Social Performance teams should define (or review) the site’s Area of Influence and map it, ideally using a geographic information system (GIS) platform. , in addition to being used for baseline data capture and spatial mapping, can be useful in data interpretation, analysis, and presentation.
The Area of Influence encompasses the geographical extent of a site’s potential impacts on the lives, livelihoods, health or well-being of external stakeholders and the natural environment, taking into account the following elements:
- the site’s activities and facilities that are directly owned, operated or managed (including by contractors or third parties acting on the site’s behalf), including power transmission corridors, pipelines, access roads, construction camps, ports, etc.
- associated facilities, which are facilities that are funded separately by the company or a third party but whose viability and existence depend (almost) exclusively on the site and without which the site would not be viable.
- the impacts from planned and unplanned developments or activities that may occur in the future or at a different location. This could include developments led by the site (including contractors working on the site’s behalf) to support ongoing operations (e.g. stay in business projects,
developments etc.) as well as predictable developments that are not managed by the site e.g. expansion of a nearby town due to site-induced migration (). It also includes cumulative impacts (see Section 3C).
- the indirect impacts on biodiversity or on ecosystem services (i.e. the benefits humans gain from the natural environment and from properly functioning ecosystems), which local communities’ livelihoods are dependent on; e.g. loss of fisheries owing to water contamination.
- the site’s primary labour-sending [areas] and areas where income generated from site employment is spent; i.e. the towns and communities that are likely to experience economic benefits from the site.
A community’s proximity to the site (including pipelines, ports, access roads, etc) should not be the sole or primary criterion to determine the site’s Area of Influence. Communities further away from the site may be equally or more significantly impacted than those located closer to the site. For example, an environmental incident resulting in the release of chemicals into a river could adversely affect communities located downstream, and sometimes a decrease in employment opportunities at the site may impact on communities located far away (such as labour-sending areas). Because of this, the Area of Influence does not have to be a single, contiguous area. The Area of Influence may also extend across administrative or national boundaries.
The most effective way to define the Area of Influence is to assess the geographical extent of each of the site’s potential social and human rights impacts, including cumulative impacts. Impacts are also identified, in part, through engagement with external stakeholders.
The Area of Influence evolves over time because of changes in the site’s footprint, activities, and potential impacts. Lifecycle transitions and site expansions, in particular, may result in a change in the Area of Influence. The Area of Influence may also change owing to changes to the external context.