Cumulative impact assessments – its relevance for Australia’s energy transition

Abstract

Environmental impact assessments for offshore oil and gas activities have historically focused on the specific impacts from an individual, and independent, activity. However, as Australia’s environmental assessment process continuously improves, it has become increasingly evident that cumulative impacts from previous, concurrent, or future activities need to be taken further into consideration. Cumulative impacts occur when multiple activities are conducted simultaneously, or consecutively, within the same region resulting in a greater level of potential impact to the environment than what would occur from the individual activity alone. Development of a standardised Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) methodology has been a well argued, and inherently difficult task, leading to current processes considered inadequate globally. With Australia moving in the direction of increasing, and diversifying its offshore energy activities, conducting adequate CIAs within the marine environment has become an increasingly important topic. We explore the challenges others have faced to develop a suitable methodology and shed light on the role CIAs will play during the energy transition phase in Australia. We conclude by outlining the fundamental aspects that require consideration to comprehensively assess cumulative impacts.