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General Assembly takes stock of progress, discusses the work ahead

The 7th General Assembly of the Life Cycle Initiative that took place on October 5th, 2023 demonstrated the life cycle community’s ongoing commitment and collaborative action towards mainstreaming life cycle approaches.

The event was divided into three dynamic sessions that commenced with a warm welcome from Llorenç Milà i Canals (UNEP) and an insightful keynote address by Sheila Aggarwal-Khan (UNEP) on “Driving Sustainability in High-Impact Sectors with Life Cycle Approaches.”

Session 1 involved a panel discussion (see from left to right, below) moderated by Kakuko Nagatani-Yoshida (UNEP), with expert panellists Małgorzata Gołębiewska (European Commission), Tiago Braga (IBICT), and James Joyce (Unilever), representing the three constituencies of the Initiative: Government, Science/civil society, and Business, respectively. The discussion centered around “Accelerating the Shift to Sustainable Consumption and Production: Empowering Decision-Making with Life Cycle Approaches”, highlighting the importance of making LCA more accessible to all and emphasizing the crucial role of science in ensuring consistency, consensus, and collaboration.

Session 2 provided a platform for sharing the latest updates on the Life Cycle Initiative and featured two interactive sessions that allowed attendees to connect and network within four key thematic groups: plastics, textiles, buildings and construction, and LC Networks. The third and final session saw candidates running for the Steering Committee introduce themselves briefly before the start of the online election.

Overall, this year’s General Assembly again provided an important moment for the life cycle community to come together, take stock of the Initiative’s progress and examine the important work that lies ahead. For those who were unable to attend, the recording can be accessed on our YouTube channel.

Life Cycle Initiative Steering Committee election results

Following the successful online elections, the Life Cycle Initiative is pleased to welcome three new members of the Steering Committee: CIRAIG represented by François Saunier, the European Commission represented by Małgorzata Gołębiewska, and Unilever represented by James Joyce to this central role. Find more detail about each new Steering Committee member below.

	CIRAIG (Science/Civil Society Constituency) Serving as the Deputy Executive Director at CIRAIG, François Saunier leads projects focused on circular economy and sustainable infrastructure.
	European Commission (Government Constituency) Małgorzata Gołębiewska is the Team Leader for Environmental Footprint at the European Commission and brings a wealth of experience in the European Green Deal, waste policy, and CO2 emissions.
	Unilever (Business Constituency) As the Sustainability Science Leader at Unilever, James Joyce possesses extensive expertise in corporate sustainability matters, including supply chain risk, resource efficiency, carbon reduction, and product regulatory compliance.

Their collective expertise and commitment are sure to bring substantial benefits to the Initiative’s work program, and we eagerly anticipate the positive impact they will make.

Farewell to our departing SC members:

World Resources Forum and Ecoinnovazione

In this moment of transition, we also extend our heartfelt appreciation to our departing Steering Committee members: Ecoinnovazione represented by Alessandra Zamagni and World Resources Forum represented by Sonia Valdivia. Their unwavering dedication and valuable insights have been essential to the Initiative’s successful outcomes, and we express our sincere gratitude for their significant contributions.

Ecoinnovazione

“In these last 3 years, many projects driven by the Initiative have delivered and will deliver key outcomes for increasing the robustness of the life cycle application also in the industrial context, such as the global LCIA consensus method (GLAM) (a milestone in the development and harmonization of the field of LCIA), the completion of the S-LCA Pilot Testing Report, and the work on increasing data interoperability under the GLAD Project.”
– Alessandra Zamagni

World Resources Forum (WRF)

“The contribution of WRF targeted the areas of LCA of materials and their sustainability along the life cycle due to its longstanding technical assistance and policy advice experience in Europe and emerging economies such as in Africa and Latin America. With regards to the methodological perspective, WRFA supported in particular the development and expansion of social life cycle assessment by co-authoring the UNEP 2021 Social LCA Guidelines, UNEP Methodological Sheets for Subcategories in Social Life Cycle Assessment and the Life Cycle Initiative Report on Pilot projects on Guidelines for Social LCA.”
– Sonia Valdivia

IRP Calls for Experts

Calling all scientists with policy expertise, especially those focused on developing and implementing science-driven solutions for sustainable resource management and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.

