corsus presents innovative research results at this year’s digital Life Cycle Management (LCM) conference
Last week, the tenth international conference on Life Cycle Management (LCM) took place. Like last year at the Food LCA Conference 2020, corsus was present with its own presentations.
Nico Mumm kicked off corsus’ presence at LCM 2021 with a presentation on the development of a dataset for use in evaluating biodiversity impacts in life cycle assessments. Models such as the Planetary Boundaries show that biodiversity loss, like climate change, plays a central role in the resilience of our planet. To date, however, the assessment of biodiversity impacts by means of life cycle assessments, as compared to climate change, is still in the development phase. The dataset developed by Nico Mumm provides country- and product-specific ecoregion factors for 188 countries and 42 agricultural products. Ecoregion factors are dimensionless factors that quantify the ecological value of ecosystems. They are a key factor in determining the impact of land use on terrestrial biodiversity. The newly developed dataset, presented for the first time at LCM 2021, can significantly simplify the assessment of food systems.
Furthermore, Julius Wenzig presented the research results on the SDG-EVALUATION OF PRODUCTS (SEP) method. SEP is a sustainability assessment method that uses the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 (SDGs) with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 sub-goals as a benchmark. The aim of the method is to make the contribution of products to the SDGs measurable. To do this, the SDGs are systematically recorded that have a product or company reference, and 45 indicators are compiled. For these indicators, SEP developed a method that can derive and evaluate target values from the SDGs. The method was positively received at the conference and fruitful discussions were held among experts. Currently, a scientific article on SEP is also being reviewed by experts in order to be published in a renowned journal. The practical brochure on SEP can be viewed here.
The Life Cycle Management (LCM) Conference is one of the world’s leading forums for environmental, economic and social sustainability. It focuses on practical solutions for implementing life cycle concepts into strategic and operational decision making. The goal of LCM 2021 is to discuss and advance the implementation of life cycle approaches. At LCM, impetus will be presented to both academia, industry, non-governmental organizations and public institutions. It takes place every two years and is organized by a leading research institution and industry in the field each time. This year, the tenth LCM took place from September 5-8, 2021 as a virtual conference. More than 600 scientists and practitioners from over 40 countries gathered online.