LC Net Focus

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September-October 2021 Edition

Contents

LC Net FocusAnnouncementsProject amp Activity UpdatesLife Cycle CalendarJob Announcements

Contact us

infolifecycleinitiativeorgwwwlifecycleinitiativeorg

LC Net Focus

Lessons and take-home messages from Webinar onLife Cycle Approach to Plastics Pollution

Earlier this summer the Life Cycle Initiative responded to a request ndash made byMember States to UNEP during the first pre-meeting of the MinisterialConference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution ndash to provide technicalinsights to the delegates on what a life cycle approach to plastics pollution lookslike A life cycle approach is one of the key considerations for a potential GlobalAgreement to address plastic pollution as discussed these past few days in theMinisterial Conference (see section below) This response materialised in theform of a webinar bringing together a multi-stakeholder panel of speakersincluding government (with Guillermo Gonzalez Caballero of Chilersquos Ministry ofEnvironment) industry (represented by Tom Szaky CEO and founder ofTerracycle and Loop) a Plastic Pact organization (South Africa Plastic Pactrepresented by Deshanya Naidoo) as well as the Ellen MacArthur FoundationrsquosGerald Naber UNEP colleagues provided the moderation and perspective onhow to bring life cycle approaches to address plastic pollution

Subscribe Past Issues Translate

The webinar discussed some holistic solutions to the hotspots of unsustainableconsumption and production that occur across the life cycle of plastic productsas well as the actors who can implement these solutions These solutions rangefrom halting subsidies for fossil fuels at the cradle to improving implementationof Extended Producer Responsibility schemes to influence plastic productionand its cycling at the end of life Importantly the Life Cycle Initiative laid out some of the main elements of what alife cycle approach to plastics pollution and marine litter could look like asillustrated below The life cycle approach provides the scientific basis uponwhich rests the monitoring standards action plans and targets required to reachsustainable solutions to the hotspots identified along the value chain of aproduct or service This approach and the technical resources that underpin itare being considered by Member States as they debate a possible GlobalAgreement to address Plastic Pollution


Announcements

Save The Date 5th General Assembly of the LifeCycle Initiative on September 23 2021 bull 11h30-15h30CEST

The Life Cycle Initiative will hold its Fifth Online General Assembly of itsmembers on September 23 2021 It is open to all Life Cycle Initiativemembers The General Assembly is an opportunity to showcase all theInitiativersquos activities over the past year envision together future activities andenhance cooperation between members

Life Cycle Initiative members should block their calendars for the GeneralAssembly on September 23rd 2021 from 1130-1530 (CEST) Theconnectiondial-in details were sent out on September 2nd (check your spamfolders) and the agenda and pre-reads will be delivered in the week precedingthe event

Just as in previous years members will also electthree new representatives to the SteeringCommittee for the next three years as per thegovernance of the Initiative (Annexes 32 and 33of the strategy document)

This year is special because like every threeyears the individual member position withinthe Steering Committee is open This means that the institutions from theScience and Civil Society Constituency will not be eligible for election or votingthis year (only individual members from this constituency will vote theirrepresentative) It has been great to see the growing interest in contributing tothe Initiative from its driving seat and we are happy to welcome the manycandidates who stepped forward for this yearrsquos elections The candidates arelisted below (in random order within the constituencies)

Consult the full webinar recording and slide deckSubscribe Past Issues Translate

1 Candidates for the Government Constituency

Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentinarepresented by the Secretary of Climate Change SustainableDevelopmentNational Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA)representing the Government of ThailandNational Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA) representingthe Government of South Africa

2 Candidates for the Business Constituency

Zero Waste amp Sustainability School ndash USAEHS Techniques ndash SpainHUB Latin America (Hub EPD LATAM) ndash ChileEcoEd - Chile

3 Candidates for Individual Representation (within the Science and CivilSociety Constituency)

Marcelo Langer PhD - BrazilNavneet Argawall MMS - IndiaNasser Ayoub ndash EgyptDr Eman Alaaeldin Abdelfattah - EgyptNebiyeleul Gessese PhD - EthiopiaCH Rama Krushna Chary MBA ndash KuwaitNaphat Chatchavalkosol ndash ThailandJoni Jupesta PhD - IndonesiaDewi Permatasari ndash Indonesia

