Guidance on Integrating Climate Change and Biodiversity into ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

• Factor uncertainty into scoping by considering what aspects of the PP are susceptible to achanging climate or to long-term biodiversity impacts — and determine what expertise isneeded on the SEA team to enable this.• Gather more information that could be useful up to a point, but only if it is the appropriateinformation and it is feasible to fill an information gap. See Annex 1 on information sources.• Scenarios are an effective way to deal with the uncertainty inherent in complex systems andimperfect data. Use scenarios to present a range of possible outcomes or pathways. For moreinformation on scenarios see Annex 2.• Use proxy indicators if direct indicators are not available, e.g. trends in traffic levels if vehicleGHG emission data are not available.• Think about risks when the impacts are too uncertain. Always acknowledge assumptions behindassessment (i.e. under what circumstances an impact can occur).• Use the precautionary principle to guide the choice of PP alternatives and mitigation measures.Think about building long-term resilience into the PP this way.• Prepare for adaptive management by putting in place monitoring measures to respond tofuture changes.Case study:SEA of the Thames 2100 Flood Risk Management Plan, the United Kingdom — dealing withuncertaintyThe Thames Estuary 2100 Plan is a long-term flood risk management strategy for the Thames river area. It wasdeveloped by the Environment Agency for England and Wales in response to the gradual deterioration of flooddefences in the tidal Thames and the potential for increases in the frequency and severity of flooding due toprojected socio-economic change and climate change.The SEA demonstrates an approach to dealing with long-term horizons and their inherent uncertainties andacknowledges uncertainty directly.It deals with uncertainty through, for example, the options for future flood risk management and the emphasisplaced on monitoring implementation of the plan.Source: The Environment Agency for England and Wales relevant webpage20 <strong>Guidance</strong> on integrating climate change and biodiversity into SEA
3. Understanding climate change and biodiversityThis section provides information on the current status, trends, drivers and policy responsesregarding climate change and biodiversity in the EU. The purpose is to highlight the importance andcomplexity of climate change and biodiversity to those involved in SEAs: competent authorities;planners or programme developers; SEA practitioners; regulators; or other stakeholders. It shouldhelp you at the scoping stage of the SEA process.Clearly, an SEA will also need to assess, depending on its scale, the national, regional and localcontext applicable to the PP concerned. It is not practical to include this level of information in thisguidance, therefore the international/EU context provided here is just a starting point.3.1 Introduction to climate changeResponses to climate change can be divided into two aspects:Mitigation — the term used to describe the process of reducing GHG emissions thatcontribute to climate change. It includes strategies to reduce GHG emissions andenhance GHG sinks.Adaptation — is a process, or set of initiatives and measures, to reduce thevulnerability of natural and human systems against actual or expected climate changeeffects. Adaptation can also be thought of as learning how to live with theconsequences of climate change. The first consequences of climate change canalready be seen in Europe and worldwide, and these impacts are predicted tointensify in the coming decades. Temperatures are rising, rainfall patterns are shifting,glaciers are melting, sea levels are getting higher and extreme weather resulting inhazards such as floods and droughts is becoming more common.Climate change adaptation and mitigation are closely interrelated. While they are often consideredas separate topics or policy fields, it is critical to consider the links between them. Certain adaptationresponses have clear mitigation benefits, but some actions can result in ‘maladaptation’ — i.e.instead of reducing vulnerability to climate change, they actually increase it or reduce the adaptivecapacity. Some actions can also distribute the benefits of adaptation unequally across society (forexample, the prevention of climate-change-induced diseases only for affluent people). 8One of the roles of SEAs is to seek to manage these conflicts and potential synergies. To do so, makea comprehensive assessment of the links between climate change mitigation, adaptation and otherenvironmental issues and policy concerns, to avoid the risk of:• negative synergies and inconsistent policies;• missed opportunities for exploring and promoting positive synergies; and• sub-optimal allocation of resources and policy responses.Some PPs will have as their objectives the promotion of climate change-responsive projects,including mitigation (such as renewable energy licensing regimes, or plans for carbon capture and8 Taken from Guiding principles for adaptation to climate change in Europe ETC/ACC Technical Paper 2010/6.<strong>Guidance</strong> on integrating climate change and biodiversity into SEA 21
Page 1 and 2: Guidance on Integr
Page 3: ForewordThe need for action on clim
Page 6 and 7: GlossaryTermAdaptation(climate chan
Page 8 and 9: Mitigation (climatechange)Mitigatio
Page 10: HOW TO ADDRESS BOTH CLIMATE CHANGE
Page 13 and 14: guidance.Since it is the first such
Page 15 and 16: 2. Climate change and biodiversity
Page 17 and 18: 2.2.3 Resilience of a PP to a chang
Page 19: 2.3.2 Complexity of the issues and
Page 23 and 24: EU Climate and EnergyPackageRoadmap
Page 25 and 26: • Under Article 6(3) of the Habit
Page 27 and 28: Table 5: Key aspects of biodiversit
Page 29 and 30: single biggest cause of biodiversit
Page 31 and 32: Engaging proactively with environme
Page 33 and 34: For climate change, in particular,
Page 35 and 36: 4.3 Identifying the key biodiversit
Page 37 and 38: 5. How to assess effects related to
Page 39 and 40: 5.2 Consider climate change scenari
Page 41 and 42: • Key areas that may be particula
Page 43 and 44: • aim for ‘no-net-loss’ of bi
Page 45 and 46: Flood regimes and extremerainfall e
Page 47 and 48: • Where possible, use causal chai
Page 49 and 50: This guidance document emphasises t
Page 51 and 52: Annex 1: Further readingThe policy
Page 53 and 54: Resource Paper: No Net Loss and Los
Page 55 and 56: Resource Manual to Support Applicat
Page 57 and 58: Annex 2: Sources of information on
Page 59 and 60: EmDATERA-NET ROAD —Coordination a
Page 61 and 62: GeneralData and Maps (EEA)EUROSTATE
Page 63 and 64: factorsEcosystembasedapproachesEcos
Page 65 and 66: to your PP area. Greenhouse Gas Imp
Page 67 and 68: stage, but may be extended intothe
Page 69 and 70: enefits for all; Political: discuss

Guidance on Integrating Climate Change and Biodiversity into ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?