Strategic Environmental Assessment Research Articles

Marine Biodiversity Management under the UNCLOS: Scope and Challenges in the era of blue Economy Policy

Developing a governance framework for marine biodiversity, explicitly to Marine Genetic Resources (MGRs) is crucial for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity. Addressing the challenge of protecting biodiversity in the global ocean requires a sound knowledge and understanding of the complex marine environment with a sound support for ocean governance, including data development and expert consultation, that could also contribute to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for the proposed 2021–2030 Sustainable Development. Future challenges include capacity building and new approaches to incorporate traditional knowledge. Even though the CBD framework put forward a legal framework for the governance of biological diversity from within national jurisdiction, but the issue of biodiversity governance from beyond national jurisdictions remained unaddressed. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) framework leaves behind the marine scientific research activities under the ‘freedom of high seas’ regime, but the international community has become increasingly aware of the growing threats to marine biodiversity in ABNJ and been conferring alternatives to conserve and sustainably use it. UNCLOS proposes to promote sustainable use and conservation of marine living resources especially marine mammals and highly migratory species but specifically silent on marine genetic resources and promotion of marine scientific research in ABNJ for the efficient utilization of resources. UNCLOS lacks modern conservation principles (such as the ecosystem approach and precautionary principle) and conservation tools (such as strategic environmental assessments and marine spatial planning) that is part of achieving sustainable development goals. This paper aims to do critical study of UNCLOS provisions and the international legal principles and economical concepts to bring a balance between competing values, perspectives and interests in the conservation and sustainable governance of marine biodiversity is aimed through this paper.

The prospects for legislating a national biodiversity assessment mechanism

In order to legislate and establish the biodiversity assessment mechanism, the provisions of Article 6 para. (3) and (4) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 206 of 22 July 1992. Amendments to the legal framework aimed at introducing the legal mechanism for biodiversity assessment were made by Law No 225/2022 in force from 04.11.2023 and Law No 226/2022 in force from 21.10.2023. The key aspects of the amendments related to the biodiversity assessment mechanism are: 1) the definition of „biodiversity assessment”; 2) the scope of the biodiversity assessment mechanism; 3) the link between the biodiversity assessment mechanism and the environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment mechanisms. The study aims to analyse these amendments and to outline the prospects for the establishment of a national biodiversity assessment mechanism.

The impact of construction on the environment - the European experience of normative and legal regulation in Ukraine

Construction is a sector of the economy that directly affects the ecology, changing existing ecosystems and creating a new modified environment, which leads to the transformation of the existing one. Taking into account the importance that the implementation of construction projects has for the successful transformation of the environment, the study of factors of influence, design and other activities of construction participants on the environment, the development of systems for assessing such effects and their implementation in practical activities remains an extremely urgent task. The article examines the regulatory and legal documents of the EU regarding the regulation of the ecological consequences of the impact of construction on the environment, and also systematizes the directions of the impact of construction on the environment. Construction has a significant negative impact on the environment, which is accompanied by the transformation of ecosystems, fragmentation of landscapes, during drilling and blasting, construction of pits and trenches, felling of forests and bushes, pollution of the atmosphere, territories and water areas adjacent to the construction, and noise pollution, damage to the soil layer and washing away pollution from the construction site, the formation of construction waste dumps, etc. That is why the planning, construction and operation of construction sites must be carried out in accordance with environmental standards, and the standards themselves should ensure the minimization of the impact of networks on the environment. Therefore, it is important to improve the existing methods of assessing environmental risks, to form criteria and an assessment mechanism, as well as to bring the Ukrainian legislative and regulatory framework closer to the European one.
 The features and differences of the preparation of the following documents are determined: Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), as well as the advantages of using environmental product declarations (EPD) used in the EU in construction as a means of communicating transparent and standardized information about the environmental performance of products, are based on life cycle assessment (LCA) and comply with standards such as ISO 14025. By implementing mandatory and voluntary environmental standards and green building practices, enterprises in the construction sector will be able to play a key role in reducing the impact on the environment environment.

