The systematic and comprehensive process of evaluating the environmental effects of a proposed policy, plan or program and its alternatives. SEA is a key tool for incorporating sustainable development considerations into government decisions.
The systematic and comprehensive process of assessing the environmental effects or implications of a proposed strategic decision or action, policy, plan, program, and its alternatives. At the same time, strategic environmental assessment is the process of integrating the concept of sustainability into strategic decision-making. A good-quality strategic environmental assessment process informs planners, decision-makers, and affected public on the sustainability of strategic decisions, facilitates the search for the best alternative, and ensures a democratic decision-making process. This enhances the credibility of decisions and leads to more cost- and time-effective environmental assessment at the project level. For this purpose, a good-quality strategic environmental assessment process is integrated, sustainability-led, focused, accountable, participative, and iterative (see: http://www.iaia.org).