In 2012, at the time of the Beijing GA, two decades had passed since the publication of the Spaceguard Report. Time has not passed in vain for the subject of NEO-related hazards, and we are currently in a totally different situation than in the early nineties. The amount of work done, and the level of awareness of the underlying problems, have both risen to such a level that a re-assessment by the astronomical community of its rôle and involvement was in order, and the GA Special Session 7 “The impact hazard: current activities and future plans” was aimed exactly at that.