STRATEGIC SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: KEY APPROACHES AND PROSPECTS IN THE PETROLEUM EXPLORATION SECTOR

The article considers the Strategic Socio-Environmental Assessment (SSEA), which aims to contribute to the integration of social and environmental considerations into the preparation, adoption and implementation of strategies, plans, and programmes, with a view of promoting sustainable development. The Environmental Impact Assessment of individual projects does not necessarily guarantee that at the regional level, the state of the environment as well as social and cultural characteristics do not deteriorate due to the economic development. At present, no official regulations govern SSEA procedures in Russia. Certain practices do exist, and the article considers such cases as the environmental assessment of rationales of new protected areas, territorial development plans and collaborative international programmes in the field of hydrocarbons exploration. Most researchers focus attention on the stakeholder involvement and the necessity to run special studies rather than use statistical data on the state of the environment. The article presents a new case study and recommends implementing SSEA for making decisions of the remediation of older petroleum exploration sites. The author emphasises that the primary goal of economic development should be to generate real value within socio-economic systems while accounting for the ecological limits of natural environments, and concludes that there is a necessity to work out a special SSEA-related legislative act and practical recommendations.