Cumulative effects of offshore renewables: From pragmatic policies to holistic marine spatial planning tools

To alleviate climate change consequences, the UK government is pioneering offshore renewable energy developments at an ever-increasing pace. The North Sea is a dynamic ecosystem with strong bottom-up/top-down natural and anthropogenic drivers facing rapid climate change impacts. To ensure the compatibility of such large-scale developments with nature conservation obligations, regulatory processes set out that all effects need to be evaluated through cumulative impact assessments (CIA). However, by excluding climate change impacts and bottom-up effects of renewable developments, the CIA lacks spatio-temporal baselines linking oceanic ecosystem indicators to population dynamics, leading to uncertain predictions at population levels. CIA is currently required in Europe under the Strategic Environmental Assessment and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), suggesting that these two policy areas should be more closely aligned. This study presents an overview of the current CIA policy framework, enabling an ecosystem-based approach linking lower ecosystem components to top-predator populations using the UK as a case study. At the UK level, CIA requirements mirror the EU ones under the Marine and Coastal Access Act, the UK Marine Policy Statement, and the UK National Policy Statement. Firstly, we show how CIA and MSFD requirements are integrated into the UK licensing and maritime planning frameworks. Secondly, we provide policy pathways embedding the MSFD as a baseline for CIAs with European and UK regulations. Thirdly, we propose a framework encompassing a shared monitoring effort, an ecosystem modelling approach connected with two existing online databases supported with funds from Contracts for Difference. This integrated approach will enable a holistic and pragmatic ecosystem-based framework for more accurate and rapid methods for producing CIAs for offshore renewable energy developments.

Impact of Land Cover Changes on Reducing Greenhouse Emissions: Site Selection, Baseline Modeling, and Strategic Environmental Assessment of REDD+ Projects

AbstractReducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is way key to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) while also protecting vulnerable forest ecosystems. The purpose of this study was to recognize suitable areas for REDD+ Programme projects and calculate the reduction in CO2 emissions through the prevention of forest cover degradation in the Central Hyrcanian forests. For this purpose, the cover changes of the Central Hyrcanian forests were assessed using LANDSAT satellite images. Applying the voluntary carbon standard (VCS) methodology and the calibration period 1984–2014 (30 years), forest cover changes were predicted. The results showed that under the business‐as‐usual scenario, 155,698 ha of Central Hyrcanian forests will be declined by 2044. In general, the REDD+ Programme project implementation will prevent the release of 1,209,231 tCO2e. Based on the social cost of carbon (SCC) approach, the REDD+ Programme project implementation can save 12,092,310 US$. In addition, this approach can be used for the project design document (PDD) of the forest development mechanism.

Prospects and challenges of achieving sustainable urban green-spaces: A case study of urban greening in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), Bangladesh

Urban green spaces and urban forest covers are a significant component of urban planning which is critically ignored in Bangladesh. This study aims to identify the prospects and challenges of achieving sustainable urban green spaces in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), Bangladesh which is a significant indicator of the sustainable development goal (SDG11). We have analyzed the historical land use and land cover change (LULC) from 1992, 2002, 2012, and 2022 using Landsat 4–5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images by ArcGIS 10.8 and Google Earth-pro software. The use of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) primarily indicates vegetation greenness as well as determining other land uses such as waterbody, settlements and barren land. The calculated kappa values varied from 80% to 86.7% for all the years and fit the current research. A strength-weakness-opportunity-threat (SWOT) analysis reviewed and analyzed existing sectoral policy and plans to identify challenges to achieve sustainable urban forestry. Fifteen key informant interviews (KII) from Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), Department of Environment (DOE), Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), and Department of Social Forestry Department (DSF) wing under BFD were taken to identify the status of urban forestry, its problems, opportunities, and threats. The responses were drawn using a Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework. Of the total measurements of 194.2sq km (2022), normal vegetation cover has decreased significantly from 1992 to 2022 by approximately 65.9%, while urban areas increased by almost 95% simultaneously. From 1992 to 2022, areas of water bodies decreased by more than 32.4%. The vegetation coverage in DNCC is only 16.17%, inferior in meeting sustainable urban greening to fulfil the criteria of sustainable cities and communities. From the KII, it is found that despite some relevant forestry policy and plans, limited lands, institutional corruption, and weak governance are the major institutional drawbacks. In the DNCC, unplanned and rapid megacity expansion, roads and utility service expansion weak institutional policy, plan, and program implementation for urban green space protection are some of the driving forces of green cover loss. Introducing strategic environmental assessment of urban forestry policy, plans, and programs, removing inter-institutional conflicts, strategic sectoral plans, and programs for increased green spaces through the bioeconomy concept is required. In addition, increased participation from urban stakeholders is some of the significant responses identified for strategic urban green space and forest cover improvement in DNCC.

