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An environmental impact assessment, otherwise known as sustainability assessment is an assessment or measure used to determine the effect of certain proposed actions. The measure may factor in not only the natural environment but other areas such as the economic and social environments. Carrying out a sustainability assessment can greatly help prevent occurrences where considerable environmental damage occurs and situations where an individual’s action causes adverse effects to the social, economic, or natural environments. Still on point, a sustainability impact assessment can be used to show the positive impact of a proposed plan.

Whether or not there is need to perform a sustainability assessment and how the assessment will be carried out can never be left to chance or choice. Majority of governments today require that this assessment be done before some set plans are mandated to go on. Among other crucial things, the legislation clearly outlines the kinds of projects that will need a sustainability assessment, a step-by-step procedure that ought to be followed when carrying out the assessments, and what content the final sustainability report should contain.

Upon successful sustainability reporting, the final authorization will be based and be determined by the findings that the assessment reveals. Note however that public response can also be taken into consideration. Because environmental damage or the risk of it thereof will directly affect the public, they will mostly be given an open platform where they can express their views and opinions regarding the same.

Of equal importance to note is that if a sustainability assessment reveals a negative effect or the possibility of one, the authorities do not entirely cancel the project at hand. At times, concerned parties may be allowed to proceed on condition that the negative aspects are altered and in other cases, they can be expected to take some preventive measures to reduce the possibility of damage as much as possible and device viable plans to rectify damage if it occurs.

That said, a sustainability assessment will not always reveal the negative because in other cases, a sustainability report can be used to reveal the positive effect the projects being assessed will bring about. This is mostly used to help in pushing for authorization. It can also encourage funding such as getting loans from the World Bank, which, under other circumstances, could be denied.

In other cases, a sustainability assessment can include both negative and positive results as seen when sustainability reporting is done. Take for example a plan to construct a factory, the assessment as reported in the final sustainability report shows how this can be obvious. A factory built in any given area can have a positive economic impact e.g. through tax revenues and creating employment opportunities for the local people in the area, but it can equally have a negative impact by causing congested highways and poor quality of air. A sustainability assessment can therefore allow all the contributing factors be put in a weighing scale to device a workable solution.