Impact Assessment (IA) is an essential tool for both the public and private sectors, guiding the responsible development of policies, regulations, and initiatives with careful consideration of their broader effects on society, the economy, and the environment.
Learn more about our services and the importance of IA in REACH-related processes.
Impact Assessment: Background Information
Impact Assessment is a structured process used to evaluate the potential consequences of a proposed action, policy, regulation, or project. It aims to identify, predict, and assess both positive and negative effects across economic, social, and environmental aspects.
The goal of an impact assessment is to provide decision-makers with data and insights to ensure informed decisions.
Key Aspects of Impact Assessment:
- Economic: Evaluates the financial implications of a decision on selected businesses, supply chains, sectors, and the concerned economy as a whole. It considers factors such as costs, benefits, market effects, employment impacts, and the burden on stakeholders (e.g., companies, consumers).
- Social: Focuses on the potential effects on human health and societal well-being. It examines issues like quality of life including health risks like potential diseases, social equity, and effects of unemployment.
- Environmental: Assesses the potential impacts on the environment and ecosystems. It looks at greenhouse gas emissions and overall environmental sustainability.
Drive informed decisions with Impact Assessment
Impact Assessments (IA) can be used to:
- Support Policy Campaigns: Advocacy groups often use IA to highlight the consequences of certain policies or legislative changes. IA helps them build evidence-based arguments, demonstrating how a particular issue might impact stakeholders, communities, or the environment.
- Influence Decision-Makers: IA is used to persuade policymakers, regulators, and the public. By providing data-driven projections, advocacy groups can argue for or against certain decisions with credible information.
- Raise Awareness: Through IAs, organizations can inform the public or specific stakeholders about potential risks, environmental harm, economic disruptions, or social consequences. This encourages broader engagement and calls for action.
- Ensure Regulatory Compliance: Many industries are required to carry out IA to meet national or international legal standards. For example, businesses might need to conduct an environmental or social impact assessment to comply with environmental regulations or labor laws.
- Improve Decision-Making: IA supports informed decision-making within companies by outlining the potential impact of a business action or investment. It ensures decisions are made with full knowledge of potential risks and opportunities.
- Support for Sustainability and Transparency Reporting: In some sectors, IA is also part of the transparency or reporting requirements. Companies might need to report on environmental, social, or economic impacts to regulators or stakeholders, and IA helps generate the data required for these reports.
Impact Assessment: REACHLaw Services
Due to our extensive experience in regulatory compliance, especially in REACH, we are uniquely positioned to support organizations in evaluating the potential consequences of a proposed action, policy and regulation arising from EU legislation. Our experts have prepared more than 50 impact assessments, namely Socio-economic Analyses (SEA), supporting our clients’ REACH Authorisation or Restriction needs. In our impact assessments, we aim to quantify and monetise the impacts (economic, social and environmental) as far as practically possible to enable a precise and robust comparison of the positive and negative impacts.
Restriction
We prepare targeted company group- or sector-specific Socio-economic Analyses or comments including information on socio-economic impacts, usually addressing one regulatory management option at a time, intended for ECHA’s calls for comments and evidence:
- During the preparation of the restriction dossier,
- For consultation on the restriction report
- For consultation on SEAC’s draft opinion.
Our Socio-economic Analyses are based on exhaustive data collection and robust scientific methods such as cost-benefit analysis or cost-effectiveness analysis, covering all relevant economic, social and environmental aspects.
Authorisation
Socio-economic Analysis is an integral part of Authorisation dossiers prepared for the SVHC substances subject to the authorisation requirement. The purpose of the SEA is to demonstrate that the benefits of using the substance outweigh the related risks. This is ensured by understanding the relevant market, collecting precise data from the supply chain in question and using robust scientific methods such as cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness analysis to make both positive and negative socio-economic impacts comparable.
Technical Advocacy
Impact assessments are a powerful tool in e.g. supporting policy campaigns, raising awareness and influencing decision-makers. We encourage preparing a supportive impact assessment when you plan to highlight the consequences of certain policies or legislative changes; inform and give policymakers, regulators, and the public through up to date and evidence-based data to support their decisions. Impact assessments are also useful to inform other industry stakeholders and inspire calls for action.
Support for Sustainability and Transparency Reporting
Impact assessments are essential for meeting sustainability and transparency reporting requirements. In many sectors, businesses must disclose detailed information to regulators, stakeholders, and the public as part of their sustainability commitments and corporate social responsibility efforts. Our services help companies meet these obligations by providing accurate, data-driven impact assessments for annual reports, sustainability disclosures, and non-financial statements. We ensure compliance with regulatory reporting frameworks, enabling businesses to demonstrate accountability and transparency in their operations.