Use Of Impact Assessment Research Articles

AI and the future of human rights in Bangladesh: a call for robust legal and ethical frameworks

Abstract The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology presents both opportunities and challenges for the protection of human rights in Bangladesh. While AI has the potential to transform and enhance many areas of society, including healthcare, education, and business, it also raises significant ethical and legal questions that require careful consideration. This paper explores the current state of AI technology in Bangladesh and examines the potential impact on human rights, particularly in the areas of privacy, discrimination, and freedom of expression. The paper argues that while AI can be a valuable tool for promoting human rights, it can also exacerbate existing inequalities and create new forms of discrimination. To ensure that AI is used in a way that upholds human rights, the paper calls for the development of robust legal and ethical frameworks to regulate the use of AI technology. The paper proposes several recommendations for achieving this goal, including the establishment of clear ethical guidelines for the development and deployment of AI systems, the creation of a regulatory body to oversee AI technology in Bangladesh, and the use of impact assessments to identify potential risks and harms associated with AI systems. Overall, the paper emphasizes the need for a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to addressing the legal and ethical challenges posed by AI technology in Bangladesh. By taking a proactive and holistic approach, Bangladesh can ensure that AI is developed and used in a way that respects and promotes human rights, rather than undermining them. The paper concludes by stressing the importance of ongoing research and dialogue on this critical topic to inform and guide policy and decision-making in the future.

Important distinctiveness of SSP3–7.0 for use in impact assessments

Important distinctiveness of SSP3–7.0 for use in impact assessments

Female leadership, internet use, and performance of agricultural cooperatives in Vietnam

AbstractSupporting agricultural cooperatives might contribute to the livelihood improvement of many small‐scale farmers in developing countries. This research examines the factors affecting the internet use of agricultural cooperatives with a focus on female leadership, its effects on cooperatives’ economic, social, and innovative performance, and the distributional effects of internet use on economic performance. Our analysis relied on the data of 3,512 agricultural cooperatives collected in 2021 from Vietnam. We addressed the endogeneity issue of internet use in impact assessment by employing an instrumental variable approach. Our results show that female leadership was positively and significantly associated with internet use and that internet use had a positive and significant effect on returns on assets, returns on equity, labor productivity, payment per laborer, contribution to labor union and insurance per laborer, and innovation in products of agricultural cooperatives. In addition, unconditional quantile regressions show that internet use in agricultural cooperatives exacerbated income inequality. Enhancing female leadership and promoting rural education were recommended to improve agricultural cooperatives’ performance.

How May the Choice of Downscaling Techniques and Meteorological Reference Observations Affect Future Hydroclimate Projections?

AbstractWe present an intercomparison of a suite of high‐resolution downscaled climate projections based on a six‐member General Circulation Model (GCM) ensemble from Coupled Models Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). The CMIP6 GCMs have been downscaled using dynamical and statistical downscaling techniques based on two meteorological reference observations over the conterminous United States. We use the regional climate model, RegCM4, for dynamical downscaling, double bias correction constructed analogs method for statistical downscaling, and Daymet and Livneh datasets as the reference observations for statistical training and bias‐correction. We evaluate the performances of downscaled data in both historical and future periods under the SSP585 scenario. While dynamical downscaling improves the simulation of some performance evaluation indices, it adds an extra bias in others, highlighting the need for statistical correction before its use in impact assessments. Downscaled datasets after bias‐correction compare exceptionally well with observations. However, the choice of downscaling techniques and the underlying reference observations influence the hydroclimate characteristics of downscaled data. For instance, the statistical downscaling generally preserves the GCMs climate change signal but overestimates the frequency of hot extremes. Similarly, simulated future changes are sensitive to the choice of reference observations, particularly for precipitation extremes that exhibit a higher projected increase in the ensembles trained and/or corrected by Daymet than Livneh. Overall, these results demonstrate that multiple factors, including downscaling techniques and reference observations, can substantially influence the outcome of downscaled climate projections and stress the need for a comprehensive understanding of such method‐based uncertainties.

