that is not a member State
of the UNECE.
Accession (or ratification, etc.) to a treaty requires
that a State is able to implement the treaty, i.e.
all the preparatory work such as enactment of national
legislation should have been completed.
How does the Convention interact
with other international agreements?
The secretariat to the Espoo Convention undertook
an informal review of transboundary
EIA provisions in selected multilateral environmental
agreements:
In addition, the secretariat to the Espoo Convention
has undertaken a number of informal studies between
the Convention and ...
Неофициальные исследования, проведенные секретариатом Конвенции об ОВОС. Взаимосвязь между Конвенцией об ОВОС и …
Where can I find guidance
on carrying out an EIA?
See also training below.
For specific guidance see the Help
Topics.
Transboundary EIA guidance:
- The Parties adopted (June 2004) Guidance on
the Practical Application of the Espoo Convention
- available as a printable document (various
languages) and on web pages (English,
русский).
- Procedural Guide: Transboundary consultation
of the authorities and the public for projects
having a significant environmental impact in the
Upper Rhine area (français ,
Deutsch )
- Franco-German-Swiss Conference of the Upper
Rhine
- Guidelines on Environmental Impact Assessment
in a Transboundary Context in the Caspian Sea
Region - produced by UNEP, the Convention, EBRD
and the Caspian
Environment Programme: English (1MB),
русский (1.3MB)
- Guidelines for EIA
in the Arctic (1.4MB), produced by the Finnish
Environment Institute
- Recommendations for the performance of transboundary
EIA between Germany and Poland (Germany as state
of origin of a planned project) - the results
of a practical trial of implementation of the
Espoo Convention. Available in Deutsch
and Polish
(1.1MB). Summary
in English. Produced by German
Federal Environmental Agency
For general EIA guidance:
The study (IMP)3 - "IMProving the IMPlementation of Environmental IMPact
Assessment" produced reports on:
Web-based EIA guidance:
Reviews of effectiveness, from European
Commission (DG
Environment), available here:
And from Switzerland: Report of the Swiss Federal
Council on the implementation of EIA and authorization
procedures ( in
français, Deutsch
& italiano),
Swiss Confederation;
and Review
of the effectiveness of EIA in Switzerland -
in French or German with abstract in English, German,
French and Italian, Swiss
Federal Office for the Environment
International
Study of the Effectiveness of Environmental Assessment (6MB!),
Final Report, Environmental Assessment in a Changing
World: Evaluating Practice to Improve Performance,
Prepared by Barry Sadler, June 1996, with support
from CIDA
and IAIA
There is also guidance on different stages
(as well as topics, e.g. biodiversity,
and sectors) on the Help
Topics page:
Where can I find examples
of transboundary EIAs?
Case study fact sheets are being prepared for the
Convention. For the latest see here.
Transboundary EIAs as notified by Parties to the
Convention are available here.
In addition:
- EBRD publishes EIAs
for projects that it funds - some are labelled
'regional' but may not necessarily refer to the
Espoo Convention, whereas others do refer to Espoo,
e.g Narva
Power (Estonia).
- Caspian Environment Programme to hold transboundary
EIAs - initial
information is available.
- Recommendations for the performance of transboundary
EIA between Germany and Poland (Germany as state
of origin of a planned project) - the results
of a practical trial of implementation of the
Espoo Convention. Available in Deutsch
and Polish
(1MB). Summary
in English - German
Federal Environmental Agency
Where can I get training
in transboundary EIA?
The following EIA training resources may be useful:
References (return to the item using the back arrow,
or go back to questions)
Almer, H.L., & T.M.
Koontz, 2004, Public hearings for EIAs in post-communist
Bulgaria: do they work?, in Environmental Impact
Assessment Review, 24 (2004), pp. 473-493.
Therivel, R., E. Wilson,
S. Thompson, D. Heaney & D. Pritchard. 1992.
Strategic Environmental Assessment. Earthscan
Publications Ltd., London, UK.