Evaluación Ambiental Estratégica para el Sector Minero

The report advocates for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as a high-level tool to integrate environmental, social, and economic considerations into mining plans, policies, and programs (PPPs). Unlike project-level Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA), SEA provides a long-term, iterative perspective that helps balance competing interests and address cumulative impacts. The document details how SEA has been applied in countries like Namibia, Ghana, Romania, and Mozambique, highlighting its role in optimizing infrastructure, improving regulatory frameworks, and enhancing public participation. It identifies key obstacles such as limited institutional capacity and lack of political will, recommending that governments prioritize inter-ministerial collaboration and inclusive stakeholder engagement, particularly when managing critical minerals for the energy transition.

• Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) differs from Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) by focusing on plans, policies, and programs (PPPs) with a long-term perspective, whereas ESIA is a linear process applied to specific projects to minimize and mitigate impacts.
• In Namibia, the SEA for the uranium sector led to a moratorium on new prospecting licenses in 2007 until the assessment was complete, eventually resulting in the joint development of infrastructure like power lines, roads, and a desalination plant to optimize resource use.
• Ghana's mining sector SEA supported the 2014 mining and minerals policy and improved the permitting process for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) by establishing more district and satellite offices to regulate the sector locally.
• In Romania, the SEA informed the environmentally sustainable closure of selected mines and led to new legislation on dam safety, which resulted in the recovery of eight tailings dams to reduce environmental and social risks.
• Mozambique used SEA to integrate environmental and social aspects into the planning of the Lower Zambezi Valley, influencing regional land-use planning and providing guidance for climate adaptation plans and resettlement areas after Cyclone Kenneth in 2016.
• The ongoing SEA in Canada's Ring of Fire region demonstrates the necessity of indigenous participation; initial terms of reference developed in 2020 without adequate consultation were rejected by First Nations, leading to a 2023 restart of the process based on joint development.
• Common obstacles to SEA implementation include limited institutional capacity, lack of reliable environmental data, fluctuating political will, and a lack of awareness among stakeholders regarding the benefits of the strategic approach.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2024). Evaluación Ambiental Estratégica para el Sector Minero. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-07/igf-strategic-environmental-assessment-mining-es.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Evaluación Ambiental Estratégica para el Sector Minero. 2024. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-07/igf-strategic-environmental-assessment-mining-es.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Evaluación Ambiental Estratégica para el Sector Minero |date=2024 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-07/igf-strategic-environmental-assessment-mining-es.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2024evaluacin, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Evaluación Ambiental Estratégica para el Sector Minero}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2024}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-07/igf-strategic-environmental-assessment-mining-es.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }