S2 EP 28 Beyond the Report: Impact Assessments with Gary Baker

Yeah, but sometimes the professionals can only do so much.

Impact assessment is often looked at something that comes in for permitting purposes.

Once you've already decided what you're building, where you're building it, and with what technology.

How do you think this notion of impact assessment professionals stepping in early at the planning stages get implemented over time? Do you see a lot of good examples of practitioners being involved early on, Or are we just coming into firefight?

Yeah, unfortunately, I think there's a lot of that latter, that it's brought in into the process too late to really have a material consequence.

And that would be one of my strong appeals to developers or governments that involve impact assessment as early as possible when decisions are still being made.

And that goes all the way down the chain, because if you start sort of consulting with communities.

And they spot very quickly between whether you're doing a genuine consultation as to how we arrive at a decision, or whether they're just being told a decision's being made, now we're going to look at the consequences of it.

And there is such a gulf in those two things.

So if we just regard impact assessment as some kind of permitting exercise, we're losing the point.

We're missing the point of what it is.

It is there to make better decisions that give better outcomes.

And that can save money, give longevity to that project, improve sustainability.

I mean, all of the positives that flow from it.

But the other key thing I would say as well is At times, the best decision might be not to do the project.

And that is a really difficult thing.

But that has to be.