Measuring Sustainability Flashcards
describe the problem of transitivity and compensation with sustainability problems
- Once we enter the realm of sustainability, problems become less tidy and more complex — there is generally no universal, best solution for all environmental, social, and economic aspects of a situation.
- This means that solutions are intransitive, much like a rock-paper-scissor game where each option has strengths and weakness.
- The danger of full compensation is that it can lead to extreme solutions that overemphasize a single performance criterion.
Life cycle assessment: cradle-to grave
Cradle-to-grave is the full Life Cycle Assessment from resource extraction (‘cradle’) to use phase and disposal phase (‘grave’)
All inputs and outputs are considered for all the phases of the life cycle.
ex. For example, trees produce paper, which can be recycled into low-energy production cellulose (fiberised paper) insulation, then used as an energy-saving device in the ceiling of a home for 40 years, saving 2,000 times the fossil-fuel energy used in its production. After 40 years the cellulose fibers are replaced and the old fibers are disposed of, possibly incinerated.
life cycle assessment: cradle to gate
assessment of a partial product life cycle from resource extraction (cradle) to the factory gate (i.e., before it is transported to the consumer). The use phase and disposal phase of the product are omitted in this case
life cycle assessment: cradle to cradle
Cradle-to-cradle is a specific kind of cradle-to-grave assessment, where the end-of-life disposal step for the product is a recycling process. It is a method used to minimize the environmental impact of products by employing sustainable production, operation, and disposal practices and aims to incorporate social responsibility into product development
life cycle assessment: gate to gate
Gate-to-gate is a partial LCA looking at only one value-added process in the entire production chain. Gate-to-gate modules may also later be linked in their appropriate production chain to form a complete cradle-to-gate evaluation
life cycle thinking (LCT)
going beyond the more narrow traditional focus on an enterprise’s production site and manufacturing processes
goals of LCT
- reduce resource use and emissions to the environment
- improve socio-economic performance through whole life cycle
what is the life cycle sustainability assessment?
‘whole picture’ -
extend current life cycle thinking to encompass all three pillars of sustainability
• Decision making approach to move towards products
that are sustainable throughout their life cycle
benefits of LCSA (or LCA) (12)
- LCSA enables practitioners to organize complex environmental, economic and social information and data in a structured form.
- LCSA helps in clarifying the trade-offs between the three sustainability pillars, life cycle stages and impacts, products and generations by providing a more comprehensive picture of the positive and negative impacts along the product life cycle.
3.• LCSA will show enterprises how to become more responsible for their business by taking into account the full spectrum of impacts associated with their products and services. - LCSA promotes awareness in value chain actors on sustainability issues.
- LCSA supports enterprises and value chain actors in identifying weaknesses and enabling further improvements of a product life cycle. For instance, it supports decision-makers in enterprises in finding more sustainable means of production and in designing more sustainable products
6.• LCSA supports decision-makers in prioritizing resources and investing them where there are more chances of positive impacts and less chance of negative ones. - LCSA helps decision-makers choose sustainable technologies and products.
- LCSA can support consumers in determining which products are not only cost-efficient, eco-efficient or socially responsible, but also more sustainable.
- • LCSA stimulates innovation in enterprises and value chain
actors. - LCSA has the potential to inform labelling initiatives.
- Communicating transparent LCSA information helps
enterprises to raise their credibility. - LCSA provides guiding principles to achieve sustainable consumption and production
what is net green
A business activity is net green if and only if it reduces overall environmental impact
thinking about the entire life of a product to determine whether it has a net effect of the environment
- considering production, use, and disposal/after life of a product
ex. Producers and users of recycled material need to make sure that their products displace primary materials rather than grow the total market. Refurbished or remanufactured products need to successfully compete with new products, not just find additional buyers. Car-sharing companies need to attract users who use the service to replace owned vehicles and drive less
Organizational boundaries of the GHG protocol (setting boundaries)
– Companies can be large, complex entities that participate in joint ventures, collaborations, multiple subsidiaries. How to draw the boundaries? Who reports what?
• Equity share approach: reports share of emissions that corresponds to its equity share
• Control approach: reports emissions for operations over which it has control (financial or operational)
operational boundaries of the GHG protocol (setting boundaries)
– Decided at corporate level after setting the organizational boundary;
– Three scopes across a value chain:
1. Direct GHG: emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the organization: stationary combustion, mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions
2. Energy indirect GHG: emissions from the consumption of purchased electricity, steam, or other sources of energy generated upstream from the organization
3. Other indirect GHG: emissions that are a consequence of the operations of an organization, but are not directly owned or controlled by the organization. (by far the largest component of most organization’s
carbon footprint)
What to do after measuring GHG
1. Report/disclose it? – Public GHG registries and databases • Climate registry • Carbon disclosure project • World economic forum global GHG registry • California Climate Action Registry
- Improve upon it?
– Any robust strategy requires setting targets for revenues, sales, and other core business indicators, as well as tracking performance against those targets. Likewise, effective GHG management involves setting a GHG target.
• Minimizing and managing GHG risks
• Achieving cost savings and stimulating innovation
• Preparing for future regulations
• Demonstrate leadership and corporate responsibility
• Participating in voluntary programs
What are the 7 main pitfalls of sustainability metrics?
• Pitfall 1: Counting what’s easy to count rather than what’s
important
– “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.” – Einstein
• Pitfall 2: Same data, but seen from different worlds
– Numbers are numbers, data is data, facts are facts. That might be true, until you have a subjective, biased (perhaps unconsciously so), unavoidably emotional (however much we’d like to deny it) human interpreting them.
• Pitfall 3: Relying on averages, estimates, and even lies rather than actual and appropriate data
• Pitfall 4: Setting and starting out on goals without doing the groundwork to assess what – and who – are being left out. As sustainability can be more complex than it initially appears, goal setting while pursuing it can be even more challenging.
– “Maybe the numbers are better now, but how do we really know whether it was our efforts which led to this improvement? Perhaps it was due to other factors which we’ve overlooked.”
- Pitfall 5: Missing the value of the metrics process
- Pitfall 6: Overlooking nonlinearities
- Pitfall 7: Failure to embrace uncertainty, seeing data as sufficient without wizened interpretation, and pervasive human biases
what do you need to watch out for as a consumer?
environmental folkore
