diff --git a/kedro/config/omegaconf_config.py b/kedro/config/omegaconf_config.py
index 691ae30385..c4850159a1 100644
--- a/kedro/config/omegaconf_config.py
+++ b/kedro/config/omegaconf_config.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import mimetypes
 import typing
 from collections.abc import KeysView
+from enum import Enum, auto
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Callable, Iterable
 
@@ -26,6 +27,17 @@
 _NO_VALUE = object()
 
 
+class MergeStrategies(Enum):
+    SOFT = auto()
+    DESTRUCTIVE = auto()
+
+
+MERGING_IMPLEMENTATIONS = {
+    MergeStrategies.SOFT: "_soft_merge",
+    MergeStrategies.DESTRUCTIVE: "_destructive_merge",
+}
+
+
 class OmegaConfigLoader(AbstractConfigLoader):
     """Recursively scan directories (config paths) contained in ``conf_source`` for
     configuration files with a ``yaml``, ``yml`` or ``json`` extension, load and merge
@@ -131,18 +143,9 @@ def __init__(  # noqa: PLR0913
             self._register_new_resolvers(custom_resolvers)
         # Register globals resolver
         self._register_globals_resolver()
-        file_mimetype, _ = mimetypes.guess_type(conf_source)
-        if file_mimetype == "application/x-tar":
-            self._protocol = "tar"
-        elif file_mimetype in (
-            "application/zip",
-            "application/x-zip-compressed",
-            "application/zip-compressed",
-        ):
-            self._protocol = "zip"
-        else:
-            self._protocol = "file"
-        self._fs = fsspec.filesystem(protocol=self._protocol, fo=conf_source)
+
+        # Setup file system and protocol
+        self._fs, self._protocol = self._initialise_filesystem_and_protocol(conf_source)
 
         super().__init__(
             conf_source=conf_source,
@@ -220,6 +223,11 @@ def __getitem__(self, key: str) -> dict[str, Any]:  # noqa: PLR0912
 
         # Load chosen env config
         run_env = self.env or self.default_run_env
+
+        # Return if chosen env config is the same as base config to avoid loading the same config twice
+        if run_env == self.base_env:
+            return config  # type: ignore[no-any-return]
+
         if self._protocol == "file":
             env_path = str(Path(self.conf_source) / run_env)
         else:
@@ -236,16 +244,7 @@ def __getitem__(self, key: str) -> dict[str, Any]:  # noqa: PLR0912
             else:
                 raise exc
 
-        merging_strategy = self.merge_strategy.get(key)
-        if merging_strategy == "soft":
-            resulting_config = self._soft_merge(config, env_config)
-        elif merging_strategy == "destructive" or not merging_strategy:
-            resulting_config = self._destructive_merge(config, env_config, env_path)
-        else:
-            raise ValueError(
-                f"Merging strategy {merging_strategy} not supported. The accepted merging "
-                f"strategies are `soft` and `destructive`."
-            )
+        resulting_config = self._merge_configs(config, env_config, key, env_path)
 
         if not processed_files and key != "globals":
             raise MissingConfigException(
@@ -355,6 +354,47 @@ def load_and_merge_dir_config(
             if not k.startswith("_")
         }
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _initialise_filesystem_and_protocol(
+        conf_source: str,
+    ) -> tuple[fsspec.AbstractFileSystem, str]:
+        """Set up the file system based on the file type detected in conf_source."""
+        file_mimetype, _ = mimetypes.guess_type(conf_source)
+        if file_mimetype == "application/x-tar":
+            protocol = "tar"
+        elif file_mimetype in (
+            "application/zip",
+            "application/x-zip-compressed",
+            "application/zip-compressed",
+        ):
+            protocol = "zip"
+        else:
+            protocol = "file"
+        fs = fsspec.filesystem(protocol=protocol, fo=conf_source)
+        return fs, protocol
+
+    def _merge_configs(
+        self,
+        config: dict[str, Any],
+        env_config: dict[str, Any],
+        key: str,
+        env_path: str,
+    ) -> Any:
+        merging_strategy = self.merge_strategy.get(key, "destructive")
+        try:
+            strategy = MergeStrategies[merging_strategy.upper()]
+
+            # Get the corresponding merge function and call it
+            merge_function_name = MERGING_IMPLEMENTATIONS[strategy]
+            merge_function = getattr(self, merge_function_name)
+            return merge_function(config, env_config, env_path)
+        except KeyError:
+            allowed_strategies = [strategy.name.lower() for strategy in MergeStrategies]
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Merging strategy {merging_strategy} not supported. The accepted merging "
+                f"strategies are {allowed_strategies}."
+            )
+
     def _get_all_keys(self, cfg: Any, parent_key: str = "") -> set[str]:
         keys: set[str] = set()
 
@@ -499,7 +539,9 @@ def _destructive_merge(
         return config
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _soft_merge(config: dict[str, Any], env_config: dict[str, Any]) -> Any:
+    def _soft_merge(
+        config: dict[str, Any], env_config: dict[str, Any], env_path: str | None = None
+    ) -> Any:
         # Soft merge the two env dirs. The chosen env will override base if keys clash.
         return OmegaConf.to_container(OmegaConf.merge(config, env_config))