The use of algorithms in modern data processing techniques, as well as data-intensive technological trends, suggests the adoption of a broader view of the data protection impact assessment. This will ...force data controllers to go beyond the traditional focus on data quality and security, and consider the impact of data processing on fundamental rights and collective social and ethical values.
Building on studies of the collective dimension of data protection, this article sets out to embed this new perspective in an assessment model centred on human rights (Human Rights, Ethical and Social Impact Assessment-HRESIA). This self-assessment model intends to overcome the limitations of the existing assessment models, which are either too closely focused on data processing or have an extent and granularity that make them too complicated to evaluate the consequences of a given use of data.
In terms of architecture, the HRESIA has two main elements: a self-assessment questionnaire and an ad hoc expert committee. As a blueprint, this contribution focuses mainly on the nature of the proposed model, its architecture and its challenges; a more detailed description of the model and the content of the questionnaire will be discussed in a future publication drawing on the ongoing research.
Background, aim and scope
In 2005, a comprehensive comparison of life cycle impact assessment toxicity characterisation models was initiated by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)–Society ...for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Life Cycle Initiative, directly involving the model developers of CalTOX, IMPACT 2002, USES-LCA, BETR, EDIP, WATSON and EcoSense. In this paper, we describe this model comparison process and its results—in particular the scientific consensus model developed by the model developers. The main objectives of this effort were (1) to identify specific sources of differences between the models’ results and structure, (2) to detect the indispensable model components and (3) to build a scientific consensus model from them, representing recommended practice.
Materials and methods
A chemical test set of 45 organics covering a wide range of property combinations was selected for this purpose. All models used this set. In three workshops, the model comparison participants identified key fate, exposure and effect issues via comparison of the final characterisation factors and selected intermediate outputs for fate, human exposure and toxic effects for the test set applied to all models.
Results
Through this process, we were able to reduce inter-model variation from an initial range of up to 13 orders of magnitude down to no more than two orders of magnitude for any substance. This led to the development of USEtox, a scientific consensus model that contains only the most influential model elements. These were, for example, process formulations accounting for intermittent rain, defining a closed or open system environment or nesting an urban box in a continental box.
Discussion
The precision of the new characterisation factors (CFs) is within a factor of 100–1,000 for human health and 10–100 for freshwater ecotoxicity of all other models compared to 12 orders of magnitude variation between the CFs of each model, respectively. The achieved reduction of inter-model variability by up to 11 orders of magnitude is a significant improvement.
Conclusions
USEtox provides a parsimonious and transparent tool for human health and ecosystem CF estimates. Based on a referenced database, it has now been used to calculate CFs for several thousand substances and forms the basis of the recommendations from UNEP-SETAC’s Life Cycle Initiative regarding characterisation of toxic impacts in life cycle assessment.
Recommendations and perspectives
We provide both recommended and interim (not recommended and to be used with caution) characterisation factors for human health and freshwater ecotoxicity impacts. After a process of consensus building among stakeholders on a broad scale as well as several improvements regarding a wider and easier applicability of the model, USEtox will become available to practitioners for the calculation of further CFs.
Impact assessment faces a number of key challenges. One area singled out as needing attention is community-based impact assessment. Impact assessment related to Indigenous communities is a particular ...case in point. We lend an Indigenous voice to this conversation. The emerging field of Indigenous impact assessment is under-developed compared to other forms of IA, particularly in terms of its theoretical foundation. In the article we address that gap by highlighting the current conundrum in Indigenous practice, exemplified in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. Then we base our deliberation in an Indigenous worldview, applying Indigenous planning theory to impact assessment. Indigenous planning theory has an explicit decolonising agenda that supports communities to reclaim traditional planning approaches. We provide key parameters for establishing a theoretical and practical space for Indigenous IA, and for conceptualising the relationship between Indigenous IA other forms of IA. We argue for a ‘third space’ that facilitates co-existence of different forms of IA activity rather than integration of Indigenous endeavours into broader IA types. In doing so, we demonstrate the potential of Indigenous planning theory to connect international dialogue and case studies on Indigenous impact assessment, and to broaden and deepen IA theory and practice.
•Indigenous impact assessment is less developed than other forms of impact assessment (IA)•Appropriate theoretical positioning will improve practice and empower communities•Interweaving Indigenous planning theory and IA offers a meaningful way forward•Indigenous IA presents opportunities for parallel and co-produced knowledge•Indigenous-led IA is important so IA can remain relevant for Indigenous communities
This carefully conceived Handbook presents a state-of-the-art discussion of the field of social impact assessment (SIA), highlighting contemporary understandings and emerging issues in this ...continually evolving area of research and practice. Experienced SIA practitioners from around the world share their learnings and advice on a comprehensive range of issues faced in social performance practice.
