Global LCA Access conference in Brazil in March 2016

Government officials from all over the world will meet at the Global LCA Access conference, to contribute to better policy coherence for sustainable development. Cradle-to-cradle assessment of the environmental impacts of goods and services is a key factor in switching to more sustainable consumption and production. It is an essential pillar of the global transformation to more equitable lives and livelihoods envisaged by the Sustainable Development Goals adopted late last year. Yet, at a global level more sound, quantified and robust life-cycle approaches, in both the public and private sectors, are needed.

To further this aim, government officials will attend this 5th Meeting of the International Forum on LCA Cooperation, this year titled “Global LCA Access”, in Brasilia from 14 to 16 March. Their objective is to enhance the implementation of life cycle thinking and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in public policies as well as to work towards enabling a broader access to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data.

More incentive policy frameworks

The conference will consider creating more incentive policy frameworks for sustainable consumption and production (SCP), focusing on sustainable public procurement, eco-innovation and eco-design.

Successful experiences in implementing Life Cycle Assessment in policies will be shared, as well as lessons learned, with country-specific focuses including Brazil, which hosts this 2016 edition of the Forum.

Broader access to LCA data

Alongside the conference, on 14 and 15 March, the “Global Network of Interoperable LCA databases”, a government initiative participated by UNEP, which includes LCA experts and private-sector representatives, will meet to determine ways to make consistent LCA data more widely available. The ambition of the Global Network is to deliver “an electronic system and protocol” to enable easy and seamless access by users to global LCA data by 2017.

This Global Network of Interoperable LCA databases involves resources and expertise of the UNEP / SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, which animates a community of more than 2,000 experts and several regional and national networks worldwide, and aims to advance life-cycle thinking into effective practice by businesses and policy-makers.

Advancing LCA in Brazil

Cecilia Leite, director of IBICT and chair of the steering committee of the Global Network of Interoperable LCA databases, said: “For us it is an honour, a very great recognition being elected president of the organizing committee of the event. I believe that it was due to the advances we have achieved in the LCA field in Brazil and, therefore, we want to further consolidate the position that we managed to achieve as an active country on the Network”.

Launching two major LCA initiatives

The Forum will also mark the launch of the Brazilian National Bank of LCA Inventories (SICV Brazil) and of the “Latin American Life Cycle Assessment Journal” (LALCA), an electronic, open and free access journal on LCA.

The Global LCA Access is co-organized by the Brazilian Institute for Information in Science and Technology (IBICT) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with the support of the European Commission Global Public Goods & Challenges and the SWITCH-Asia programme, of Braskem, a Brazilian petrochemical company and the largest petrochemical company in Latin America, the Brazilian National Industry Confederation (CNI) and Brazilian Metrology Institute (Inmetro).