Ga naar homepageEthiopiaEthiopia – Legislation at strategic level

Ethiopia

Legislation at strategic level

In Ethiopia, environmental assessment is legally required since 2002 when the EIA proclamation was issued. This proclamation also made a reference to SEA as it requires the assessment of public instruments (any government policy, law, strategy and program). The EIA system is decentralized vertically to regional state environmental agencies. The 2002 EIA proclamation was updated in 2025: The ESIA proclamation 1371/2025 was published in the Government Gazette on April 11th, 2025.

In 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as central EIA authority in Ethiopia had been transformed into the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Forestry (renamed Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change in 2015). In 2019 the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission (EFCCC) replaced the Ministry in charge of the environment as the Environmental Assessment authority. In 2021, it changed again into the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

EPA proclamation 1263/2021
Last modified: 10 August 2026

Overview SEA procedure

Article 14 of the new proclamation has further information on SEA, stating that:

  • The EPA shall issue a Directive to determine the category of public instruments which are likely to cause significant environmental and social impact and define the procedure of their assessment.
  • Any government organization that initiates public instrument shall have the obligation to conduct SEA on the public instrument that falls under this Directive.
  • The EPA or the competent Regional Environmental Agency shall submit its recommendations of the SEA to the concerned government body.
  • SEAs, apart from those applied to policies and laws, shall be reviewed by the EPA or competent Regional Environmental Agency.
  • SEA shall take into account: a) the consistency of the public instrument with other environmental laws of the country; b) the potential cumulative impacts of the public instruments; c) whether impacts are inter-state or trans-boundary; d) environmental sensitivity; e) the area coverage and number of potentially affected people; f) natural environmental conditions; h) social, cultural and religious aspects.
Proceed to legislation at project level

 

Source page

https://www.eia.nl/en/countries/ethiopia/legislation-at-strategic-level/