If any members missed out this year or were excluded due to geographicalrestrictions be sure to keep an eye out for next yearrsquos General Assembly andset a reminder in your calendar ndash the Steering Committee elections are held inSeptember every year

Remember Membership registration is open throughout the year You or yourinstitution can join by downloading completing and returning a signedmembership form to membershiplifecycleinitiativeorg

Interns Welcome to new Farewell to old

The Life Cycle Initiative Secretariat is regularly blessed with the contribution ofengaged and energetic interns who bring new ideas and provide a significantcontribution to the delivery of the Initiativersquos impact This September we arewelcoming Tess and Margarita who will overlap for a couple of weeks withAngelique and Rowena who superbly supported our work for the last sixmonths

View full bios of all the candidates


Margarita Victoria Caballa a national of the Philippines is a recent graduate inICP Master of Science in Sustainable Development from the Catholic UniversityLeuven (Belgium) and Tess OrsquoNeill with Irish and USA nationalities is agraduate of International Commerce with Chinese from University CollegeDublin and finishing her Master studies on Sustainability and EnergyManagement at Bocconi University (Milan Italy) You will be able to meet themall during the General Assembly on the 23 September It will be the time to sayldquoagrave bientocirctrdquo to Rowena Waldron and Angelique Vermeer wishing them all thebest for their future endeavours (and congratulating in advance the luckyorganisations who contract them 128521 )

New Strategy new support

After a strong competitive selection following the announcement of a consultantposition to support the Initiative as we embark on the recalibration of a new 5-year strategy we are very happy to welcome Bina Emanvel of India to the LifeCycle Initiative Bina will be contributing her significant experience in developingand implementing strategies for a diverse range of organizations includingUNICEF UNHCR UN Women ECPAT International Child HelplineInternational and more

Project amp Activity Updates

SCP-HAT v20 launch and further applications anddissemination

The final touches and quality checks are being made to the underlying database


for the Sustainable Consumptionand Production Hotspots AnalysisTool (SCP-HAT) v20 which willbe released to the public in thecoming weeks This underlyingdatabase the GLENVIOM Model (Global Environmental Input Output Model) isa Multi-Region Input Output (MRIO) table built by the University of Sydney forthe UN International Resource Panel (UN IRP) With this table the SCP-HATboosts the sector disaggregation to 97 for most countries and the time coverageto 1990-2019 With the new database we are also able to cover new pressureand impact indicators such as nutrient flows water consumption and energysupply In the coming months the team will be busy with further improvements ofthe tool (watch this space) as well as a training workshop for West Asiacountries in mid-October new applications to inform national developmentstrategies (NDCs green recovery strategies etc) as well as its furtherintegration into the World Environment Situation Room (WESR) through anenhanced API

What you havent heard of the SCP-HAT yet Then watch this 3rsquo intro video and talk about this cool tool with your peers

GLAD held its first Focus Group to gather insights onuser experience

The Global LCA Data Access (GLAD) networkwhich is led by the Life Cycle Initiative aims toincrease data accessibility and interoperability toultimately promote enhanced application of LifeCycle Assessment It consists of a web-searchengine to access and convert life cycle datasets fromindependent data providers To date users canbrowse among over 96000 LCA datasets from 13data providers

On Friday 3rd September members of the metadata Working Group of GLAD


held the first Focus Group with LCA practitioners from around the world tocollect information about what functionalities are expected from GLAD and whatmetadata are required to ensure data findability and reuse Participantsrepresenting public private and academic organizations connected from FranceIreland the US Chile Sri Lanka and India We are extremely grateful for thetime and insights that these participants provided us with

During the 15-hours discussion valuable information was collected about themost required functionalities in GLAD such as ease of searching availability ofdata documentation data conversion and integration of GLAD into LCAsoftware Also the participants had the exclusive possibility of surfing throughthe new interface of GLAD in its test environment to discuss the implementationof a new faceted search which resulted in specific proposals to improve theinterface and searching function Finally the participants discussed themetadata descriptors that are required to evaluate fitness for purpose ofdatasets Another focus group will be organized later this year

