Will our future be sustainable? 7/09

It´s very diffi cult to answer this question. Sustainability of the environment has always been the subject of many research studies, volumes of books have been written so far to describe it. Sustainability is in fact the capacity to endure. From the ecological point of view this word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. For humans it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which also depends on the protection and wellbeing of the natural world and responsible use of natural resources. Sustainability of the environment has become a key objective for many assessments, which have been carried out recently. It has also been included into the huge scientifi c chapter integrating economic, social and environmental spheres.

The environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organisational or governmental level, for the benefi t of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently. This has been recognised and governments in individual countries began placing restraints on activities that caused environmental degradation. Protection of the environment is needed from various human activities. Waste, pollution, loss of biodiversity, introduction of invasive species, release of genetically modifi ed organisms and toxics are some of the issues relating to environmental protection, and they have become a subject of assessment of the above mentioned impacts on the environment.

One of these assessments that are carried out to fi nd out and assess the negative impacts on the environment is Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). SEA is a system of incorporating environmental considerations into policies, plans and programmes. It is somentimes referred to as Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment. Different from EIA, Environmental Impact Assessment, SEA allows the integration of sustainability objectives at the earliest stage of the decision-making process. The concept of Strategic Assessments usually originated from regional development and land use planning in individual countries. The EU SEA Directive (2001/42/EC) required that all member states of the EU should have their own country´s law on SEA. Many EU nations have a long history of strong Environmental Appraisal including the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden.

What´s the process of SEA? For the most part an SEA is conducted before a corresponding EIA is undertaken. This means that information on the environmental impacts of a plan or policy will be able to cascade down through the tiers of decision-making process and be used in an EIA at a later stage. As for the subject of SEA there are also other impacts not only environmental included into this process, such as material assets and archaelogical sites. In most countries this has been broadened further to include economic and social aspects of sustainability. Among the main tools used in the process of evaluation and prediction of environmental impacts we can fi nd prediction techniques, whose aims are to identify environmental and sustainability changes that would result from the strategic action, i.e. Common Appraisal Framework, Impact Matrices, Compatibility Appraisal, etc.

It´s obvious there are many other assessment techniques that include environmental objectives, targes and indicators through which signifi cant environmental impacts of proposed plans, programmes and policies may be demonstrated. Among these environmental objectives and targets there are social progress which recognises the needs of everyone, effective protection of the environment, prudent use of natural resources, maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth, employment, etc. In addition the above mentioned techniques and tools are also used to develop the monitoring systems of the possible impacts.

As a conclusion let´s summarise it´s very important to understand the specifi c needs of our living environment to assess its future sustainability. Sometimes it´s diffi cult to set the relevant objectives and targets, which have to be recognised and fulfi lled, but for the future sustainability of our world it remains a great challenge for everyone.

Glossary:

sustainability                 udržitelnost
to endure                     odolat, vydržet
diverse                         různorodý
assessment                  posouzení
impact                          vliv
degrade                        zhoršovat
restraint                        omezení
invasive species             invazivní druhy
genetically modifi ed       geneticky upravené
issue                             problematika, téma
decision-making process rozhodovací proces
directive                        směrnice
evaluation techniques     techniky hodnocení
appraisal                       hodnocení
vulnerability                   citlivost
prudent use of               rozumné využití
cost benefi t analysis      analýza nákladů a přínosů

SEA - posuzování vlivů plánů, programů a politik na životní prostředí
EIA - posuzování vlivů projektů na životní prostředí