Impact assessment

Policy impact assessments, or simply impact assessments (IAs), are formal, evidence-based procedures that assess prospective economic, social, and environmental effects of a public policy proposal.^[1] They have been incorporated into policy making in the OECD countries and the European Commission. If the assessment is favourable, and the proposed policy is enacted—after a suitable length of time for the policy to gain traction—it might be followed by an impact evaluation; ideally, assessed impacts before the fact and evaluated impacts after the fact are not wildly divergent. In some cases, impact becomes politicized due to a change in the governing regime between assessment and evaluation, and non-congruence might be amplified for ideological reasons. In other cases, the world is a complex place, and assessment is not a perfect art.

Key types of impact assessments include global assessments (global level), policy impact assessment (policy level), strategic environmental assessment (programme and plan level), and environmental impact assessment (project level). Impact assessments can focus on specific themes, such as social impact assessments and gender impact assessments.

IAs can improve legislation by:^[2]

Informing policy makers about potential economic, social, and environmental ramifications
Improving transparency so that contributions to sustainability and "better regulation" are disclosed and special interest lobbying is discouraged
Increasing public participation in order to reflect a range of considerations, thereby improving the legitimacy of policies
Clarifying how public policy helps achieve its goals and priorities through policy indicators
Contributing to continuous learning in policy development by identifying causalities that inform ex-post review of policies

Procedure

The department which is responsible for the policy proposal usually has to carry out the IA. Although the purpose and orientation of IA procedures differ, IA guidelines in the various jurisdictions all follow a similar set of steps to be followed by desk officers:

Planning of the IA
Carrying out the impact analysis
Consultation of affected stakeholders and the general public
Coordination with affected departments
Summary and presentation of findings in a report
Forwarding findings to decision makers
Publication of the IA report (not in all countries)

The analytical steps, which mainly relate to step 2, can be set out as i. Problem definition ii. Definition of policy objectives iii. Development of policy options iv. Analysis of impacts v. Comparison of policy options and recommendation of one option vi. Defining monitoring measures.

Methods

Throughout the IA process, methods can be used for support. In recent years governments have increasingly invested in developing and applying methods and tools for IA.^[3]^[4] Depending on usage, IA methods can be classified as methods for

Scoping (e.g., checklists)
For qualitative analysis (e.g., focus groups)
For quantitative analysis (e.g., life-cycle assessment, material flow accounting, modelling)
Aggregation and comparison of options (e.g., cost–benefit analysis)
Analysing coherence (e.g., Gender IA)
Supporting participation and involvement (e.g., internet consultation)
Data presentation and involvement (e.g., GIS)
Monitoring and evaluation (e.g., indicators)^[5]

References

^ Adelle, Camilla; Weiland, Sabine (2012). "Policy assessment: the state of the art". Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal. 30 (1): 25–33. doi:10.1080/14615517.2012.663256. S2CID 130512741.
^ Jacob, Klaus; Ferretti, Johanna; Guske, Anna-Lena; Turnpenny, John; Jordan, Andrew; Adelle, Camilla (2011). "Sustainability in Impact Assessments A Review of Impact Assessment Systems in selected OECD countries and the European Commission" (PDF). OECD. SG/SD(2011)6/FINAL. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
^ Podhora, Aranka; Helming, K; Adenäuer, L.; Heckelei, T.; Kautto, P.; Reidsma, P.; Rennings, K.; Turnpenny, J.; Jansen, J. (2013). "). The policy-relevancy of impact assessment tools: Evaluating nine years of European research funding". Environmental Science & Policy. 31: 85–95. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2013.03.002.
^ Nilsson, Mans; Jordan, Andrew; Turnpenny, John; Hertin, Julia; Nykvist, Björn; Russel, Duncan (2008). "The use and non-use of policy appraisal tools in public policy making: an analysis of three European countries and the European Union". Policy Sciences. 41 (4): 335–355. doi:10.1007/s11077-008-9071-1. S2CID 154062860.
^ LIAISE – Network of Excellence. "LIAISE KIT – Knowledge for Decision Making". Retrieved 2013-05-05.

External links

International Association for Impact Assessment (main source)
Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal (a journal)
Impact Assessment Page at the European Commission
IAIA Wiki

[1] Adelle, Camilla; Weiland, Sabine (2012). "Policy assessment: the state of the art". Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal. 30 (1): 25–33. doi:10.1080/14615517.2012.663256. S2CID 130512741.

[2] Jacob, Klaus; Ferretti, Johanna; Guske, Anna-Lena; Turnpenny, John; Jordan, Andrew; Adelle, Camilla (2011). "Sustainability in Impact Assessments A Review of Impact Assessment Systems in selected OECD countries and the European Commission" (PDF). OECD. SG/SD(2011)6/FINAL. Retrieved 2012-12-10.

[3] Podhora, Aranka; Helming, K; Adenäuer, L.; Heckelei, T.; Kautto, P.; Reidsma, P.; Rennings, K.; Turnpenny, J.; Jansen, J. (2013). "). The policy-relevancy of impact assessment tools: Evaluating nine years of European research funding". Environmental Science & Policy. 31: 85–95. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2013.03.002.

[4] Nilsson, Mans; Jordan, Andrew; Turnpenny, John; Hertin, Julia; Nykvist, Björn; Russel, Duncan (2008). "The use and non-use of policy appraisal tools in public policy making: an analysis of three European countries and the European Union". Policy Sciences. 41 (4): 335–355. doi:10.1007/s11077-008-9071-1. S2CID 154062860.

[5] LIAISE – Network of Excellence. "LIAISE KIT – Knowledge for Decision Making". Retrieved 2013-05-05.

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v t e Social and environmental accountability
Ethics and principles	Aarhus Convention Climate justice Corporate accountability / behaviour / environmental responsibility / responsibility / social responsibility Dirty hands Environmental racism / in Russia / in the United States / in Western Europe / inequality in the UK / injustice in Europe Ethical banking Ethical code Extended producer responsibility Externality Harm Little Eichmanns Loss and damage Organizational ethics Organizational justice Pollution Principles for Responsible Investment Racism Social impact assessment Social justice Social responsibility Stakeholder theory Sullivan principles Transparency (behavioral social) UN Global Compact
Social accounting	Corporate crime Double bottom line Ethical positioning index Higg Index Impact assessment (environmental equality social) ISO 26000 ISO 45001 Genuine progress indicator Performance indicator SA 8000 OHSAS 18001 Social return on investment Whole-life cost
Environmental accounting	Carbon accounting Eco-Management and Audit Scheme Emission inventory Environmental full-cost accounting / Environmental conflict / impact assessment / management system / profit-and-loss account ISO 14000 ISO 14031 Life-cycle assessment Pollutant release and transfer register Sustainability accounting / measurement / metrics and indices / standards and certification / supply chain Toxics Release Inventory Triple bottom line
Reporting	Global Reporting Initiative GxP guidelines Sustainability reporting
Auditing	Community-based monitoring Environmental (certification) Fair trade (certification) ISO 19011
Related	Bangladesh Accord Benefit corporation Child labour Community interest company Conflict of interest Disasters Disinvestment Eco-labeling Environmental degradation Environmental pricing reform Environmental, social, and corporate governance Ethical consumerism Euthenics Global justice movement Health impact assessment Market governance mechanism Product certification Public participation SDG Publishers Compact Social enterprise Socially responsible business Socially responsible investing Socially responsible marketing Stakeholder (engagement) Supply chain management
Environment portal Category Commons Organizations

Procedure

Methods

See also

References

External links