If you wish to participate in shaping the future and usability of GLAD oryou are interested in knowing more about the results please contact theleads of the Metadata Working Group Peter or Carolina or Claudia

SDG Project Invitation for new partners

Our project linking the UN SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs) to life cycleassessment (LCA) aims to make the SDGs morepractical for businesses After a fruitful first roundof case studies and an important update of themethodology the project is ready to invite newpartners for a second round of case studiesstarting in September Together with the fourcompanies that are already on board newpartners are invited to apply the improved versionof the methodology and explore their contributionto the global goals For this phase the contribution for companies in OECDcountries is lowered from euro12000 to euro6000 For this contribution you receiveaccess to the LCA-SDG methodology dedicated support in applying themethod as well as the opportunity to share experiences with companies that arealready working with the method

Please reach out to PReacute Sustainability if you are interested in participatingor have any additional questions

New Report on the Life Cycle Impacts of Single-UseMenstrual Products and Their Alternatives

The Life Cycle Initiative has published a new LCA meta-study on single-use


menstrual products and their alternatives Thereport contains recommendations for LCApractitioners policy makers and the general publicThe most important finding is that reusablemenstrual products have a lower environmentalimpact than single-use products The reusablemenstrual cup is the best option for theenvironment

Consumers have a lot of leverage over theenvironmental impact of reusable menstrualproducts For single-use menstrual products thehighest environmental impacts are associated withthe production of materials and the disposal of theproduct

The results of this study are part of a series of meta-studies covering a varietyof single-use plastic products and their alternatives These studies have beencommissioned in response to the Fourth UN Environment AssemblyResolution 9 which requested UNEP to produce information on the full lifecycle environmental impacts of single-use plastic products and their alternativesAnother report on the environmental impact of single-use face masks and theiralternatives based on LCA studies will soon be released Watch our TwitterLinkedIn and website to be the first to read the report

News from the Life Cycle Community

Ministerial Conference on Plastics Pollution


The first ever Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollutionco-convened by the governments of Ecuador Germany Ghana and Vietnamand supported by UNEP was finishing as this issue of the LC Net was gettinginto presshellip Given its loud and clear call to consider plastic pollution across thewhole life cycle of plastics (see LC Net Focus above) but also because of thestrong participation by the members of the Life Cycle Initiative (starting with co-convenor Germany and all other member governments and including ourfunding partners Plastics Europe and American Chemistry Council) we wantedto highlight some of the elements discussed The strong participation in theconference and its preparatory process is a testament to the high interest on thetopic

The messages from participants made it very clear that plastic pollution is notseen only as a waste-in-the-sea issue but that the impacts acrossenvironmental media as well as socio-economic aspects must be consideredacross the whole life cycle of plastic products and of their alternatives This isnicely illustrated in UNEPrsquos Executive Director address to the Ministerswhich stresses that plastic pollution ldquofuels the triple planetary crisis of climatechange nature and biodiversity loss and pollutionrdquo

Most Member States supported establishing an Intergovernmental NegotiatingCommittee at UNEA 52 (February 2022) with the aim of achieving a GlobalAgreement on plastic pollution with ambitious goals and means ofimplementation the Life Cycle Initiative stands ready to continue informing allstakeholders on robust ways to implement a life cycle approach for plasticpollution

Invitation to Sustainable Consumption Week of LatinAmerica and the Caribbean 13-17 September 2021

The Sustainable Consumption Week of Latin America and the Caribbean isa place for the creation and exchange of the advances opportunities andchallenges of the region to promote sustainable consumption as part of theeconomic and social recovery The objective is to generate a dialogue on currentconsumption patterns in the region and how to gaze at the opportunity of goingback to normal to promote changes towards sustainable and responsibleconsumption promoting sustainable lifestyles education and consumerinformation including the use of eco-labeling as an information tool forconsumers

This event is organized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) incollaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development ofColombia and the Secretariat of Consumer Defense of Paraguay with thesupport of the European Commission and the Federal Ministry of Environment


Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany

Invitation to UNEPrsquos online event at the World CircularEconomy Forum 15 September 2021

