Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment

Definition

The Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment (SEEA), which stems from the Cabinet Directive on Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment, supports the federal government’s decision-making process by highlighting the economic and environmental impacts of proposed policies or programs tabled for Cabinet approval.

The SEEA is applied, among other things, through a standardized template, the Climate, Nature and Economy Lens (CNEL), which federal public servants must complete when assessing these proposals. The CNEL requires that climate change (mitigation, adaptation, resilience), biodiversity, other environmental effects, and economic impacts be taken into account.

Requirements

When a SEEA has been completed and the proposal has been announced or implemented, CED must issue a public statement guaranteeing that the proposal’s environmental and economic impacts have been taken into account.