Linkage of Sustainability to Environmental Impact Assessment Using the Concept of Ecosystem Services: Lessons from Thailand

The concept of ecosystem services (ES) could help Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) contribute toward sustainability goals. This study aimed to systematically analyze the ES contents contained in Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) to ascertain whether they included appropriate data as a tool for project implementation in line with sustainability practices. The EISs were analyzed using the review criteria used to assess the criteria of good EIA practice, and these criteria were then integrated and linked to the concept of ES. The results indicated that the treatment of environmental impact studies from the perspective of impact assessment practice was advantageous; however, opposing results of the integration of ES in environmental impact studies were also found. The quality of EISs that reflect ES primarily depended on the project type. The highest quality of content to support ES was for baseline information. The contents in response to biodiversity and the relationship among sustainable indicators in the baseline stage, including the assessment of biodiversity, especially its loss and gain, and the identification of measures focusing on mitigation hierarchy, were inadequate. Consequently, these constraints affect the use of impact assessments as a tool to promote project activities in sustainable ways. An approach to integrate ES in EIAs was developed based on the findings of this study.

Shedding light on typical species: implications for habitat monitoring

Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term “typical” species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an online workshop was organized by the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV) to shed light on the diversity of perspectives regarding the different concepts of typical species, and to discuss the possible implications for habitat monitoring. To this aim, we inquired 73 people with a very different degree of expertise in the field of vegetation science by means of a tailored survey composed of six questions. We analysed the data using Pearson's Chi-squared test to verify that the answers diverged from a random distribution and checked the effect of the degree of experience of the surveyees on the results. We found that most of the surveyees agreed on the use of the phytosociological method for habitat monitoring and of the diagnostic and characteristic species to evaluate the structural and functional conservation status of habitats. With this contribution, we shed light on the meaning of “typical” species in the context of habitat monitoring.

Making occupational therapy research visible: amplifying and elevating the contribution and impacts

Researchers are increasingly required to be accountable for research findings and demonstrating outputs from research findings. A review of occupational therapy research promotes the use of impact assessments to make visible research outcomes ( Sainty, 2013 ). However, not all impacts are visible to those who are trying to balance the management of clinical services, along with delivering research and enabling clinical academic careers. Nationally and internationally research organisations are increasingly demanding researchers to be open, accountable and transparent in demonstrating the value research adds to healthcare organisations and the way the research impacts are reported are increasingly scrutinised. To capture research impacts we need to have a suitable measure which provides meaningful data for the context and type of project. Research impact frameworks enable organisations and researchers to tell their research impact stories by providing a systematic structure for organising evidence, achievements and case studies. This editorial shares the experience of developing a research impact tool for capturing research impacts within an organisation and discusses the importance of using research impact tools to amplify and elevate outcomes of clinical research in occupational therapy.

Identifying high-impact invasive plants likely to shift into northern New England with climate change

AbstractInvasive plants are expanding their ranges due to climate change, creating new challenges for invasive species management. Early detection and rapid response could address some nascent invasions, but limited resources make it impossible to monitor for every range-shifting species. Here, we aimed to create a more focused watch list by evaluating the impacts of 87 plant species projected to shift into northern New England (the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and/or Vermont). We used the Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) protocol to evaluate all ecological impacts reported in the scientific literature, scoring ecological impacts from 1 (minimal concern) to 4 (major) depending on the level of reported impact. For each species, we also recorded any reported impacts on socioeconomic systems (agriculture, human health, or economics) as “present.” We found 24 range-shifting species with impacts on ecological communities, of which 22 have reported impacts in ecosystems common to northern New England. Almost all of these species also had impacts on socioeconomic systems and were available for purchase at ornamental plant retailers or online. Thus, these species can be considered high risk to northern New England with climate change based on their large negative impacts and potential to arrive quickly with deliberate human introduction. Our study demonstrates the use of impact assessments for creating targeted priority lists for invasive species monitoring and management.

