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It is also required to ensure that the objectives of the framework can
be advanced effectively. This contention is supported by three key
considerations.
The
rst is that the direct causes of ecological degradation are them-
selves the products of policy decisions made in other governmental
departments, and particularly those with overarching responsibility
for macro-economic growth and societal well-being. There is little that
would be achieved through seeking to improve policies in particular
areas if decisions made externally to them (i.e., for economic growth
driven by a major expansion in large-scale
xed infrastructure) would
undermine efforts to reduce ecological risk. Accordingly, I envisage that
reviews would be conducted on a
basis. This
would be done with a view to engendering concerted and coordinated
action by all governmental departments to reduce risks of harm to
ecosystems. This cross-governmental approach is necessary if the links
between different policy areas that entrench reliance on harmful activi-
tiesaretobeidenti
'
whole of government
'
ed and broken. 140 It is also essential if the drivers of
current patterns of consumption are to be identi
ed and policy measures
developed that might alter unsustainable trajectories of resource use. 141
Second, a comprehensive approach is necessary to ensure that all of
the choices made by the government in different policy areas are con-
ducted within the framework and guided by its objectives and principles.
A potential dif
culty perceived by those who have called for policy assess-
ment is that policies are not necessarily written down and may therefore
evade formal review. 142 Buckley suggests that
[t]he most powerful policies
are often unwritten, unspoken, unacknowledged, and hence not open to
formal assessment
'
. 143 A further concern raised by these commentators is
that government would seek to circumvent a mechanism for assessment
by not labelling proposals as policy documents or presenting them within
'
140 Connor and Dovers,
'
Strategic Environmental Assessment
'
,p.166.
141
S. Dovers,
Too Deep a SEA? Strategic Environmental Assessment in the Era of
Sustainability
'
in S. Marsden and S. Dovers (eds) Strategic Environmental Assessment
in Australasia (Sydney: The Federation Press, 2002), pp. 25
'
-
6; Gibson et al.,
'
Sustainability Assessment
'
,p.97.
142 Boothroyd,
A
Critical Review of the Dominant Lines of Argumentation on the Need for Strategic
Environmental Assessment
'
Integrating Economy, Society and Environment
'
,p.145;O.Bina,
'
'
(2007) 27 Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 589.
143 R. Buckley,
in A. L. Porter and J. J. Fittipaldi (eds)
Environmental Methods Review: Retooling Impact Assessment for the New Century
(Fargo: The Press Club, 1998), p. 78.
'
Strategic Environmental Assessment
'
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