Strategic environmental assessment: assessing the environmental impact of biotechnology

Linacre, Nicholas A.; Gaskell, Joanne; Rosegrant, Mark W.; Falck-Zepeda, José Benjamin; Quemada, Hector; Halsey, Mark; Birner, Regina. Strategic environmental assessment: assessing the environmental impact of biotechnology. Issue Brief. 41. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160661

Project-based risk assessments or Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) of biotechnology are used to evaluate specific developments when the technology is ready for commercialization, but there is a need to develop comprehensive analyses of plans at an earlier stage of development to justify the investment of potentially large amounts of public monies in specific biotechnologies. This provides the rationale for the use of SEA in development-related investments to integrate environmental considerations with poverty alleviation potential, gender and other social issues that may impact the choice of crop and trait, and governance and legal factors.