Social Impact Assessment Quotes

There is not much that even the most socially responsible scientists can do as individuals, or even as a group, about the social consequences of their activities.

I am in favour of disinvestment. But if a disinvested company has to tie up with a government company for its livelihood, there is a problem.

As a civil servant in charge of the government's Strategy Unit, I brought in many people from outside government, including academia and science, to work in the unit, dissecting and solving complex problems from GM crops to alcohol, nuclear proliferation to schools reform.

Social-impact partnerships address our moral responsibilities to ensure that social programs actually improve recipients' lives, and to do so in a fiscally prudent manner.

In technology, we spend so much time experimenting, fine-tuning, getting the absolute cheapest way to do something - so why aren't we doing that with social policy?

In England they always try out new mobile phones in Isle of Man. They've got a captive society. So I said, you should try the legalization of all drugs on the Isle of Man and see what happens.

Most philanthropists want to be effective altruists. But the problem isn't intention: it's measurement. Unlike financial investing, which has reporting standards, audit processes, and educational requirements, social investing is notoriously tricky to evaluate.

New technologies, innovative management, higher productivity, displacements in the labour market, increased migration - these are all provoking major economic, social, and political shifts. These shifts need to be better understood if we are to address them in a positive and effective manner.

We're actually able to approve pipelines at a time when everyone wants protection of the environment. We're being able to show that we get people's fears, and there are constructive ways of allaying them - and not just ways to lash out and give a big kick to the system.

A social impact bond is a new way of bringing financing into social and environmental support issues.