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Global guidance on environmental life cycle impact assessment indicators: impacts of climate change, fine particulate matter formation, water consumption and land use

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment volume 23, pages 2189–2207 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Guidance is needed on best-suited indicators to quantify and monitor the man-made impacts on human health, biodiversity and resources. Therefore, the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative initiated a global consensus process to agree on an updated overall life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) framework and to recommend a non-comprehensive list of environmental indicators and LCIA characterization factors for (1) climate change, (2) fine particulate matter impacts on human health, (3) water consumption impacts (both scarcity and human health) and 4) land use impacts on biodiversity.

Methods

The consensus building process involved more than 100 world-leading scientists in task forces via multiple workshops. Results were consolidated during a 1-week Pellston Workshop™ in January 2016 leading to the following recommendations.

Results and discussion

LCIA framework: The updated LCIA framework now distinguishes between intrinsic, instrumental and cultural values, with disability-adjusted life years (DALY) to characterize damages on human health and with measures of vulnerability included to assess biodiversity loss. Climate change impacts: Two complementary climate change impact categories are recommended: (a) The global warming potential 100 years (GWP 100) represents shorter term impacts associated with rate of change and adaptation capacity, and (b) the global temperature change potential 100 years (GTP 100) characterizes the century-scale long term impacts, both including climate-carbon cycle feedbacks for all climate forcers. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) health impacts: Recommended characterization factors (CFs) for primary and secondary (interim) PM2.5 are established, distinguishing between indoor, urban and rural archetypes. Water consumption impacts: CFs are recommended, preferably on monthly and watershed levels, for two categories: (a) The water scarcity indicator “AWARE” characterizes the potential to deprive human and ecosystems users and quantifies the relative Available WAter REmaining per area once the demand of humans and aquatic ecosystems has been met, and (b) the impact of water consumption on human health assesses the DALYs from malnutrition caused by lack of water for irrigated food production. Land use impacts: CFs representing global potential species loss from land use are proposed as interim recommendation suitable to assess biodiversity loss due to land use and land use change in LCA hotspot analyses.

Conclusions

The recommended environmental indicators may be used to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals in order to quantify and monitor progress towards sustainable production and consumption. These indicators will be periodically updated, establishing a process for their stewardship.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. One participant expressed in a minority statement its concerns regarding the implications of recommending two impact categories for climate change for practical applications of LCA, with the risk that different climate change labels used on products present divergent information.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative and its sponsors for funding this activity and the contributions from the additional participants to the Pellston Workshop™ (PW) and to the LCIA guidance Task Forces (TF).

Crosscutting issues and framework: (PW) Stefanie Hellweg, Andrew D. Henderson, Alexis Laurent, Brad Ridoutt, Cassia Ugaya; (TF) Jane Bare, Alya Bolowich, Mattia Damiani, Jo Dewulf, Chris Koffler, Jan Paul Lindner, Xun Liao, Danielle Maia de Souza, Chris Mutel, Laure Patouillard, Massimo Pizzol, Leo Posthuma, Tommie Ponsioen, Valentina Prado, Ralph Rosenbaum, Serenella Sala, Thomas Sonderegger, Franziska Stössel, Marisa Vieira, Bo Weidema, John S. Woods.

Climate change impacts: (PW) An de Schryver, Michael Hauschild, Yuki Kabe, Abdelhadi Sahnoune, Katsumasa Tanaka; (TF) Otávio Cavalett, Jan S. Fuglestvedt, Thomas Gasser, Mark A.J. Huijbregts, Daniel J.A. Johansson, Susanne V. Jørgensen, Marco Raugei, Andy Reisinger, Greg Schivley, Anders H. Strømman.

Fine particulate matter health impacts: (PW) Joshua Apte, John Evans, Natasha Hodas, Matti Jantunen; (TF) Deborah Bennett, Otto Hänninen, Jonathan Levy, Dingsheng Li, Paul J. Lioy, Miranda Loh, Detelin Markov, Julian Marshall, Philipp Preiss, Hyeong-Moo Shin, Joseph Spadaro, Katerina Stylianou, Marko Tainio, Jouni T. Tuomisto, Charles J. Weschler.

Water use impacts: (PW) Lorenzo Benini, Shabbir H. Gheewala, Maria Clea Brito de Figueiredo, Kevin Harding, Urs Schenker; (TF) Jane Bare, Markus Berger, Cécile Bulle, Michael J. Lathuillière, Alessandro Manzardo, Manuele Margni, Montserrat Núñez, Amandine Valerie Pastor, Taikan Oki, Sebastien Worbe.

Land use impacts on biodiversity: (PW) Christian Bauer, Camillo de Camillis, Ruth Freiermuth Knuchel, Tim Grant, Ottar Michelsen, Martha Stevenson; (TF) Béatrice Bellini, Sharon Brooks, Jasmina Burek, Abhishek Chaudhary, Carla Coelho, Michael Curran, Maria Cléa Brito de Figueirêdo, Danielle Maia de Souza, Pieter Elshout, Simone Fazio, Jan Paul Lindner, William Puttman, Eugenie Regan, Serenella Sala, Félix Teillard, Ricardo F. M. Teixeira, Greg Thoma, Beatriz Vidal-Legaz, Matt Walpole.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Olivier Jolliet

  2. Institute for Food and Agricultural Research and Technology, IRTA, Cabrils, Barcelona, Spain

    Assumpció Antón

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, CIRAIG, Montreal, Canada

    Anne-Marie Boulay & Annie Levasseur

  4. LIRIDE, Sherbrooke University, Sherbrooke, Canada

    Anne-Marie Boulay

  5. Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Francesco Cherubini & Francesca Verones

  6. Department of Management Engineering, Quantitative Sustainability Assessment Division, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

    Peter Fantke

  7. School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Thomas E. McKone

  8. NTNU Sustainability, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Ottar Michelsen

  9. Economy Division, United Nations Environment Programme, Paris, France

    Llorenç Milà i Canals

  10. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan

    Masaharu Motoshita

  11. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETHZ, Zurich, Switzerland

    Stephan Pfister

  12. SETAC, Pensacola, FL, USA

    Bruce Vigon

  13. treeze Ltd., Uster, Switzerland

    Rolf Frischknecht

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  1. Olivier Jolliet
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  2. Assumpció Antón
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  4. Francesco Cherubini
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  9. Llorenç Milà i Canals
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Correspondence to Olivier Jolliet.

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Responsible editor: Michael Z. Hauschild

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Jolliet, O., Antón, A., Boulay, AM. et al. Global guidance on environmental life cycle impact assessment indicators: impacts of climate change, fine particulate matter formation, water consumption and land use. Int J Life Cycle Assess 23, 2189–2207 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-018-1443-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-018-1443-y

Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Fine particulate matter
  • Human health
  • Land use
  • LCIA framework
  • Water consumption
  • Water scarcity