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Eco-conscious Abu Dhabi Leads The Way Forward | |
| Sumita Pawar |
The Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) is taking proactive measures in promoting sustainable development and protecting the environment for future generations through its Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) planning programme.
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The SEA programme aims to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of development projects, plans, and programmes and guide the investigation of viable alternatives and potential mitigation strategies. It is in line with the UAE's Year of Sustainability and the national strategic target of Net Zero by 2050.
Under UAE Federal Law No. 24 of 1999, the EAD has the authority to request an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for projects or facilities.
Strategic Environment Assessment Programme
The SEA programme is a form of impact assessment study that provides EAD with the authority to request an SEA not just for projects and facilities but also for master plans, development programmes, and strategy implementation. It mandates that environmental considerations be taken into account during the initial design phase, ensuring a balance between environmental protection, economic development, and social development.
The SEA programme allows for the study of alternative project designs and implementation approaches, guiding the development of proper mitigation measures and environmental management plans that prevent or reduce any associated environmental impacts. EAD-managed processes develop an Environmental Management Framework to guide clients on the steps forward, defining project objectives, identifying roles and responsibilities, ensuring training programmes, and setting environmental monitoring and audit requirements.
An SEA report offers several benefits, including the prevention and reduction of negative environmental effects such as air pollution, land contamination, and climate change; avoiding impacts to critical and environmentally sensitive habitats; and ensuring wide consultation and engagement with the concerned government authorities at an early and effective stage. Moreover, SEA ensures that significant environmental effects of implementation are monitored and enables the early identification of unforeseen adverse effects, allowing appropriate remedial action to be taken.
The SEA is a structured and proactive multi-step process that includes screening, scoping, stakeholder engagement, assessment, study of alternatives, setting of mitigation measures, SEA review, decision-making, and monitoring.
EAD conducted an extensive benchmarking study involving countries and organisations in the region and globally to develop the SEA programme, including the UK, Hong Kong, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and Lebanon.
To ensure that the regulated community is aware of EAD’s requirements, a detailed training programme has been developed, and training will be delivered in a series of workshops, with the training material and recorded training videos available online.
EAD will also provide training to Environmental Consultancy Offices (ECOs) and amend their registration requirements to ensure that consultancies are capable of conducting an SEA report successfully.
Overall, the SEA programme reflects the UAE’s commitment to promoting sustainable development and protecting the environment for future generations. It fosters a balance between environmental protection, economic growth, and social development and enables stakeholders to assess potential environmental impacts and identify viable alternatives and mitigation strategies to minimise harm to the environment.