Republic of the Congo: SEA workshop with the Ministry of Environment

3 June 2024

In May the NCEA organised a workshop for the civil servants of the Ministry of Environment, and members of the Association Congolaise pour l’Evaluation Environnementale (ACEE). The workshop was part of a broader effort by the NCEA and WWF to inform the authorities responsible for economic developments in the TRIDOM area in their decision-making procedures, by conducting a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).

The aim of the workshop was to strengthen the capacity of the participants, and provide them with skills to engage in an SEA. In Congo, SEA is not (yet) mandatory, so participants had limited experience with this tool. Participants indicated that the training helped them understand the complexities but also the added value of SEA. They realized that SEA is more strategic than ESIA and that it would require the Ministry to coordinate with their colleagues at other line ministries.

The next step will be to bring together several key line ministries such as the Ministry of Mining and of Infrastructure. Together with the Ministry of Environment, they can discuss their respective roles in future SEA processes. The first case is an SEA for the TRIDOM region in the north-west of Congo.