Delegates from the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) and the Annual Meeting of Sustainable Development Experts (AMSDE) have been respectively considering the role of Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) and Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) in policy making. They welcomed the opportunity to collectively engage in discussing how to better institutionalise evidence-based decision-making processes in governments, taking into account economic, environmental and social considerations.

Background papers

• Integrating the Environment in Regulatory Impact Assessments

• Sustainability in Impact Assessments: A Review of Impact Assessment Systems in Selected OECD Countries and the European Commission

• Summary proceedings

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Meeting Co-Chairs: Ms. Keri Holland (USA) and Mr. Michael Presley (Canada)

Welcome Remarks:

Ms. Keri Holland (Science Policy Advisor, US Department of State), Chair, AMSDE, Mr. Michael Presley (Assistant Secretary, Regulatory Affairs Secretariat, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat), Vice-Chair, RPC and Ms. Ana Jakil (Federal Chancellery, Austria), Chair, AMSDE Steering Group on SIA.

Different impact assessment tools and methodologies used in OECD countries take into account, economic, environmental and social considerations.

Speakers:

• Mr. Nick Johnstone, Principal Administrator, Environment and Economy Integration Division, OECD Environment Directorate: Incorporating environmental values in cost-benefit analysis
• Mr. Frank Maier-Rigaud, Senior Economist, Competition Division, Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs: Competition Assessment in the Context of Environmental Regulations – An Introduction to the Competition Assessment Toolkit 
• Mr. Nils Axel Braathen, Principal Administrator, Environment and Economy Integration Division, OECD Environment Directorate: Valuation of human lives
• Mr. Clemens Mungenast, Head of Unit, Ministry of Finance: Austrian Impact Assessment System: New developments 
• Mr. Young Han Kwon, Chief Research Fellow, Korea Environment Institute: Impact assessment and green growth 

Discussion points: 

• How can different methodologies better integrate sustainability considerations?
• How can different impact assessments help policy-making?
• How can these assessment systems help to identify trade-offs between policy priorities?

Examples of institutional arrangements of impact assessments.

Speakers:

• Mr. Rex Deighton-Smith, Consultant, Australia: RIA – An overview of practical experience in Australia and beyond
• Mr. Riccardo Maggi, Better Regulation and Impact Assessment, Secretariat General, European Commission: Implementation of Impact Assessment at the European Commission
• Mr. Kenneth Ruffing, Member, Committee on Incorporating Sustainability in the US Environmental Protection Agency: Integrating sustainability in future work of the US EPA

• How are impact assessments being implemented in countries?
• How are results of impact assessments used in decision making processes?

Recent findings on obstacles to reflecting impact assessment results in policy making.

Speakers/discussants:

• Mr. Klaus Jacob, Professor, Environmental Policy Research Centre, Freie Universität Berlin: Use and non-use of impact assessments in policy making 
• Discussant: Mr. Rex Deighton-Smith, Consultant, Australia

Discussion points:

• What are key obstacles in sufficiently reflecting results of impact assessments in policy making (e.g. political imperatives and timing of electoral cycles/lack of co-ordination within the government/lack of knowledge on sustainability issues) and what are options to overcome?
• How can impact assessments foster horizontal co-ordination within governments?
• What is the role of an “integrated” impact assessment?

Also Available

• Workshop on the Role of Impact Assessments in Policy Making, 2 November 2011