The Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA) Practitioners’ Guide aims to support practitioners of CEAs in their work and submission processes to regulatory bodies. The tool gives practitioners an overview of current understanding about the CEA practice, suggests practical approaches to complete CEAS based on statutory requirements and best practice and provides case studies. Furthermore, the Guide defines key terms and an exemplary assessment framework and recommends good practices in for data collection and cases of lacking data, among other useful orientations.

The EU Taxonomy sets out the overarching conditions that an economic activity has to meet to qualify as sustainable. In order to ensure that investments and financial market activities support those sustainable economic activities, financial market participants active in the EU and companies subject to non-financial disclosure requirements must now incorporate disclosures with reference to the Taxonomy. This way, the Taxonomy aims to help channel capital flows toward sustainable investments in a harmonized and consistent manner across the EU single market, thereby supporting the EU Green Deal and the Paris Agreement, and guide the transition of companies toward sustainable economic activities.

The Water-Hydropower-Agriculture Tool for Investments and Financing (WHAT-IF) tool is a computer-based model developed for economic assessment of water infrastructure (e.g. reservoirs, irrigation, water supply, energy production) within the water-energy-food nexus. The key objective of the tool is to maximize economic welfare considering nexus’ trade-offs, such as crop and power markets and trade, as well as exogenous climate change and socio-economic drivers. Therewith, the tool enables to solve synergies and tradeoffs between those sectors and provides the user with nexus-optimized water infrastructure solutions based on the comparison of different scenarios.

The Pearl Rating System’s Building Rating System promotes the development of sustainable buildings in Abu Dhabi. The tool encourages water, energy and waste minimization, local material use and improved supply chains for sustainable and recycled materials and products throughout the project life cycle, from design to construction. The PCRS is applicable to offices, retail buildings, multi-residentials, schools and buildings with mixed uses. The sustainability of buildings is assessed across a broad list of required and optional credits, that are adapted depending on the building’s use.

The WELL Building Standard assesses and rates the performance of buildings in delivering spaces that enhance human health and wellbeing. Thereby, the tool aims to support buildings and organizations in delivering more thoughtful and intentional spaces by setting performance standards for design interventions, operational protocols and policies and a commitment to fostering a culture of health and wellness. The tool rates buildings’ performance using individualized, point-based scorecards depending on the use and occupational structure of the building (owner-occupied or rented).

The Watershed Management Optimization Support Tool (WMOST) is modelling tool that supports decision-making in integrated water management at the local or small watershed scale. The tool models the environmental effects and costs of management decisions at the watershed context, considering water flows and quality. WMOST serves to screen a wide range of potential water resource management options for their cost effectiveness, environmental and economic sustainability, including consideration of different climate scenarios. A theoretical documentation report and a user guide support application.

VELMA is a computer software model that helps improve the water quality of streams, rivers and estuaries by making better use of both natural and engineered green infrastructure that help reduce water pollution. The tool assesses different green infrastructure options for controlling the fate and transport of water, nutrients and toxics across multiple spatial and temporal scales, taking into account present and future climate scenarios. VELMA furthermore addresses longevity and maintenance issues for the identified solutions, depending on contaminant loads, soil properties and climatic changes.

SASB standards are a set of industry-specific standards that identify the subset of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues most important for the sustainability accounting of companies. The standards are designed to enable companies to disclose their financially-material sustainability information to investors in a cost-effective and decision-useful manner. Standards are available for 77 different industries. In the area of infrastructure, standards are available for (1) electric utilities & power generators, (2) engineering & construction services, (3) gas utilities & distributors, (4) home builders, (5) real estate, (6) real estate services, (7) waste management and (8) water utilities & services.

Sustainable was developed to showcase the influence of infrastructure (and coming soon: procurement) on the SDG targets that relate to various cross-cutting themes in development, such as women’s empowerment and, coming soon, environmental protection and resilience or disaster risk reduction. The tool informs the users of the actions that can be undertaken while implementing infrastructure projects to support the achievement of specific SDG targets related to these themes. The information is specific to the different infrastructure sectors and includes recommendation on when to implement these measures during the infrastructure life cycle.

SWMM is an open-source software application that can be used for single event or long-term simulations of water runoff quality and quantity. The tool evaluates gray infrastructure stormwater control strategies, such as pipes and storm drains, and is useful for comparing the effectiveness and costs of green or gray hybrid stormwater control solutions, especially in urban areas. Furthermore, SWMM allows engineers to determine the effectiveness of green infrastructure practices as low impact development controls in managing runoff. The software provides an integrated environment for editing input data and running simulations.