ABSTRACT

Examining SEA effectiveness is a complex yet critical component of any well-functioning SEA system. This article reflects on SEA’s substantive effectiveness and examines the influence of SEA on development planning for environmental sustainability and the challenges of integrating SEA with decisional processes in Botswana. The paper is set within the context of three government plan-SEAs. Results indicate that despite the strong legislative requirement and understanding of the significance of integrating SEA into development planning, the general effectiveness of the tool is rather limited. Also, the results indicate that the successful integration of SEA findings and recommendations into decision-making in Botswana is threatened by financial constraints, the presentation of SEAs, technical inadequacies, politics, and conflicting stakeholder value expectations. The paper therefore argues that for SEA to guide environmentally sound planning in Botswana, obstacles to environmentally sound decision-making must be addressed. This will require behavioural, institutional, and legislative reforms.

摘要

对于任何运作良好的 SEA 系统来说，检查 SEA 有效性都是一个复杂但关键的组成部分。本文反思了战略环境评估的实质性有效性，并探讨了战略环境评估对环境可持续性发展规划的影响以及将战略环境评估与博茨瓦纳决策过程相结合所面临的挑战。本文是在三个政府计划——策略性环境评估（SEA）的背景下提出的。结果表明，尽管有强有力的立法要求，并且人们也了解将策略性环境评估纳入发展规划的重要性，但该工具的总体有效性相当有限。此外，结果表明，将策略性环境评估的调查结果和建议成功纳入博茨瓦纳的决策过程中，受到财政限制、策略性环境评估的介绍、技术缺陷、政治、以及利益相关者价值期望的冲突。因此，本文认为，为了让战略环境评估能够指导博茨瓦纳的无害环境规划，必须解决无害环境决策的障碍。这将需要行为、体制和立法改革。