Author(s)

Marcelo Montaño^1*, Ghislain Mwamba Tshibangu^1,2, Anne Caroline Malvestio^1,3

¹Sao Carlos School of Engineering, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos, Brazil.
²Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, Quebec, Canada.
³Federal University of Uberlandia, Uberlandia, Brazil.

To date, an important debate regarding the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment in policy and plan-making seems to focus on whether to reform or develop SEA regulations. Despite the well-established theoretic relevance of legislation, there is only little empiric evidence, moreover in developing countries. This paper aims to verify the contributions of new regulations to a proper use of SEA, based on the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both the SEA practice previously to the legislation reform and the newly introduced SEA system established by the new regulation were characterized. The new regulation was verified against the previous practice of SEA within the country and the compliance with international performance criteria. The outcomes suggest that the overall quality of SEA documentation is still in need of major improvements. Gaps include alternatives development and impacts monitoring. The biggest performance limitations of the new regulation are related to the length of SEA processes, public consultation, SEA information to provide, and alternatives to consider. Finally, it is suggested that regulation reform or straightforward adoption might not be enough to support an effective use of SEA.

SEA Systems, Effectiveness, Regulation, Developing Countries, Democratic Republic of Congo

Montaño, M. , Tshibangu, G. and Malvestio, A. (2021) Does New Regulation Points to an Effective Use of Strategic Environmental Assessment? Lessons from Democratic Republic of Congo. Journal of Environmental Protection, 12, 1102-1127. doi: 10.4236/jep.2021.1212065.