OO. 11.2 All programmes and projects funded in partner countries have an ex ante environmental assessment procedure, ranging, as appropriate, from environmental screening to full environmental impact assessment* or strategic environmental assessment*

All Belgium's development cooperation projects will be more systematically assessed prior to the decision to allocate funds so that potential negative impacts on the biodiversity of recipient countries can be identified at an early stage and be avoided or mitigated. A screening procedure should be systematically applied and, when it proves necessary, a full Environmental Impact Assessment* (EIA) carried out.

Broader strategic approaches, such as "Indicative Cooperation Programmes, "Country Strategic Papers" or "Sector-Wide Approaches" (SWAP), etc., should be subject to a Strategic Environmental Assessment* (SEA) that includes biodiversity considerations.

Both EIAs and SEAs should be performed by using the existing assessment systems of the recipient country as much as possible. Joint EIAs or SEAs by several donors will be encouraged whenever possible.

Furthermore, ex post evaluations of development cooperation programmes or projects should also integrate biodiversity considerations, even in projects/programmes that are not related to natural resources.