74th Discussion Forum on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Sustainable decisions

At the 74th Discussion Forum on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), twelve researchers presented their methodological LCA approaches within NRP 73. 60 participants from academia, consulting, industry, and public authorities engaged in the interactive conference.

The researchers shared their experiences on how decision-makers can use life-cycle based approaches to boost sustainable decisions. The focus was on which life-cycle based approaches are best suited to reveal opportunities and risks within different economic sectors and which instruments are most useful for combining environmental, economic and societal aims.

The conference was organised by Regula Keller and Matthias Stucki from Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Bastien Girod, member of the National Council, opened the day with a keynote on the role of LCA and rebound effects in a net zero carbon economy.

The word cloud revealed that the analysis of sustainability hotspots was considered most helpful to support decision-makers in making more sustainable decisions. Furthermore, life-cycle based approaches related to communication, benchmarking, simplification and eco-design were considered key for decision-making that supports the SDGs.