A Review Of Strategic Environmental Assessment Process And Its Implication In Real Estate Development Projects In Kenya

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is widely recognized as a promising approach to take account of the environmental effects of policy, plans and programmes (PPP). This comes after a key challenge of the Environmental Impact Assessment of projects not influencing higher-level, strategic decision-making processes as well as its complexity to capture cumulative effects. SEA is widely recognized as a promising approach to take account of the environmental effects of policy, plans and programs although it is relatively new. However, it has not been fully realized in regard to understanding and addressing cumulative environmental effects at broader regional scales as a precondition to ensuring the sustainable development of the environment. Effective SEA depends on an adaptive and continuous process focused on strengthening institutions, governance and decision-making processes rather than just a simple, technical approach focused on impacts, as is often found in EIA. The clear focus throughout the subsequent process of SEA should be on incorporating sustainability as a means to continue economic growth without undue harm to the environment in regards to the proposed activities or projects that are being developed and evaluated at both regional level and national level. This is therefore, a literature review paper highlighting an introduction of SEA together with its objectives, principles and the stages for undertaking SEA. The paper will also look at the existing guidelines for SEA including its legal framework especially the relevant provisions of Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act (EMCA) of 1999 and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations of 2009. The paper will review a SEA case study in Kenya and its implication in real estate development projects in Kenya.