Introduction to the basics of life cycle sustainability assessment focusing on the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative LCSA framework

Marzia Traverso and Sonia Valdivia

Chapter 5 in Handbook on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, 2024, pp 53-59 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Sustainable development encompassing resilient economies and social stability of the global system is an increasingly important consideration for decision-makers in both businesses and governments. For sustainable development to be implemented effectively, performance measures are required. This emerging need has been addressed by the sustainability research and community since 2008 with the first contribution of Klöpffer. Since then methods, frameworks and principles have been designed and proposed with a growing number of applications. Since 2011 the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has promoted through the Life Cycle Initiative with the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) a pragmatic approach using the LCSA framework, which is based on the three techniques: LCSA = LCA + LCC + S-LCA. The aim of this chapter is to provide the findings of a review about the evolution of methodologies, frameworks and principles sustaining the current practice of life cycle assessment, to illustrate the UNEP/SETAC LCSA framework, considered as the most applied approach, and to describe the challenges identified by the community of research and application.

Keywords: Business and Management; Development Studies; Economics and Finance; Environment; Geography; Politics and Public Policy Sociology and Social Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781800378650.00015 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:20336_5

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Darrel McCalla ().