NetDeal: Streamlining Environmental Impact Assessment complex networks to integrate new EU environmental policies

In response to climate change, the landmark Paris Agreement established a set of goals to achieve climate neutrality and limit global warming. To help investors and companies contribute to these goals, the EU adopted a taxonomy for sustainable activities and, in line with it investments, must do no significant harm, as indicated by the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation. Since its inception, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure has aimed to minimise impacts of projects that could significantly damage the environment. Certainly, there are recognised weaknesses in the EIA, but its fitness to address complex environmental challenges, such as climate change, is unmatched. Considering the importance of EIA in ensuring scaling-up sustainable energy-related investments, NetDeal focuses on providing innovative and easy-to-use methods to improve EIA worldwide and combines policy analysis and EIA assessment data into complex networks. First, we analyse models of impact assessment (IA) legislation that can make recommendations about how IA can change to fit the global effort to tackle the energy and resource crises. Second, we will expose best practice models and investigate through network-related statistical analyses the collaboration links established in each EIA stage, which are behind successful projects from the perspective of productivity, circular economy, adaptation to climate change and reaching the goal of zero net emissions. Third, using Exponential Random Graph Models, I will explore the dynamic interaction between EIA stakeholders to diagnose the organisational structures and factors that strongly influence these projects. Last, I will create an integrated multi-layer EIA framework to improve the EIA effectiveness. The findings will be translated into the economic sector and provide new instruments to facilitate a streamlined EIA procedure that facilitates the adoption of urgent measures to mitigate the current energy crisis.