Empowering the public in environmental assessment: Advances or enduring challenges?

Public participation is a cornerstone of good plan-making and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), allowing local information and concerns to be captured, residents to be engaged in assessment and plan-making processes, and opposition to plan implementation to be reduced. Effective public participation in SEA depends on who is involved, how they are involved, and what influence they have over the SEA and plan-making processes. Using this who-how-what framework, this paper presents research findings on the effectiveness of public participation in SEA from expert interviews and an international online survey. The findings indicate that current SEA practice remains limited in all three dimensions, with particularly little emphasis on the public's influence. The paper reflects on these enduring challenges, to further debates and practice on more transparent and inclusive assessments and decisions.

Analysis DPSIR for the Strategic Environment Assessment in Planning Development in Agropolitan Areas and Minapolitan Areas in East Java

The development plan of Agropolitan and Minapolitan areas in the province of East Java is thought to pose a risk to the environment. Agropolitan/Minapolitan Area development will be followed by industrial sector development, increasing environmental risks such as environmental pollution, both air, soil and water due to waste from agricultural, aquaculture, and/or industrial activities, conversion of agricultural land and ponds, and destruction of other ecosystems. Policies, Plans and Programs (PPPs) Zoning planning and development in Agropolitan Areas and Minapolitan Areas in the form of production center zones, processing industry center zones, collection and distribution center zones is one of the PPPs that requires a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). This research was carried out at the zoning locations in East Java Province’s Agropolitan and Minapolitan areas. The purpose of this study is to determine how environmental influences and impacts are caused by Policies, Plans, and Programs (PPPs) planning and zoning development in Agropolitan Areas and Minapolitan Areas in East Java Province in the form of production center zones, processing industry center zones, collection and distribution center zones. Regional environmental analysis and policy evaluation are carried out using the analysis six contents of SEA and DPSIR (Driving Force – Pressure – State – Impact – Response) approach which it is a framework for organizing information and data on environmental conditions. The research results show that data on environmental conditions from PPPs planning and zoning development in the Agropolitan and Minapolitan Areas of East Java Province in the form of production center zones, processing industry center zones, collection and distribution center zones consist of D3TLH water is exceeded and has not been exceeded, environmental impact and risk, service performance or ecosystem services, level of vulnerability to climate change, resistance level and biodiversity potential, and estimated environmental risk impact. The research’s findings indicate that SEA is a very beneficial and effective ongoing usage of evaluation tools to provide solutions or recommendations based on an in-depth review process that includes mitigation and alternatives.

The evolution of China's environmental impact assessment system: Retrospect and prospect from the perspective of effectiveness evaluation

It has been nearly 20 years since the Law of the People's Republic of China on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) formally came into effect in 2003. The development of China's EIA system has gone through the stages of exploration, practice and reform. The evaluation objects have expanded from construction projects to planning, and then to policies, forming an EIA system with Chinese characteristics. This paper first draws on the experience of international EIA effectiveness evaluation and puts forward a checklist combined with China's practice. Based on this checklist, the development of China's EIA system is systematically reviewed and analyzed from the perspective of effectiveness evaluation. Finally, this paper proposes keys and priorities for the future effectiveness improvement of China's EIA system, and puts forward policy recommendations of realistic value for EIA to help China achieve high-standard protection and high-quality development. It is found that, as an important means of environmental management, the laws and regulations system, and administration system of China's EIA system play an important role. However, there are still some imperfections. The connotation of Strategic Environmental Assessment in China still needs to be further enriched, and support system such as public participation need to be strengthened.

