Biodiversity impacts in life cycle assessment: corsus employees present results
The international life cycle assessment conference for food (LCA Food 2024) took place in Barcelona from 8 to 12 September. It is considered one of the most important international events on the environmental impact of global food systems. It brings together the international scientific community and practitioners to learn about the latest methodological developments in life cycle assessment and new findings on the environmental impact of food systems. The 14th edition of the biennial conference was held this year under the motto ‘Healthy Food Systems for a Healthy Planet’. corsus employees Julian Quandt and Nico Mumm presented their findings on the assessment of biodiversity impacts of global food supply chains from their work on the BioVal research project at the University of Augsburg.
The biggest obstacles in calculating biodiversity impacts are data gaps and the complexity of biodiversity. In his presentation at Food LCA 2024, Julian Quandt presented spatially differentiated characterisation factors for the biodiversity impact assessment of 152 different arable crops. With these characterisation factors, users can easily and specifically estimate the biodiversity impact of the most important food raw materials without extensive prior knowledge. The results can be used to make supply chains more biodiversity-friendly. The calculation of the characterisation factors is based on spatially differentiated statistical data on fertiliser use, pesticide use, soil cultivation and field sizes. These were fed into the BVI method, an innovative method for assessing biodiversity impact. In addition, regionally differentiated data on the extinction probability of species, natural and semi-natural habitats and the influence of infrastructure are included. The results presented are not only of interest to users, such as companies, but also to scientists, as the lively interest at the conference in Barcelona showed.
Figure 1 quantifies the biodiversity impact of soya on the basis of the characterisation factors. The higher the biodiversity value indicated (shown in darker colours), the greater the negative impact on biodiversity.
Figure 1: Biodiversity impact of soya differentiated by origin [in BVI*m2*a/kg]
Further, there is a need for research to assess the effects on marine biodiversity. This is mainly due to the fact that the interactions in the sea are more diffuse and the overall biodiversity effects are influenced more strongly by several users at the same time than is the case with terrestrial ecosystems.
On a poster, Nico Mumm presented an approach to what this integration could look like. Using the example of wild fish catches, he calculated characterisation factors. To do this, he combined ‘fuzzy logic’ and the concept of biodiversity contributions from the BVI method with global fish stock data. As a result, he calculated two characterisation factors per kilogram of fish for over 2,000 species in more than 200 marine ecoregions. This approach can also be used to estimate the pressure from fishing on marine ecoregions.
In addition to their consultancy work at corsus, Julian Quandt and Nico Mumm are researching methods for estimating biodiversity impacts in life cycle assessments at the University of Augsburg. In the BioVal project, they are developing tools that can be used to calculate impacts on biodiversity. The further qualification of corsus employees is very much welcomed and supported at corsus.
corsus is a partner for sustainable food systems
Sustainable food systems are crucial for a healthy planet. The findings of the conference will be directly incorporated into our further work on scientifically sound and practical solutions. corsus will continue to actively shape the discourse on this topic and support political actors, municipalities, institutions and companies in implementing an environmentally friendly and health-promoting, ethically responsible diet that is appropriate for everyday life and enables socio-cultural diversity.
