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Environmental Impact Assessment: Challenges and Solutions for Businesses

Measuring environmental impact is no longer optional—it’s essential. Discover the challenges businesses face, the benefits of reliable data, and how Atlas makes Nature Intelligence accessible, agile, and actionable.

· By Lemu · 3 min read

Assessing environmental impact is not a side exercise—it is central to business resilience and growth. Understanding in detail how your company interacts with the natural world throughout its value chain can directly strengthen your business model and corporate goals.

Here are six key benefits:

1. Greater resilience to natural phenomena

Ecosystem degradation creates operational and financial risks. Measuring dependencies on nature allows companies to anticipate risks and design adaptation strategies for long-term sustainability.

2. Optimisation of resource use

Without measurement, inefficiencies go unseen. Tracking impact reveals opportunities to reduce waste in water, energy, and raw materials—cutting costs while reducing ecological footprint. For example, satellite monitoring of land use helps agricultural businesses improve irrigation and optimise water consumption without lowering yields.

3. Easier regulatory compliance

Environmental regulations are tightening worldwide, including in Chile. Solid environmental data not only demonstrates compliance but also helps companies anticipate future regulations—reducing the risk of fines and operational restrictions.

4. Better evidence-based decision-making

Reliable data allows companies to design strategies with measurable impact and avoid wasted investments. For example, a renewable energy company can use biodiversity indicators to select optimal sites for new projects, minimising environmental conflict.

5. Ability to demonstrate progress

Public sustainability commitments require verifiable data. Without it, credibility suffers. Transparent measurement builds trust and protects reputation.

6. Meeting investor and consumer demands

Investors and consumers are demanding greater transparency. Verified environmental metrics open new opportunities for financing and strengthen market positioning with environmentally conscious buyers.


Challenges and Solutions in Environmental Impact Studies

The benefits are clear. The challenge lies in execution. Measuring environmental impact is not simple—but with the right tools, it can be.

Here are common obstacles, and how Atlas helps overcome them:

1. High costs and resource demands

Field studies require costly logistics and large teams.

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Atlas: Uses satellite imagery and advanced models to deliver accurate insights remotely, reducing costs and complexity.

2. Limited or fragmented data

Data gaps and inconsistencies undermine accurate analysis.

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Atlas: Combines multiple data sources, integrates historical records, and corrects for biases to provide high-resolution, reliable indicators.

3. Complex data processing and storage

Environmental datasets are vast and technically demanding.

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Atlas: Handles the heavy lifting of processing and analysis, giving companies seamless access to insights without needing in-house infrastructure.

4. Difficulty communicating results

Large datasets can overwhelm non-technical teams and audiences.

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Atlas: Offers intuitive visualisations, interactive maps, and easy-to-understand insights suitable for experts, executives, and stakeholders alike.

5. Lack of standardised methodologies

Different frameworks produce inconsistent results.

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Atlas: Aligns indicators with leading frameworks (GRI, ISSB, Nature Positive, TNFD), ensuring comparability and credibility.

6. Rapidly evolving regulations

Adapting to diverse and changing rules is challenging, especially across multiple jurisdictions.

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Atlas: Provides precise, transparent indicators aligned with current regulations, backed by experts in environmental law.

7. Integration challenges

Companies often have siloed data sources that don’t connect.

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Atlas: Serves as a single source of truth, integrating proprietary and external datasets using Spacetime—making satellite imagery, camera traps, and field measurements interoperable.

Want to Learn More About Atlas?

Atlas brings together dozens of environmental indicators across carbon, biodiversity, vegetation, climate, risk, and water. It enables companies to make agile, evidence-based decisions about their relationship with nature.

One of Atlas’s greatest strengths is its adaptability—tailored to different industries, scales, and challenges. If your company wants to understand its environmental impact in greater depth, or faces a specific measurement challenge, we’d love to help.

👉 Schedule a free demo in minutes. Let’s explore your company’s needs together and unlock the Nature Intelligence you need to move forward with confidence.

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About the author

Lemu Lemu
Updated on Sep 1, 2025