An impact assessment can be defined as ‘a structured process for considering the implications, for people and their environment, of proposed actions while there is still an opportunity to modify [or abandon] the proposed actions’, if the impact they pose contains a potential or actual threat of harm.

Harm, in this context, can be defined as ‘a wrongful setback or injury’ and, in legal terms, is often expressed as a ‘violation of an interest’. It is also important to note that harms can occur at the individual, communal, and societal levels.