Air pollution modeling to support strategic environmental assessment: case study—National Emission Reduction Plan for coal-fired thermal power plants in Serbia

AbstractThe paper presents a specific method of environmental impact assessment applied in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the National Emission Reduction Plan (NERP) in the Republic of Serbia, based on air quality. The specificity of the approach is in the application of a semiquantitative method of multicriteria evaluation based on air dispersion modeling and the integration of SEA goals, indicators and criteria for assessing the impact of the NERP on the quality of air and other environmental elements in this method. When predicting changes in air quality for the planning horizon to 2028, the physical, geographical and climatic characteristics of the area were taken into account, as well as technical measures to reduce SO2 emissions, since this was the dominant pollutant from the Serbian coal-fired power plants studied by the NERP. Air pollution modeling was carried out using the AERMOD software package based on the data collected, and the quantitative results obtained were used in a multicriteria evaluation as part of the SEA. The results of the research indicated the importance of applying this approach in order to significantly increase objectivity in the SEA process, since it is an important element of decision making at the strategic level. In addition, a comparative presentation of the modeling results before and after application of the NERP was an important part of the SEA process, and it provided a clear insight into expected changes in the air quality. This is a key argument for making appropriate policy decisions on spatial, energy, environmental and socio-economic development in the Republic of Serbia, which, like other developing countries, is sluggishly following global trends in energy transition.

Planning environmental impact assessment law in China: Status quo, implementation problems and legislative reform

As the primary form of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) mandated by law in China, the planning environmental impact assessment (PEIA) serves to anticipate the likely environmental impacts that may arise out of the proposed plans. In this research, systematic reviews of local practice and major reforms of the PEIA system were conducted to have a comprehensive understanding of the implementation of the PEIA system, so as to clarify the direction and focus of PEIA lawmaking. PEIA documents issued by local governments in China since 2010 were collected to find the development and breakthrough of PEIA laws in local practice. Major reforms of the planning system and environmental governance system in recent years were also examined to find the outdated premises of PEIA laws. The results showed that today the PEIA laws face multiple problems in implementation, including the exclusion of policy EIA, outdated screening and scoping requirements, insufficient guarantee for quality of the review procedure, limited public participation and information disclosure, confusing circumstances for initiating follow-up assessment, and invalid legal liability for participants of the EIA process. To solve these problems through legislative reform, this paper suggests amending the Environmental Impact Assessment Law to extend planning EIA to policy EIA, update the screening and scoping requirements, adjust procedures for review of EIA documents, strengthen public participation and supervision, specify procedures for follow-up assessments, and improve legal liability for violating PEIA obligations.

Strategic environmental assessment’s role in formulating environmentally sound development plans in Botswana

ABSTRACT Examining SEA effectiveness is a complex yet critical component of any well-functioning SEA system. This article reflects on SEA’s substantive effectiveness and examines the influence of SEA on development planning for environmental sustainability and the challenges of integrating SEA with decisional processes in Botswana. The paper is set within the context of three government plan-SEAs. Results indicate that despite the strong legislative requirement and understanding of the significance of integrating SEA into development planning, the general effectiveness of the tool is rather limited. Also, the results indicate that the successful integration of SEA findings and recommendations into decision-making in Botswana is threatened by financial constraints, the presentation of SEAs, technical inadequacies, politics, and conflicting stakeholder value expectations. The paper therefore argues that for SEA to guide environmentally sound planning in Botswana, obstacles to environmentally sound decision-making must be addressed. This will require behavioural, institutional, and legislative reforms.

The uncertainty in mega-regional SEA and its coping methods in China's practice

Mega-regional strategic environmental assessment (RSEA) aims to provide decision-makers with scientific estimations and protective recommendations for regional development by taking inter-provincial space as work scopes, focalizing regional development as evaluation objects, and evaluating long-term ecological environmental impacts. Huge uncertainties inevitably exist in RSEA, affecting a reliable assessment. However, past literature offers limited guidance on how to systematically identify and address uncertainties in RSEAs. Thus, in light of uncertainty research in other environmental domains, an uncertainty typology of RSEA is constructed based on Simon's administrative model (1957) and Koernoev & Devuyst's decision situation (2016). Three uncertainty types including stochastic, epistemic, and technical uncertainties are developed to respectively interpret the variability-, knowledge-, and technic-related uncertainties. Various coping methods are identified, such as scenario analysis, modeling simulation, worst-case principles, adaptive management, etc. Then, practitioners' perception towards the uncertainty typology is investigated by a questionnaire survey, and the application of uncertainty coping approaches in RSEA practice is examined through case studies. Subsequently, the enlightenment of uncertainty handling in China's RSEA is proposed.