We are delighted to invite you to the online event Accelerating sustainabilityin the textile value chain inspiring action and behaviour change as part ofthe 2021 World Circular Economy Forum This accelerator session will takeplace on the 15 September 2021 from 700 to 800 EDT (UTC-4) 1300 to1400 CEST (UTC+2) This event will promote key outcomes of the upcoming UNEP roadmap reportwhich aims to set out a collaborative pathway to move towards greatersustainability and circularity in the textile value chain and which builds ontechnical findings and recommendations from UNEPrsquos 2020 global stocktakingreport The session will also feature insights from UNEPrsquos upcomingsustainable fashion communications strategy focused on the role of consumer-facing storytellers and the power of shifting the narrative to strengthen demandfor a positive fashion future

More information and registration


Launch of the 10 Principles  for Life CycleSustainability Assessment  (LCSA) - Position Paper ofthe Life Cycle Initiative

Sustainability thinking along the life cycle is more relevant than ever in currenttimes in our decision-making We are pleased to announce the Position Paperof the Life Cycle Initiative on 10 Principles for Life Cycle SustainabilityAssessment (LCSA) This is an open-access article developed by LCAcommunity representatives from Europe South America NorthAmerica Africa and Asia and published in the International Journal of Life CycleAssessment The 10 Principles rely not only on environmental and economicapproaches but also on social LCA  We encourage the application of the 10 Principles Enjoy the reading

New Publication Life Cycle Engineering andManagement of Products

We are pleased to present this Springer publication a comprehensive outline ofthe techniques tools systems and practices for improving the environmentalperformance of business products co-authored by some of the esteemedmembers of the Life Cycle Initiative

View and purchase the publication at Springercom

Register for the event


Life Cycle Community Calendar

World Resources Forum (WRF) Hybrid Conference2021 Switzerland ndash Ghana amp Online12-14 October 2021

WRF 2021 co-hosted by the WorldResources Forum Association andthe Ghanaian Ministry ofEnvironment Science Technologyand Innovation (MESTI) provides aplatform for an open and inclusivemulti-stakeholder dialogue to highlight challenges share best practices andpromote collaborative innovation to mobilise concerted action for theimprovement of natural resource governance

More information can be accessed on the event website For any questionsplease get in touch with the WRF team

Guidance on Social Life Cycle Assessment HybridEvent Brussels amp Online7 December 2021

We are happy to announce a hybridevent on December 7th 2021 at13h30 CET at the Residence Palacein Brussels as well as onlineentitled ldquoImplementing the NewUNEP 2020 S-LCA GuidelinesrdquoThe event will be organized by the SLC Alliance hosted by Mrs Zakia Khattabi


the Belgian Minister of Climate Environment Sustainable Development andGreen Deal and co-organized with the Life Cycle Initiative and the QuebecGovernment Office in Brussels It will have a hybrid format with someavailability for participants to be present in person and others joining online

At the event we will launch a number of new resources for S-LCA practitionersand users ndash the results of seven out of nine pilot studies that put to test thenewly released UNEP 2020 S-LCA Guidelines the UNEP 2021 S-LCAMethodological Sheets and the translation of the UNEP S-LCA Guidelines inFrench Dutch and Italian (supported by Quebec Government Office inBrussels the Belgian Federal Institute for Sustainable DevelopmentProf Luigia Petti University of Pescara (Italy) and her Team and ProfGabriella Arcese University of Cusano Italy) The event will provide an opportunity for practitioners companies andgovernment organizations to familiarize themselves with the UNEP 2020 S-LCAGuidelines and to hear from companies in a variety of sectors that haveimplemented the Guidelines An armchair discussion on the future of S-LCA willalso be held at the event highlighting global initiatives that are likely to shapehow we consider social impacts in value chains in upcoming years Please mark your calendars for this event and keep your eyes peeled formore information in the next newsletter

SETAC 8th World Congress4-8 September 2022

The SETAC 8th World Congress will now be held from 4-8 September 2022 inSingapore at the Marina Bay Sands Please save the date and stay tuned forupdates as we get closer to the meeting More information

