Risk assessment:

It is one of the three impact assessment toolsthat seek to ensure adequate and timely information on the environmental consequances of planned actions (development projects, adoption of plans or programmes, ...). It refers to the analysis of potential adverse impacts on the environment and health resulting from the exposure of nature and the human population to environmental hazards. The criteria for assessing the risk are the probability and magnitude of the potential harm. A risk assessment is not a static document, as activities and technologies evolve and unpredictable events might take place (thus it is needed to regularly review  and/or adjust the document). This is a conplex procedure including several steps, in order determine the acceptable level of risk:

Hazard identification: analysis of an environmental situation with respect to the potential exposure to environmental hazards.
Dose-response assessement: identification of the relationship between the level of harm potentially received and the incidence of an adverse effect.
Exposure assessment: measurement of the intensity, frequency or duration of exposure to harm that is currently found in the environment, or that may be present in the future.
Risk characterisation: estimation of the incidence of an adverse effect under the conditions of exposure described in the exposure assessment.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA):

One of the three impact assessment tools, it is a national procedure for evaluating the likely impact of a proposed activity on the environment. It ensures that the environmental implications of decisions are made and solutions for potential negative environmental effects are proposed for decison makers. It also ensures that environmental considerations are explicitly addressed and taken into account in the decision-making process. (Espoo Convention)

The EIA procedure includes ten stages which must be followed precisely in order to obtain reliable results (screening; scoping; examination of alternatives; impact analysis; mitigation and impact management; evaluation of significance; preparation of environmental impact statement (EIS); review of the EIS; decisons making; post-project analyses). The involvement of the public concerned is possible and desirable at all stages of the EIA.

Strategic environmental assessment:

One of the three impact assessment tools, it is a comprehensive and integrated process for evaluating certain plans, policies and programmes, or legislation along with their social and economic impacts early in the decison-making process. It is an advanced, pro-active planning tool for environmental management of regions or sectors, whereas EIA applies to specific proposed activities.

Monitoring:

This is a periodic or continuous surveillance or testing to determine the level of compliance with statutory requirements and/or pollutant levels in various media or in humans, plants, and animals. Monitoring systems provide a framework for observing, measuring and reporting on the status and evolution of the environment during all stages of activities. It includes the development of sophisticated databases and a range of tools to assist managers in defining outcomes.

Environmental indicator:

This is a parameter or a value that describes the state of the environment and its impact on human beings, ecosystems and materials, the pressures on the environment, the dirving forces and the responses steering that system. They are essential tools for tracking environmental progress, supporting policy evaluation and informing the public.

There are several sets of environmental indicators, each resonding to a specific purpose: social indicators and economic indicators.

Early warning & Information systems:

Early warning systems  reduce the consequences of natural and human risks and hazards, by assessing the risks faces, establishing a monitoring system, disseminating quickly the information, and providing response capability to the threat. An effective one can only exist through regional cooperation, exchange of observational data and establishment of an effective response plan that is activated when warnings are issued.

Information systems include the technologies and procedures allowing the dissemination of data collected.