The SEA paradigm analysis is a metaphorical categorization of
countries based on their SEA implementation into ‘White or
Green Elephants’ or ‘White or Green Tigers’. ‘Elephants’ refer
to highly visible and structured policy instruments such as
legislation while ‘Tigers’ refer to latent non-structured policy
instruments such as public participation and stakeholder
engagement. ‘Green’ refers to effective policy instruments
while ‘White’ refers to ineffective policy instruments (Fig. 2).
Typically ‘White Elephants’ refers to something that is highly
visible but is functionally ineffective and becomes a burden to
sustain where ‘Green Elephants’ are the anti-thesis of ‘White
Elephants’. Similarly, ‘White Tigers’ are something that is
latent and looks potent but is inherently weak where ‘Green
Tigers’ are the anti-thesis of ‘White Tigers’