Life Cycle Job Announcements

Two staff positions in UNEPrsquos life cycle team

First we are really excited to announce this rareopportunity to become a full-time staff member of theUN working on life cycle approaches As you willremember we recently announced that Dr FengWang moved to a different position within UNEP weare now re-opening this position (UN P3 level) Do you have a strong workethos are passionate about embedding science-based life cycle approaches inkey processes of decision- and policy-making and can work with a variety ofstakeholders Want to move to Paris (France) and apply your (at least 5 years


of) professional experience within the UN system If so please keep your eyespeeled the link to obtain more details and apply online will be live in the cominghours days in the Life Cycle Initiative website and through our social mediachannels

Second a brand-new junior position (UN P2 level) has been created to supportthe Life Cycle Initiative Secretariat in UNEP We are hopeful that this newposition will be announced soon so keep your eyes peeled

Consultant to Support the Initiative

In the coming weeks the UNEPrsquos Secretariat of LifeCycle Initiative will be advertising a new opportunitywithin the team to support the work on thedevelopment and dissemination of the SCP-HAT aswell as other ongoing tasks within the unit This willbe a full-time home-based position ideal for someone with experience inproject delivery and excellent organizational and interpersonal skills who has akey interest in life cycle thinking and sustainability issues If this is you thenplease keep an eye out for this job opening in the next few weeks

Goodyear Sustainability Life Cycle AssessmentPractitionersThe Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment Practitioner helps support GoodyearsBetter Future strategy and efforts to evaluate sustainability related to businessactions and reducing the footprint of the Goodyear portfolio (including productsservices and supply chain) The position requires detailedknowledgeexperience in life cycle assessment (LCA) to support Goodyear LCAactivities and requests for sustainability targetsperformance The incumbent willindependently conductmanage projects pertaining to LCA (or relatedapproaches) to inform on strategies communications and marketing needs

This role contributes to our company-wide strategic sustainability efforts with thegoal of ensuring that the companyrsquos sustainability efforts enhance businessperformance and support the long-term interests of the company

Located in Akron Ohio httpscareer4successfactorscomsfcareerjobreqcareerjobId=84572ampcompany=Goodyear Located in Colmar-Berg Luxembourg httpscareer4successfactorscomsfcareerjobreqcareerjobId=87636ampcompany=Goodyear


Join us as a Funding Partner

The work of the Life Cycle Initiative would not be possible without the support ofits sponsors By contributing to the Initiative businesses and governments notonly gain access to unparalleled expertise in how to align their activities withtheir United Nations Environmental and Social Development commitments butthey also play a role in transforming their activities as models of Life CycleThinking If you are interested in becoming a funding partner please contact theInitiative

Ongoing call for LC Net contributions

Members of the Life Cycle Initiative please feel free to submit your event jobvacancy news capacity development opportunities topics and stories related tolife cycle thinking and LCA to be shared with the global life cycle communityWe are always looking for featured coverage on the experience how life cyclethinking contributes to different policy agendas sustainable business anddecision making in various countries and regions

Note that we cannot accept contributions of a commercial nature LCNet isreleased bimonthly in the beginning of January March May July Septemberand November please send us your piece approximately two weeks before therelease date We look forward to your contributions in disseminating life cycleknowledge from global policy and business agendas

THANK YOU TO OUR FUNDING PARTNERS

Yes Im interested to contribute as a Funding Partner

Yes I have content for the LC Net


Copyright copy 2021 Life Cycle Initiative All rights reserved

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The webinar discussed some holistic solutions to the hotspots of unsustainableconsumption and production that occur across the life cycle of plastic productsas well as the actors who can implement these solutions These solutions rangefrom halting subsidies for fossil fuels at the cradle to improving implementationof Extended Producer Responsibility schemes to influence plastic productionand its cycling at the end of life Importantly the Life Cycle Initiative laid out some of the main elements of what alife cycle approach to plastics pollution and marine litter could look like asillustrated below The life cycle approach provides the scientific basis uponwhich rests the monitoring standards action plans and targets required to reachsustainable solutions to the hotspots identified along the value chain of aproduct or service This approach and the technical resources that underpin itare being considered by Member States as they debate a possible GlobalAgreement to address Plastic Pollution


Announcements





































































































Announcements





































































































LC Net Focus

Documents

Transcript of LC Net Focus