Assembling Accountability: Algorithmic Impact Assessment for the Public Interest

The Algorithmic Impact Assessment is a new concept for regulating algorithmic systems and protecting the public interest. Assembling Accountability: Algorithmic Impact Assessment for the Public Interest is a report that maps the challenges of constructing algorithmic impact assessments (AIAs) and provides a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of current and proposed AIA regimes. This framework is a practical tool for regulators, advocates, public-interest technologists, technology companies, and critical scholars who are identifying, assessing, and acting upon algorithmic harms. First, report authors Emanuel Moss, Elizabeth Anne Watkins, Ranjit Singh, Madeleine Clare Elish, and Jacob Metcalf analyze the use of impact assessment in other domains, including finance, the environment, human rights, and privacy. Building on this comparative analysis, they then identify common components of existing impact assessment practices in order to provide a framework for evaluating current and proposed AIA regimes. The authors find that a singular, generalized model for AIAs would not be effective due to the variances of governing bodies, specific systems being evaluated, and the range of impacted communities. After illustrating the novel decision points required for the development of effective AIAs, the report specifies ten necessary components that constitute robust impact assessment regimes.

From Better Regulation to Better Adjudication? Impact Assessment and the Court of Justice's Review

The paper examines the role of the EU’s Impact Assessments in the adjudicative process of the CJ with regard to subsidiarity and proportionality. The paper first explores and explains Impact Assessments as part of the Better Regulation Agenda and its role for the rule of law. Second, it explores the Impact Assessments in the Courts review of proportionality as a procedural element. Then ways to improve the use of Impact Assessments in the case law are explored. Finally, constitutional limits to the use of Impact Assessments by the Court are explored. The paper cautions against extending the adjudicative scope of subsidiarity and proportionality to a more substantive review of the merits. Instead, we suggested to take the Commission’s commitment to Impact Assessments more seriously and hold the Commission to account with regard to this commitment thereby starting a feedback loop where better regulation leads to better adjudication and vice-versa.

Regulatory Measurements in Policy Coordinated Practices: The Case of Promoting Renewable Energy and Cleaner Transport in Sweden

International organisations, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU), are seeking to implement a cohesive Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) system in order to achieve better regulation and increased unity and transparency. Central to these evaluations is the use of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and related tools. A comprehensive analysis of the use of impact assessment in the EU shows that many assessments lack important economic components. This paper draws on an extensive document study of the Swedish policy making process related to the EU Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. The aim of the paper is to examine how CBA is presented, negotiated and accounted for by central actors within a policy setting influenced by negotiation and policy coordination. The paper departs from a theoretical perspective on policy coordination and shows how this factor must be considered when explaining the low use of CBA. It concludes that the Swedish policy tradition, wherein the national government relies on consensus-based coordination between agencies, might counteract a more explicit assessment of different policy options. The paper also proposes a model that can be used for further studies on CBA and policy coordination.

Determining what is important for sustainability: scoping processes of sustainability assessments

ABSTRACTOver recent decades, there has been a significant proliferation of types of impact assessments. While some argue that this is threatening future use of impact assessments, sustainability assessments have emerged as a potential approach to bridge these diverse approaches. This research focuses on examining sustainability assessments at the project level, looking specifically at scoping practices key to integration. Nine multinational enterprises operating within Indonesia are studied, utilising a case study methodology with semi-structured interviews with 32 respondents. Findings emphasise that while these multinationals sought to address key regulatory requirements through their scoping practices, international standards and global sustainability platforms were critical in informing the practices of these organisations. The recognition of these standards and guidelines saw them addressing a broad range of key sustainability issues; also using prescribed techniques to engage with stakeholders and identify the most critical sustainability issues to focus on in assessment. There was integration of scoping processes through different levels and across the organisations, which were generally managed by teams providing sustainability expertise, including through affiliate personnel for local contextualisation.Abbreviation AMDAL - Analisis Mengenai Dampak Lingkungan (EIA); BAPEDALDA - provincial/regional-level of the Environmental Impact Management Agency; CAQDAS – computer assisted data analysis software; CSR – corporate social responsibility; EIA – environmental impact assessment; EU – European Union; FDI – foreign direct investment; GRI – Global Reporting Initiative; ILO – International Labour Organization; MCA – multicriteria analysis; MNE – multinational enterprise; MOE - Ministry of Environment (now Ministry of Environment and Forestry); NGO – non-government organisation; OECD – Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development; OH&S – occupational health and safety; SPPL - Letter of Statement on Environmental Management Effort; UKL – Environmental Management Effort; UN – United Nations; UNGC – United Nations Global Compact; UPL - Environmental Controlling Effort.

