The politics of strategic environmental assessment indicators: weak recognition found in Chinese guidelines
Jingjing Gao, L. Kørnøv, P. Christensen
Aug 9, 2013
Citations
14
Citations
Journal
Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal
Full text
Semantic Scholar
Key Takeaway Key Takeaway: Chinese strategic environmental assessment guidelines emphasize technical aspects but weakly recognize the role of policy in choosing and using indicators.
Abstract
The choice and use of indicators is not only technical and science-led, but also a value-laden social process, and thus concerns public participation and political judgement. This article approaches the Chinese strategic environmental assessment (SEA) indicator system from a science–policy interface perspective and aims to: (1) contribute to the general recognition of indicators functioning in SEA; and (2) analyse, through a Chinese case study, to what extent national guidelines address this science–policy interaction. The overall finding is a strong emphasis on technical/science aspects in the Chinese SEA guidance, and a weak explicit recognition that policy plays a role in choosing and using indicators. Recent development, however, indicates a growing recognition of the politics involved and thus also leads to greater involvement of stakeholders.