Life cycle assessment needs predictive spatial modelling for biodiversity and ecosystem services
Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer,Sarah Sim,Perrine Hamel,Benjamin P. Bryant,Ryan R. Noe,Carina Mueller,Giles Rigarlsford,Michal Kulak,Virginia Kowal,Richard Sharp,Julie Clavreul,Edward Price,Stephen Polasky,Mary Ruckelshaus,Gretchen C. Daily +14 more
TLDR
Comparing increased demand for bioplastics derived from two alternative feedstock-location scenarios for maize and sugarcane, it is found that the LUCI-LCA approach yields results opposite to those of standard LCA for greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, and of different magnitudes for soil erosion and biodiversity.Abstract:
International corporations in an increasingly globalized economy exert a major influence on the planet's land use and resources through their product design and material sourcing decisions. Many companies use life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate their sustainability, yet commonly-used LCA methodologies lack the spatial resolution and predictive ecological information to reveal key impacts on climate, water and biodiversity. We present advances for LCA that integrate spatially explicit modelling of land change and ecosystem services in a Land-Use Change Improved (LUCI)-LCA. Comparing increased demand for bioplastics derived from two alternative feedstock-location scenarios for maize and sugarcane, we find that the LUCI-LCA approach yields results opposite to those of standard LCA for greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, and of different magnitudes for soil erosion and biodiversity. This approach highlights the importance of including information about where and how land-use change and related impacts will occur in supply chain and innovation decisions.read more
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Cities: the core of climate change mitigation
Zhifu Mi,Dabo Guan,Zhu Liu,Zhu Liu,Zhu Liu,Jingru Liu,Vincent Viguié,Neil A. Fromer,Yutao Wang +8 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a platform that promotes multi-and inter-disciplinary analyses and discussions on the climate change mitigation for cities, focusing on mitigation policies and assessment of energy, transport, construction, and service sectors.
Journal ArticleDOI
The challenges of applying planetary boundaries as a basis for strategic decision-making in companies with global supply chains
Roland Clift,Sarah Sim,Henry King,Jonathan Chenoweth,Ian Christie,Julie Clavreul,Carina Mueller,Leo Posthuma,Anne-Marie Boulay,Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer,Julia Chatterton,Fabrice DeClerck,Angela Druckman,Antonio Franco,Dieter Gerten,Mark Goedkoop,Michael Zwicky Hauschild,Mark A. J. Huijbregts,Thomas Koellner,Eric F. Lambin,Eric F. Lambin,Jacquetta Lee,Simon Mair,Stuart Marshall,Michael S. McLachlan,Llorenç Milà i Canals,Cynthia Mitchell,Edward Price,Johan Rockström,James Rowland Suckling,Richard J. Murphy +30 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse the recent literature and highlight three major scientific and technical challenges in operationalizing the planetary boundary approach in decision-making: first, identification of thresholds or boundaries with associated metrics for different geographical scales; second, the need to frame approaches to allocate fair shares in the safe operating space bounded by the planetary boundaries across the value chain; and third, international bodies to co-ordinate the implementation of the measures needed to respect the planetary Boundaries.
Journal ArticleDOI
Towards integrating the ecosystem services cascade framework within the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) cause-effect methodology.
Benedetto Rugani,Danielle Maia de Souza,Bo Pedersen Weidema,Jane C. Bare,Bhavik R. Bakshi,Blane Grann,John M. Johnston,Ana Laura Raymundo Pavan,Xinyu Liu,Alexis Laurent,Francesca Verones +10 more
TL;DR: The traditional LCIA structure, which represents the cause-effect chain from stressor to impacts and damages, is re-casted and expanded using the lens of the ES 'cascade model' which balances the quantified environmental intervention flows and related impacts that are typically considered in LCA.
Journal ArticleDOI
Assessing nutritional, health, and environmental sustainability dimensions of agri-food production
TL;DR: There is an urgent need for more robust methods and metrics to quantitatively assess the sustainability of agri-food production systems on a joint nutritional, health, and environmental basis.
Journal ArticleDOI
Progress in ecosystem services research: A guide for scholars and practitioners
TL;DR: A systematic review of key themes and approaches that have developed over the last 40 years is presented in this article, where the authors identify emerging and dominant areas of interest in the field.
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