Impact assessment as a discipline continues to evolve and search for ways to address challenges that are wicked, systemic, and unconventional. More guidance however is required on integrating ...multi-disciplinary and novel approaches without losing the richness of impact assessments. This paper explores integrating the causal network approach, underpinned by a community well-being framework, into environmental and social impact assessments. We do this by using a hypothetical scenario of large-scale green hydrogen industry in Australia and engage an interdisciplinary team of experts representing a broad experience across the social, economic, and environmental sectors, via interviews and a workshop. The result is a complex detailed causal network, depicting both environmental and social risks and opportunities associated with the hydrogen industry. We discuss using simple and complex versions of causal networks as both are needed to when communicatng with all relevant stakeholders. We found that the causal network approach is useful for the initial scoping of potential social and environmental impacts, especially for a multi-disciplinary team. Three areas were identified to further strengthen such an approach to facilitate a fully-fledged impact assessment in a real case. First, causal relationships need to be evaluated to assess the magnitude of the impacts and identify mitigation measures and incentives. Second, stakeholders, including local communities, should be involved throughout the assessment process, beginning from the conceptualisation of such assessments. Third, the causal network approach presented in this paper is likely to benefit from incorporating ecological frameworks (or similar) to expand environmental pathways in the network.
•Structured mapping of cause-and-effect relationships of complex systems.•Use of a community well-being framework for social and biophysical dimensions.•Value in developing complex and simplified representations of reality.
The potential impacts of coal mining on health have been addressed by the application of impact assessment methodologies that use the results of qualitative and quantitative analyses to support their ...conclusions and recommendations. Although human epidemiological analyses can provide the most relevant measures of risk of health outcomes in populations exposed to coal mining by-products, this kind of studies are seldom implemented as part of the impact assessment methods. To review the use of human epidemiological analyses in the methods used to assess the impacts of coal mining, a systematic search in the peer review literature was implemented following the PRISMA protocol. A synthesis analysis identified the methods and the measures used in the selected publications to develop a thematic review and discussion. The major methodological approaches to assess the impacts of coal mining are environmental impact assessment (EIA), health impact assessment (HIA), social impact assessment (SIA) and environmental health impact assessment (EHIA). The measures used to assess the impacts of coal mining on health were classified as the estimates from non-human-based studies such as health risk assessment (HRA) and the measures of risk from human epidemiological analyses. The inclusion of human epidemiological estimates of the populations exposed, especially the general populations in the vicinity of the mining activities, is seldom found in impact assessment applications for coal mining. These methods rather incorporate HRA measures or other sources of evidence such as qualitative analyses and surveys. The implementation of impact assessment methods without estimates of the risk of health outcomes relevant to the potentially exposed populations affects their reliability to address the environmental and health impacts of coal mining. This is particularly important for EIA applications because these are incorporated in regulatory frameworks globally. The effective characterization of the impacts of coal mining on health requires quantitative estimates of the risk, including the risk measures from epidemiological analyses of relevant human health data.
In order to tackle China’s severe air pollution issue, the government has released the “Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan” (known simply as the “Action Plan”) since 2013. A recent ...study reported a decreased trend in PM2.5 concentrations over 2013–2017, but O3 pollution has become more serious. However, the effects of surface O3 on crops are unclear after the implementation of the “Action Plan”. Here, we evaluated the potential negative effects of surface O3 on three main food crops (winter wheat, maize and rice) across China during 2015–2018 using nationwide O3 monitoring data and AOT40-yield response functions. Results suggested that mean O3 concentration, AOT40 and relative yield loss in China showed an overall upward trend from 2015 to 2018. During winter wheat, maize, single rice, double-early rice, and double-late rice growing seasons, mean O3 concentration in recent years ranged from 38.6 to 46.9 ppb, 40.2–43.9 ppb, 39.3–42.2 ppb, 33.8–40.0 ppb, and 35.9–39.1 ppb, respectively, and AOT40 mean values ranged from 8.5 to 14.3 ppm h, 10.5–13.4 ppm h, 9.8–11.9 ppm h, 5.2–9.2 ppm h, and 8.0–9.5 ppm h, respectively. O3-induced yield reductions were estimated to range from 20.1 to 33.3% for winter wheat, 5.0–6.3% for maize, 7.3–8.8% for single rice, 3.9–6.8% for double-early rice and 5.9–7.1% for double-late rice. O3-induced production losses for winter wheat, maize, single rice, double-early rice, and double-late rice totaled 39.5–88.2 million metric tons, 12.6–21.0 million metric tons, 9.5–11.3 million metric tons, 1.2–1.8 million metric tons, and 2.2–2.7 million metric tons, respectively, and the corresponding economic losses totaled 14.3–32.0 billion US$, 3.9–6.5 billion US$, 3.9–4.6 billion US$, 0.5–0.7 billion US$, and 0.9–1.1 billion US$, respectively. Our results suggested that the government should take effective measures to reduce O3 pollution and its effects on agricultural production.