Correcting climate model simulations in Heihe River using the multivariate bias correction package

The simulations from climate models require bias correction prior to use in impact assessments or when used as predictors in statistical or dynamic downscaling models. Recent works have sought to address each of these limitations and the results are the Multivariate Recursive Nesting Bias Correction (MRNBC) and Multivariate recursive Quantile-matching Nested Bias Correction (MRQNBC) methods. The model was applied to a mountain region of Heihe River. A comparison of the historical and generated statistics shows that the model preserves all the important characteristics of meteorological variables at daily, monthly, seasonally and annual time scales. This study has documented the performance of Multivariate Recursive Nesting Bias Correction to remove the discrepancy between the predictors in the simulated GCM and the reanalysis NCEP data and assess the projected future precipitation accuracy in the headwater region of Heihe River. A relatively high spatial resolution GCM outputs—ACCESS1-3—from the CMIP5 Earth System Models (ESMs) was employed to downscale for the historical 1960–2005 and the future period 2010–2100 under the scenarios of Representative Concentration Pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The MRNBC method can dramatically increase the performance of the simulated precipitation data. Verified by statistical score metrics applied for evaluation of the results, the developed method appears to be an important statistical tool in the correction of the bias between the GCM output and the reanalysis data, leading to significant improvements in the predictive performance accuracy of the precipitation projections. The projected precipitation under RCP8.5 appeared to exhibit the significant increasing trend relative to the RCP4.5 scenario in the headwater region of Heihe River. Future precipitation will increasing by 8% and 20% for near and long term period under RCP4.5 and increasing 14% and 37% for near and long term period, under RCP8.5, respectively.

A software toolkit for correcting systematic biases in climate model simulations

Simulations from climate models require bias correction prior to use in impact assessments or for statistical or dynamic downscaling to finer scales. There are a number of different approaches to bias correction, although most of these focus on a single variable for a particular location. Another limitation is that often corrections are only applied for one time scale of interest, for example daily or monthly aggregated simulations despite evidence of different bias structures existing at different time scales. Recent works have sought to address each of these limitations and have led to the development of the Multivariate Recursive Nesting Bias Correction (MRNBC) and Multivariate Recursive Quantile-matching Nested Bias Correction (MRQNBC) methods. An open-source software toolkit in the R statistical computing environment has been developed to provide access to these methods. Several applications of the software are demonstrated in this paper along with information about the capabilities of the software.

Research quality railroad crossings with under sleepers pad

Research quality railroad crossings with under sleeper pad. The quality of the railway track is infl uenced by a number of factors, such as durability, reliability, swelling and cost. The article made use of impact assessment under sleepers pad (USP) on the quality of rail track. The author has presented laboratory research, computer research and dynamic study of turnouts with USP. The impact of the USP on the quality of turnouts was assessed. Research results have shown an increase in the quality of turnouts with USP.

Extreme climate projections over the transboundary Koshi River Basin using a high resolution regional climate model

The high-resolution climate model Providing REgional Climates for Impacts Studies (PRECIS) was used to project the changes in future extreme precipitation and temperature over the Koshi River Basin for use in impact assessments. Three outputs of the Quantifying Uncertainties in Model Prediction (QUMP) simulations using the Hadley Centre Couple Model (HadCM3) based on the IPCC SRES A1B emission scenario were used to project the future climate. The projections were analysed for three time slices, 2011–2040 (near future), 2041–2070 (mid-century), and 2071–2098 (distant future). The results show an increase in the future frequency and intensity of climate extremes events such as dry days, consecutive dry days, and very wet days (95th percentile), with greater increases over the southern plains than in the mountainous area to the north. A significant decrease in moderate rainfall days (75th percentile) is projected over the middle (high) mountain and trans-Himalaya areas. Increases are projected in both the extreme maximum and extreme minimum temperature, with a slightly higher rate in minimum temperature. The number of warm days is projected to increase throughout the basin, with more rapid rates in the trans-Himalayan and middle mountain areas than in the plains. Warm nights are also projected to increase, especially in the southern plains. A decrease is projected in cold days and cold nights indicating overall warming throughout the basin.