An overview of strategic environmental assessment for watershed development planning in China: Moving towards more effective involvement in green development

Among all kinds of developmental plans under the legal requirements for strategic environmental assessments (SEA) in China, SEA involving watershed development planning (WDP) is characterized by the longest evolution history, the most time-consuming procedure, and the most complicated assessment. In order to help understanding of the development and context of Chinese WDP-SEA, an introduction was made here to display its management rules, technical framework, and the progress in practice. Besides, by collecting 25 state-level cases completed during the period of 2014–2019, the substantive SEA performance was portrayed through the chief elements of evaluation indicators, recommendations on planning improvement and the mitigation measures. A literature review invovling 46 researches showed the procedural effectiveness has been ensured by increasingly complete regulations, technical guidelines, and rigorous review. To further promote contributions of the WDP-SEA to watershed environmental management and green development, it is suggested to strengthen the impact assessments related with biodiversity and climate change and linking SEA works with such new governing devices as the three-lines & one-list, and the river chief system in China.

Some ideas for a post-war recovery of Ukrainian cities

The author gives a short overwiev of ”Military Operations in Urban Terrain” (MOUT) as known from history, especially from World War II, especially in Kyiv and Budapest. Some reflections on history and actual state of civil defence follow. After an overwiev of actual Ukrainian local government reform and planning legislation, a description of desirable legilatvie and financial action for the post-war time are described. A sort of ”Marsahll Plan” including the relevant institutions, and measures in the field of urban development, especially renewal, organisation of authorities, safeguarding plans, reallocation of property rights and - perhaps - betterment levy will be needed. Strategic environmental assessment should be introduced in acordance with EU legislation.

Development of a Decision-Making Model to Support the Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Revision of the Municipal Plan of Turin (Italy)

This article presents a decision-making model for assessing the sustainability of urban plans and programmes to envision long-term transformation scenarios through the development of consistency matrices. The tool was tested in a real case study, which is the Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Revision of the General Municipal Plan of the City of Turin (Italy). The changes that have taken place in recent years have highlighted the need for more flexible, dynamic, and streamlined tools that can help the revision of plans and programmes, which are capable also of considering the citizen’s needs. The decision-making model provided in this paper was structured into five phases: normative framing of the environmental assessment procedures; spatial analysis by structures; consistency analysis of conformity between the objectives of the technical proposal of the preliminary draft and the superordinate and coordinated planning; monitoring of the technical proposal through the employment of key indicators; and the definition of guidelines for the General Regulatory Plan of the City of Turin. The tool presented in this work can support planners, municipal technicians, and general public administrations, both in the planning and assessment processes to design and implement sustainable policy recommendations capable of tackling the increasing complexity of urban transformations.

Integrating Resilience in the Urban Planning Process in Mlandizi Town: An Approach Towards Promoting Comprehensive Over Piecemeal Planning

Urban resilience is one of the prominent themes in urban development discourse. Its importance resonates with the quest to balance rapid urbanization and adaptation to climate change and variability, which raises the need for building adaptive capacities within urban system. Despite the rapid urbanization in Mlandizi, Tanzania, the town is planned on a piecemeal basis that lacks a holistic view of the urban system. While the integration of urban resilience into the urban development planning process is effective for building adaptive capacities, piecemeal planning raises questions about its effectiveness to integrate the tenets of resilience for addressing a wider range of climate risks, shocks and stresses. This paper ascertained the extent to which piecemeal planning integrated urban resilience into the planning process in Mlandizi small-town. Mixed-research methods were used involving geospatial mapping, in-depth interviews and field observation. Land use/cover change analysis and mapping of urban development were conducted in piecemeal planned areas. Susceptibility to flooding was assessed in the Ruvu river floodplain through an overlay of houses on the Digital Elevation Model. In-depth interviews and field observations were conducted to ascertain the urban resilience outcomes of piecemeal planning. Results suggest that informal urbanization constitutes 90% of the housing development in Mlandizi. There is also rapid land use change and conversion of the natural landscape to man-made land uses, which results in diminishing green spaces. The results further indicate that the piecemeal planning process ignored consultation of stakeholders and strategic environmental assessment. As a result, it failed to provide an appropriate policy for integrating urban resilience with spatial planning. This paper argues for the adoption of comprehensive planning that integrates resilience in urban planning processes, and builds capacity for addressing a wide range of shocks, including the impacts of climate change.

