Within the framework of the European Union-funded EU4Environment programme, UNECE is assisting the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, including Ukraine, in comprehensive capacity-building and institutional building on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and in finalizing legal reforms in this area.
SEA is a relatively new tool for implementing the country’s environmental policy based on a simple principle: the prevention of negative environmental effects at the planning stage of a strategic document is easier rather than identifying and remedying them during its implementation. The SEA of state planning documents, particularly spatial planning documents, enables a comprehensive evaluation of the likely environmental, including health, effects of the plans and using evaluation results to prevent or mitigate adverse effects on the environment in the spatial planning process.
The objective of the SEA is to promote sustainable development of territories/areas by providing for a high level of protection of the environment, including health of the population, and integration of environmental considerations into the development and adoption of state planning documents.
The post-war recovery of Ukraine is anticipated to be the largest investment and planning exercise in Europe since decades. Given the scale of war-related impacts and destruction two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, planning the reconstruction and recovery will challenge national and local authorities, as well as international partners.
Ukraine shares green transition objectives and has a goal of reaching climate neutral economy by 2060. The post-war recovery process should contribute to achieving this goal by incorporating environmental and climate considerations into various elements of the recovery planning process, including sectoral and land-use planning.
Meeting objectives, expected outputs and outcomes
- To discuss the potential of the strategic environmental assessment for mainstreaming and incorporating green considerations into the post-war recovery process;
- To share and discuss most recent experience and developments in SEA application in Ukraine, in particular those related to the Unified SEA register;
- To learn about and discuss the key aspects of the SEA in relation to spatial planning documentation in the context of the recovery of territories.
Participants
The webinar is open to a broad spectrum of stakeholders ranging from representatives of relevant environmental, health, urban planning and architecture departments of the regional and Kyiv city state administrations, to representatives of local self-government bodies, and to NGOs and other interested stakeholders from all regions of Ukraine.