This chapter introduces Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and its vital role in shaping sustainable development during the energy transition. SEA looks beyond individual projects to assess the long-term environmental and social impacts of policies, plans, and programs (PPPs)—filling the gaps that project-level EIAs can’t address.
It explains how SEA helps compare strategic alternatives, anticipate cumulative impacts, and strengthen decision-making through early public and institutional engagement. The chapter also highlights SEA’s flexibility and discusses common challenges such as implementation, capacity building, and stakeholder participation.
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Table of Contents
Foreword
About IAIA
Acknowledgements
Background to the Guidance
Aims of the Guidance
Structure of the Guidance and How to Use It
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Preface
The world’s energy systems are undergoing rapid transformation as countries phase out fossil fuels, scale up renewable energy, and seek pathways consistent with global climate and biodiversity commitments. These shifts bring environmental opportunities, but also real risks—particularly where energy expansion intersects with sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous lands, water resources, or vulnerable communities.
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) offers a way to address these challenges at the earliest stage of planning. By applying environmental and social considerations to policies, plans, and programs (PPPs), SEA helps governments and institutions make smarter, more transparent decisions about the energy transition. This guidance responds to the growing global demand for practical, high-level direction on how SEA can be used to guide energy system change.
This resource is designed to:
The guidance is structured so users can quickly navigate both foundational concepts and sector-specific considerations:
Part A introduces the principles, processes, legal frameworks, and methods that underpin Strategic Environmental Assessment. It outlines core SEA stages and describes how SEA integrates with decision-making.
Part B applies SEA to the energy transition, focusing on supply-side planning. Individual chapters examine renewable technologies (such as hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy), coal phase-out, mine closure, and the infrastructure needed to support new energy systems. Each chapter highlights key impacts, risks, opportunities, and analytical considerations for SEA teams.
Annexes provide practical tools and examples, including stakeholder engagement techniques, terms of reference templates, checklists, and real-world SEA case studies.
Together, these parts offer a flexible reference that practitioners, authorities, and financiers can use at different stages of strategic planning. Visit How to Use This Guidance for more details on the document’s structure.
The Preface reflects the collective expertise of the international contributors and underscores a central theme: the energy transition must be both environmentally sound and socially just. SEA and Just Transition approaches are complementary—together they help ensure that planning decisions protect ecosystems, respect human rights, and consider workers, communities, and future generations. The guidance also forms part of IAIA’s broader multi-year initiative to support renewable energy planning around the world.
This guidance was developed with contributions from global experts, reviewers, and partner organizations committed to advancing effective SEA practice in the energy transition.