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Life cycle assessment‐based Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment is also relative

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  • Jeroen B. Guinée
  • Arjan de Koning
  • Reinout Heijungs

Abstract

Over the past years, an increasing number of scholarly papers have used the planetary boundaries (PBs) within life cycle assessment (LCA) to determine if the life cycle impacts of a product system fit within those PBs and thereby establish the absolute sustainability of the product system. This type of LCA is nowadays coined as LCA‐based Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment (AESA). “Absolute” thereby refers to methods enabling the comparison of environmental impacts of products, companies, nations, and so on, with an assigned share of environmental carrying capacity for various impact categories. A recent review of LCA‐based AESA methods and their applications characterized 47 studies “according to their intended application, impact categories, basis of carrying capacity estimates, spatial differentiation of environmental model and principles for assigning carrying capacity.” However, the review and the majority of studies reviewed did not, or only to a limited extent, discuss potential temporal issues of assigning carrying capacity to product systems. Several of the carrying capacity estimates have a time dimension while LCA results lack a time dimension. In this article, we show that assigning PBs to product systems is only technically possible when adopting several fundamental though unrealistic assumptions, and conclude that even product LCA‐based AESA is relative. This should not withhold scholars from developing approaches applying the PBs in LCA, but it should prevent them from claiming and using the term “absolute.”

Suggested Citation

  • Jeroen B. Guinée & Arjan de Koning & Reinout Heijungs, 2022. "Life cycle assessment‐based Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment is also relative," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 673-682, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:26:y:2022:i:3:p:673-682
    DOI: 10.1111/jiec.13260
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chanjief Chandrakumar & Sarah J. McLaren & Nihal P. Jayamaha & Thiagarajah Ramilan, 2019. "Absolute Sustainability‐Based Life Cycle Assessment: A Benchmarking Approach to Operate Agri‐food Systems within the 2°C Global Carbon Budget," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(4), pages 906-917, August.
    2. Roland Clift & Sarah Sim & Henry King & Jonathan L. Chenoweth & Ian Christie & Julie Clavreul & Carina Mueller & Leo Posthuma & Anne-Marie Boulay & Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer & Julia Chatterton & Fabrice , 2017. "The Challenges of Applying Planetary Boundaries as a Basis for Strategic Decision-Making in Companies with Global Supply Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-23, February.
    3. J. W. Owens, 1997. "Life‐Cycle Assessment in Relation to Risk Assessment: An Evolving Perspective," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), pages 359-365, June.
    4. Anders Bjørn & Katherine Richardson & Michael Zwicky Hauschild, 2019. "A Framework for Development and Communication of Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment Methods," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(4), pages 838-854, August.
    5. Anastasia Wolff & Natacha Gondran & Christian Brodhag, 2017. "Detecting unsustainable pressures exerted on biodiversity by a company. Application to the food portfolio of a retailer," Post-Print emse-01575571, HAL.
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    1. Marvin Bachmann & Christian Zibunas & Jan Hartmann & Victor Tulus & Sangwon Suh & Gonzalo Guillén-Gosálbez & André Bardow, 2023. "Towards circular plastics within planetary boundaries," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(5), pages 599-610, May.
    2. Caroline Amalie Clausen & Anders Bjørn & Esther Sanyé‐Mengual & Morten Ryberg, 2024. "Applying environmental sustainability boundaries for climate change in life cycle assessment: A review of approaches and implications for policymaking," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(3), pages 617-630, June.

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