Ernesto Sánchez-Triana

Strategic environmental assessment for policies : an instrument for good governance

Contents of this report are: Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and policy formulation by Kulsum Ahmed, and Ernesto Sanchez-Triana. Policy-level strategic environmental assessments: process integration and incentives of policy proponents by Leonard Ortolano. The continuous process of policy formation by Martha S. Feldman, and Anne M. Khademian. Toward environmental priority setting in development by Richard D. Morgenstern. Giving the most vulnerable a voice by Caroline Kende-Robb, and Warren A. Van Wicklin III. Building and reinforcing social accountability for improved environmental governance by Harry Blair. Learning in environmental policy making and implementation by Alnoor Ebrahim. Using strategic environmental assessments to design and implement public policy by Kulsum Ahmed, and Ernesto Sanchez-Triana.

Environmental priorities and poverty reduction : a country environmental analysis for Colombia

The analysis of the cost of environmental degradation conducted as part of the country environmental analysis (CEA) shows that the most costly problems associated with environmental degradation are urban and indoor air pollution; inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene; natural disasters (such as flooding and landslides); and land degradation. The burden of these costs falls most heavily on vulnerable segments of the population. To address these problems, this report identifies a number of cost-effective policy interventions that could be adopted in the short and medium terms to support sustainable development goals. In recent decades, considerable progress has been made in addressing the water and the forestry environmental agendas. The impact of environmental degradation on the most vulnerable groups suggests the need to increase emphasis on environmental health issues. However, the environmental management agenda has yet to catch up with this shift in priorities from watershed and forestry to environmental health problems because mechanisms in the current institutional structure to signal these changes are not yet in place. Improved monitoring and dissemination of information on environmental outcomes, assignment of accountability for environmental actions and outcomes, and involvement of a broad range of stakeholders are three important mechanisms to allow these signals to be picked up.

Organizational learning and environmental impact assessment at Colombia's Cauca Valley Corporation☆

Abstract During the 1976–1993 period, the design and implementation of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) program of the Corporacion Autonoma Regional del Valle del Cauca (Cauca Valley Corporation, hereafter CVC or “the Corporation”) were affected by “learning by imitating” and “learning by doing.” Learning by imitating took place when CVC copied the use of the Leopold Matrix, an EIA procedure popular in the US during the 1970s. Learning by doing occurred in 1979 when the Corporation held public hearings to discuss the site for a controversial factory in Caloto. CVCs experience demonstrates that organizational learning with respect to EIA can help an organization meet its own goals, but that learning does not necessarily lead to environmental improvements. The use of the Leopold Matrix summarized the judgements of technical experts, but it frequently did not inform decision-making. For 13 years after the public meetings for the factory in Caloto, CVC avoided involving the public in its EIA work.

Greening Growth in Pakistan through Transport Sector Reforms : Strategic Environmental, Poverty, and Social Assessment

The Government of Pakistans (GoPs) 2011 Framework for Economic Growth seeks to place Pakistan on a sustained high economic growth path of 7 percent per year through measures to reduce the cost of doing business, improve the investment climate, and strengthen institutions. Trade and transport reforms are central to achieve the Frameworks goals. The transport sector constitutes 10 percent of Pakistans Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides 6 percent of the employment in the country. The sector plays an important role in linking other sectors in the economy, contributes to both domestic and international trade, and helps facilitate the spatial transformation occurring in Pakistan. The present patterns in transport and trade logistics generate inefficiencies that are costing Pakistans economy roughly 4-6 percent of GDP per year, which is a major constraint on the aspirations set out in the Framework. This report examines the poverty, social, and environmental aspects associated with trade and transport sector reforms aimed at increasing the freight transport sectors productivity to meet the Frameworks goals. This report is organized as follows. Chapter 1 provides the objectives and methodology of this work. Chapter 2 discusses the sector status and the trade and transport policy reforms. Chapter 3 establishes the priority issues associated with freight transport reform. Chapters 4 and 5 focused on the social and environmental aspects of the reform, respectively. And chapters 6 and 7 conclude the report by discussing policy options to promote environmentally and socially sustainable trade and transport and an agenda to advance environmentally and socially sustainable trade and transport reforms in Pakistan.

Using policy-based strategic environmental assessments in water supply and sanitation sector reforms: the cases of Argentina and Colombia

This paper reviews the strategic environmental assessments (SEAs) that were prepared to incorporate environmental considerations in water supply and sanitation sector (WSS) reforms in Argentina and Colombia. Based on the reviewed cases and on existing literature, the paper proposes a methodology specifically designed to incorporate environmental considerations in the design and implementation of public policies, in this case water supply and sanitation policies. The proposed methodology has the potential to overcome the limitations that arise when traditional SEA methodologies are applied in the policy context. It can be conceptualized as consisting of: identification of sector priorities; incorporation of the perspectives of multiple stakeholders; institutional and political economy analysis; incorporation of environmental considerations in public policies; and social learning for continuous policy improvement.

Managing water-related risks in the West Bengal Sundarbans: policy alternatives and institutions

Abstract Persistent pressures from water-related threats – sea-level rise, soil and water salinization, and flooding due to embankment overtopping and failure – have made the West Bengal Sundarbans a challenging place to live, and effects of global climate change will only worsen conditions. Four alternative policy directions are examined: business as usual; intensive rural development; short-term out-migration of residents; and embankment realignment and facilitation of voluntary, permanent out-migration. The last of these is the recommended approach. Study findings have informed ongoing deliberations to build consensus on future policy directions for reducing the region’s vulnerability to natural disasters.

Strategy for adapting to climate change and conserving biodiversity in the Bangladesh Sundarbans

The Bangladesh Sundarbans region is a difficult place to live and the region will become increasingly inhospitable over time. Sea level rise, cyclonic storms, and embankment failures are constant hazards and the biodiversity of the mangrove forest is being reduced. In addition, increased waterlogging and soil and water salinization pose serious threats to agriculture, a livelihood option for a majority of residents. Research was undertaken to answer the following question: what strategy could the Government of Bangladesh consider in order to enhance the security of inhabitants of the Bangladesh “Sundarbans Impact Zone (SIZ)” and conserve the biodiversity of the Sundarbans mangrove forest? The proposed strategy, which was based on data and analyses from a team of social and natural scientists and engineers, includes two central elements: incentives to encourage migration out of the SIZ successfully and measures to reduce dangers from natural hazards for inhabitants who choose to remain. In addition, the strategy includes measures to conserve biodiversity and actions to strengthen government agencies operating in the Sundarbans so that other elements of the strategy can be implemented effectively.

Sustainability and poverty alleviation : Confronting environmental threats in Sindh, Pakistan

Sindhs environmental and climate change problems call for urgent responses. A number of feasible interventions could be carried out to address the categories of environmental degradation that have the highest impacts on Sindhs population. Many of those interventions have positive benefit-cost ratios, meaning that every rupee invested in them would result in health and social benefits worth more than one rupee. Addressing these challenges also calls for targeted institutional strengthening and policy improvements, particularly after the 18th Constitutional Amendment devolved environmental management responsibilities to provincial governments. The underlying goal of this book is to facilitate and stimulate sharing of information on these phenomena, and to provide an interdisciplinary framework for bringing about improved environmental conditions in Sindh. It includes a methodology that enables the identification of environmental and climate change priority problems; the analysis of interventions to address such problems; the establishment of a social learning mechanism to continuously improve Sindhs responses and build resilience in the face of climate variability and change; and opportunities for the potential involvement of different stakeholder groups to decisively tackle climate change and deteriorating environmental conditions.