Strategic environmental assessment for low-carbon development: A case study of oil and gas planning in Tanzania

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) can help policy-makers navigate the transition to a low-carbon future. However, research into SEA's efficacy is scarce. We investigated how and to what extent low-carbon development (LCD) was considered in the case study SEA of Tanzania's oil and gas development plan. Using a comprehensive analysis framework we developed earlier, we performed documentary analysis on the draft SEA report. Findings reveal that LCD considerations were addressed partially and inconsistently. Notably, there was no alternatives options analysis, so opportunities for promoting LCD were foregone. Our findings suggest that SEA lags behind the known scientific evidence linking strategic energy planning to climate change mitigation. We recommend revising SEA institutional frameworks and developing the capacity of SEA actors to ensure that future SEAs are more strategic. Lessons highlighted from the Tanzanian case study can be applied to address the opportunities and challenges of LCD in other comparable jurisdictions.

Index Measuring Land Use Intensity—A Gradient-Based Approach

To monitor the changes in the landscape, and to relate these to ecological processes, we need robust and reproducible methods for quantifying the changes in landscape patterns. The main aim of this study is to present, exemplify and discuss a gradient-based index of land use intensity. This index can easily be calculated from spatial data that are available for most areas and may therefore have a wide applicability. Further, the index is adapted for use based on official data sets and can thus be used directly in decision-making at different levels. The index in its basic form consists of two parts where the first is based on the data of buildings and roads and the second of infrastructure land cover. We compared the index with two frequently used ‘wilderness indices’ in Norway called INON and the Human Footprint Index. Our index captures important elements of infrastructure in more detailed scales than the other indices. A particularly attractive feature of the index is that it is based on map databases that are updated regularly. The index has the potential to serve as an important tool in land use planning as well as a basis for monitoring, the assessment of ecological state and ecological integrity and for ecological accounting as well as strategic environmental assessments.

Post-assessment in policy-based strategic environmental assessment: Taking China's agricultural support and protection subsidy policy as an example

As the top-level component of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) system, policy-based strategic environmental assessment (SEA) plays an important role in avoiding the negative environmental impacts of policy implementation. However, the development of policy-based SEA in China is relatively slow due to institutional and technical difficulties. In fact, the effective inclusion of policy-based SEA in the early stage of policy decision-making will continue to face major and long-term practical resistance in the future, such that conducting policy-based SEA on a large-scale will be difficult. Therefore, this study proposes a chain-type post-assessment framework suitable for assessing the environmental impact of policies under implementation from the perspective of policy life cycle assessment to promote policy-based SEA to cover more policies. This framework includes five parts, namely, policy analysis, impact identification, impact analysis, cause exploration, and policy recommendations. This framework follows a typical model with environmental impact analysis as the core and incorporates the concept of system optimization. Following this framework, this study conducts an EIA of China's agricultural support and protection subsidy policy (ASPSP). The study finds that the framework demonstrated good applicability in the post-assessment of policies under implementation. In the future, to promote the establishment and development of policy-based SEA in China, work should be conducted from the following aspects: promotion of the policy EIA into law, establishment of an assessment framework throughout the policy life cycle, and strengthening the research on methods. Through case studies, this study finds that China's ASPSP, which is beneficial to the environment in terms of policy design, lacks a prominent positive impact on the eco-environment and even has a negative impact. This is related not only to unreasonable policy design but also to deviation from policy implementation under the joint action of policy implementers, policy object, and the policy implementation environment. In the future, while continuing to optimize and adjust policies, work should be conducted in terms of optimizing the policy implementation environment, improving policy implementation methods, and strengthening the foundation of policy implementation to improve policy effectiveness.