Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

NOTE 6.4
Assessing Cross-Sectoral Impacts: Use of CEAs and SEAs
Within the World Bank’s Analytic and Advisory
Activities, CEA and SEA were identified as
key tools for informing country dialogue and
more systematically addressing environmental concerns
early in sectoral decision-making and planning processes,
respectively.
In August 2004, the World Bank approved and updated
its policy on DPL. Operational Policy 8.60 (OP/BP 8.60)
emphasizes upstream analytical work—such as SEA, CEA,
and other analyses done by the World Bank, the client country,
or third parties—as a source of information for analyzing
the likely significant effects of an operation on the borrowing
country’s environment and natural resources, and
for assessing the country’s institutional capacity for handling
these effects.
Specifically, under OP/BP 8.60, the World Bank is
required to determine for each development policy loan
whether the specific country policies supported by the operation
are likely to have significant effects on the country’s
environment, forests, and natural resources. For policies
with significant effects, an assessment is required by Bank
staff of the country’s systems for reducing adverse effects
and enhancing positive effects, drawing on relevant countrylevel
or sectoral environmental analysis, a type of SEA.
This note describes CEA, SEA, and rapid assessment
tools; the context of their use; the process of applying these
tools for assessing cross-sectoral impacts or for due diligence
in policy operations 1 ; and finally, some examples of
application in the forest sector.
OPERATIONAL ASPECTS
Country Environmental Analysis
CEA is a diagnostic analytical tool that can help to systematically
evaluate the environmental priorities of client countries,
the environmental implications of key government
policies, and the country’s capacity to address environmental
priorities. The aim of CEA is to provide the analytical
underpinning for sustainable development assistance. It has
the potential to bring together the results of environmental,
economic, and sectoral work and facilitate dialogue, both
within a country and among development partners.
Specifically, CEAs have three main objectives:
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To facilitate mainstreaming by providing information
and analysis of key environment, development, and
poverty links in the country policy dialogue
To guide environmental assistance and capacity building
supported by the World Bank or other development
partners through an assessment of capacity issues, especially
in relation to specific environmental priorities
To facilitate a strategic approach to safeguard issues by
providing analysis and information about environmentdevelopment
links at the earliest stages of decision making,
thus shaping key lending and programmatic decisions
at the country and sectoral levels and helping
manage risks at the project level
Building blocks of a CEA. CEAs consist of three main
building blocks (see figure 6.2):
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Assessment of the state of the environment and forest development
priorities, involving systematic evaluation of key
environment-development priorities (highlighting
trends, the links to poverty, and environmental indicators
relevant for development policy and for the achievement
of the Millennium Development Goals)
Policy analysis, to identify key development policies that
have potential implications for the environment, in particular,
those linked to forests and environment-development
priorities
Institutional capacity assessment, to evaluate the country’s
institutional capacity to address key environmental
priorities and respond to policy changes that have poten-
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