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•Surface O3 is posing an increasingly serious threat to main food crops in China.•The O3-induced yield losses were 20.1–33.3% for wheat, 5.0–6.3% for maize, and 3.9–8.8% for rice.•Annual production losses amounted to 65–124 million metric tons, worth 24–45 billion US$.•Some policies are urgently needed to reduce the risks caused by O3 to agricultural production.
The main finding of this study: This study provides an estimate of O3-induced crop yield losses across China after the implementation of the “Action Plan” using nationwide O3 measurements, suggesting a potential risk for agricultural production in recent years.
Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) has recently emerged as a conflict-solving tool to improve World Heritage (WH) conservation in line with sustainable development policies. The increasing number of ...requested HIAs for affected WH properties over the last years reveals that more attention is being paid to HIA as a practical tool to adequately support the protection and management of historic monuments and sites against new constructions and development. However, the application of integrated and systematic impact assessment methods within HIA still remains a key challenge in different HIA projects. Therefore, this paper contributes to the further development of a transparent and systematic procedure of HIA in accordance with Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). It also explores different standard methods of impact assessment in EIA and discusses their applicability to cultural World Heritage properties. Finally, the paper emphasizes a need for developing integrated impact assessment methods to address the multiple impacts of development projects. Such methodological enhancement can further contribute to mitigation strategies and decision-making to protect World Heritage properties within the context of sustainable development.
The transition of the global energy system is one of the main trends that offers opportunities as well as challenges for the economy. Most literature evaluates the impact of that transition at a ...national level. That view is broadened towards a regional scale. Due to the lower energy density of many renewable energy sources, renewable energy generation will be more decentralised, leading to potentially significant changes in the regional economy when transitioning to a renewable energy system. In this paper the current literature and methods of assessing regional economic impacts of a transition to renewable energy generation is reviewed. The findings suggest an overall need to clearly define the topics, such as technologies, that are assessed and the evaluated time period. A guideline for a regional impact assessment is provided, focusing on the suitability of applied impact assessment methods (employment ratios, supply chain analyses, input-output models, and computable general equilibrium models).
•A regional perspective on energy transitions allows for a more specific evaluation.•Regional economic impact assessments support energy transitions in regions.•Assessment methods are IO models, employment ratios, supply chain analyses, and CGEs.•Regional size, assessment time, and main impacts call for individual assessment methods.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) systems are under pressure in many countries, driven by a call for efficiency and streamlining. Such a phenomenon is particularly clear in Brazil, where, in the ...past few years, a number of influential associations put forward documents proposing significant changes to environmental licensing and impact assessment regulations. So far, there is no publicly available information about any initiative towards scrutinizing those proposals. The objective of this study was to critically review the merits and drawbacks of the changes proposed in those documents. The analysis triangulated content analysis, focus group and online survey data. The focus group included ten seasoned Brazilian EIA specialists; the survey, based on Likert-scale and open-ended questions, resulted in 322 valid responses from EIA professionals. Results show that the proposals generally agree that the current EIA system, while playing a key role in mitigating impacts and enhancing project design, needs many changes. Nonetheless, the proposals neither offered solutions to overcome political, technical and budget barriers, nor established a sense of priority of the most urgent issues. Findings from the focus group and the survey signaled that a number of proposed actions might face public outcry, and that those changes that do not depend on legislative action are more likely to be implementable. Previous studies about EIA reform focused mostly on the context of developed countries after changes had taken place. This study, while addressing the perspective of a large developing country in a “before-reform” stage, shows that capacity-building is a key requirement in EIA reform.
•Brazil's EIA system is under strong pressure for change.•Findings corroborate ineffectiveness in current system.•There are tensions as to the best approaches to overcome problems.•Exact effects of proposals are uncertain.•Low institutional capacity can play strong role in driving EIA reform.
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