v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 1,610 entries across 24 domains · CC-BY 4.01,610 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack EStablev2026.2

Environmental impact

The contribution that research makes to environmental outcomes, including biodiversity, conservation, ecosystem services, climate, pollution reduction, sustainability and resource use.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

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Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
Research informs a marine-protected-area designation that demonstrably increases species populations.
Is an instance
A study underpins a pollution-control regulation with measured downstream improvements in water quality.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
Claiming environmental impact from a research output never used in environmental decision-making.
Not an instance
Citing aspirational sustainability framing without measurable environmental change.

Editorial commentary

Environmental impact captures contributions to natural-world outcomes, whether through informing conservation policy, advancing sustainable technologies, supporting ecosystem restoration, or reducing pollution. Assessment combines ecological indicators (species recovery, area conserved, emissions reduction) with policy and behaviour-change measures. SDG-aligned framing increasingly emphasises environmental impact's links to SDG 13 (climate), 14 (life below water), 15 (life on land) and the planetary boundaries framework.

References

Stockholm Resilience Centre planetary boundaries framework. Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Also known as

Environmental impact of research

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Environmental impact"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/environmental-impact" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

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  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/environmental-impact",
  "name": "Environmental impact",
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  "description": "The contribution that research makes to environmental outcomes, including biodiversity, conservation, ecosystem services, climate, pollution reduction, sustainability and resource use.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/engagement-impact-sdg#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/environmental-impact",
  "sameAs": [
    "Environmental impact of research"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-05-21T02:22:56",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}

Referenced across the research world

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