IAIA24: 43rd Annual Conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment

Impact assessment practice is supporting moves toward more resolute action on the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. This realignment of policy and practice involves all sectors of society. We need to protect the environment while embracing justice and social inclusion. It is clear that we all need to do more and to move faster. We need multiple Just Transitions. We need a Just Transformation.

The impact assessment community can play a critical role in moving from a Just Transition to a Just Transformation. We urgently need to decarbonize energy markets, to advance a green and circular economy, to protect social justice and equality, to incentivize restorative measures to halt or reverse natural resource degradation, and to increase human and environmental wellbeing.

How can impact assessors help achieve the policies and initiatives of the Just Transition and move toward the more urgent Just Transformation? The global agenda is large. Regional and local challenges multiply. And the opportunities to positively influence the required transformation are many.

Impact assessment helps deliver decisions that are evidence-based, informed, and inclusive. It provides transparency on the hard choices that have to be made. The impact assessment community has knowledge and skills that are wide as well as specialized. The immediacy of the required actions and the role of impact assessment provide the right nexus to push boundaries, innovate, and place environments and societies at the centre of all decisions.