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Legislation at strategic level

The Environmental Protection Act (1994) brought ESIA into the legal framework of Ghana. It introduced an ESIA system which consists three levels of assessment: initial, preliminary and a full assessment of the environmental impacts. Apart from extensive experiences with Environmental Impact Assessment (ESIA), Ghana has a relatively high level of experience with the application of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), particularly since 2002. Many capacity building activities have taken place in the framework of the Ghana Environmental Assessment Capacity Development Project (GeaCap phase 1, 1999-2001), the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy 2002-2004 and the Ghana Environmental Assessment and Support Project 2006-2008.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the key agency responsible for implementation of ESIA and SEA. It is the main decision-making authority during all stages of the ESIA process.

Overview SEA procedure

In the different manuals and SEA applications according to the ‘Ghana SEA approach’, frequently the following sequence of basic steps to SEA can be found (see below). Reference is made to these steps but in practice not all SEAs follow these steps. In practice, some steps receive more emphasis (steps 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8) while others receive limited attention (steps 3, 6, 7 and 9).

Basic steps of SEA

  1. Screening. Understanding the context, writing the ToR, describing the PPP.
  2. Scoping. Determining objectives and targets, scope of the SEA (content, timescale, key issues).
  3. Defining baseline conditions. Existing environmental conditions against which impacts can be measured, using quantitative and qualitative data.
  4.  Evaluating the proposed PPP. Evaluate effectiveness of PPP.
  5. Predicting effects. Assessment of the environmental effects of the PPP.
  6. Developing environmental indicators.
  7. Considering alternatives. Alternatives to achieve the same objectives of the PPPs.
  8. Scope for mitigation. Recommendations are made for new or refined PPPs.
  9. Monitoring and evaluation.
SEA brochure, EPA, 2009 Proceed to legislation at project level
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