Accountability in an Independent Regulatory Setting: The Use of Impact Assessment in the Regulation of Financial Reporting in the UK

The growing reliance on non-governmental independent regulators in many social and economic domains, including corporate financial reporting, has brought to the fore concerns over their regulatory accountability. This study looks at one aspect of the regulatory due process-regulatory impact assessment (IA). Drawing on the analytical framework developed by Bovens (Public accountability: a framework for the analysis and assessment of accountability arrangements in the public domain. CONNEX papers, Research Group 2, Democracy and Accountability in the EU, 2006, Eur Law J 13(4): 447–468, 2007), we evaluate the contribution of IA as an instrument for enhancing regulatory accountability in the context of the Financial Reporting Council, an independent regulator for the accountancy profession in the UK. The study’s findings suggest that, despite an increasing level of sophistication in the manner in which IA is used within FRC, the contribution of IA to regulatory accountability remains limited. Specifically, there are concerns as to whether IA is used to achieve a transparent and fair regulatory process or simply to maintain an image of good governance and justify policy decisions that would have been made even in the absence of IA.

Prospects for Technology Assessment in a Framework of Responsible Research and Innovation

In this article the broad societal quest for the “right” impacts of science and technology and the imperative of governmental bodies to make “impact assessments” part and parcel of the planning and justification of their major activities will be discussed. This will be discussed from a European perspective. The basis of a systematic use of impact assessments and foresight will pave the way for a framework for responsible research and innovation on which a proposal will be made.

Pattern scaling: Its strengths and limitations, and an update on the latest model simulations

We review the ideas behind the pattern scaling technique, and focus on its value and limitations given its use for impact assessment and within integrated assessment models. We present estimates of patterns for temperature and precipitation change from the latest transient simulations available from the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), focusing on multi-model mean patterns, and characterizing the sources of variability of these patterns across models and scenarios. The patterns are compared to those obtained from the previous set of experiments, under CMIP3. We estimate the significance of the emerging differences between CMIP3 and CMIP5 results through a bootstrap exercise, while also taking into account the fundamental differences in scenario and model ensemble composition. All in all, the robustness of the geographical features in patterns of temperature and precipitation, when computed as multi-model means, is confirmed by this comparison. The intensity of the change (in both the warmer and cooler areas with respect to global temperature change, and the drier and wetter regions) is overall heightened per degree of global warming in the ensemble mean of the new simulations. The presence of stabilized scenarios in the new set of simulations allows investigation of the performance of the technique once the system has gotten close to equilibrium. Overall, the well established validity of the technique in approximating the forced signal of change under increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases is confirmed.

The Use of Impact Assessments and the Quality of Legislation

In the instrumentalist concept of law, the main function of legislation is the realisation of policy aims. This concept of legal instrumentalism seems to be the predominant view as adopted by policy makers and, accordingly, many believe that legislation is indeed just one of the tools for realising public policy aims. In that perspective, ex-post or ex-ante impact assessments are predominantly being used to assess the desired impact of legislation on society. The focus on the function of law as a mechanism through which public policy is to be enforced on society, however, can lead to the notion that this is the most important function of law, and that the quality of legislation is best to be determined in terms of its compliance with these policy aims. In relation to this, the question arises: can the quality and desirability of legislation be primarily determined by its ability to achieve a public policy aim or should other factors be taken into account as well? The answer to this question depends on which types of functions one attributes to legislation.It is the main aim of this article to analyze the different functions of law in relation to social problem solving. It is argued that most impact assessments provide a rather limited view on the quality of legislation in the sense that they often only assess legislation in terms of it being able to realise policy objectives. Although this undoubtedly enhances the effectiveness of legislation in terms of realising these objectives, the effectiveness of legislation in the light of the other functions of law potentially decreases. This can be illustrated by recently enacted legislation based on impact assessments.