The International Resource Panel (IRP) is actively looking for accomplished experts in these areas. We kindly ask you to distribute this call for applications throughout your institution. For additional information and to view the IRP Co-Chairs’ letter, please refer to our website.

The application deadline is November 17, 2023. Explore further details and apply at your convenience.

Achieving safe and sustainable food packaging: Where are we now?

On September 28, Claudia Giacovelli, Programme Officer, UNEP, delivered a comprehensive presentation on Measuring Environmental Impacts of Food Packaging at the 11th annual Food Packaging Forum in Zurich. She presented the findings on both Addressing Single-Use Plastic Products Pollution (SUPP) and the Meta-Study on Supermarket Food Packaging and its alternatives, offering practical solutions, categorizing packaging into reusable and single-use, and ultimately evaluating the role of bio-plastics.

Find out more about the past event and access the presentations.

Deadline extended: Call for proposals for an implementing partner to support the project on life cycle assessment for Biogenic Carbon

The Life Cycle Initiative is seeking an Implementing Partner to support the Biogenic Carbon Project. The selected partner will assist in developing an internationally recognized recommendation through an expert-led multi-stakeholder process, that aims to:

• harmonize, stabilize, verify, and enhance the credibility of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results for bio-based products,
• provide consistent and reliable climate impact information to decision-makers globally.

Who Can Apply?

We welcome applications from a diverse range of organizations:
•    Public Institutions
•    Academia (Research Institutes, Universities)
•    Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
•    Other Not-for-Profit Organizations

How to Apply?

For more information, access the detailed Call for Proposals, including the application form. For any inquiry, please contact Marvin Lauenburg.

SCP-HAT: Building Circularity into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

The “Building Circularity into NDCs Toolbox” is a collaborative initiative involving the UN Environment Programme, One Planet network – 10YFP, UNDP, and UN Climate Change. It was launched on October 10 during the Middle East & North Africa Climate Week. This toolbox is designed to assist countries in enhancing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by incorporating circular economy initiatives to address climate change. It also incorporates the SCP-HAT (co-developed by the Life Cycle Initiative) into the evaluation of data in the problem assessment phase.

For more detailed guidance, refer to the user guide.

InTex Steering Committee meeting and workshop in Tunisia: Feedback

Under the ongoing EU funded project “Innovative Business Practices and Economic Models in the Textile Value Chain (InTex)”, UNEP in cooperation with the project’s implementing partner in Tunisia, International Centre for Environmental Technologies of Tunis (CITET), held a productive in-person Steering Committee meeting and a two-day technical workshop engaging with beneficiary SMEs. The primary objective was to assist the SMEs in finalizing their Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) studies and strategizing the implementation of recommendations. Claudia Giacovelli, Programme Management Officer of the Life Cycle Initiative, attended as representative of the Secretariat.

Learn more about the InTex project.

Swedish Life Cycle Center: Network Conference

We are delighted to share that Archana Datta, from the Life Cycle Initiative, will be speaking on “Global Perspective: Advancing Life Cycle Approaches via Science, Method Development, Capacity Building, and Networks” at the Swedish Life Cycle Network Conference, scheduled for November 23 from 12:00 to 16:30 CET at Chalmers in Gothenburg. The theme of the conference, “LCA Data & Methodology,” promises to be a valuable forum for in-depth discussions on the latest developments in life cycle assessment.

More information.

S-LCA 2024: Ways Forward to Social Change

• Aggregation in S-LCA
• Bridging the Gaps Between Social Sciences and S-LCA
• Methodological developments for data collection on S-LCA
• Methodological developments for impact assessment in S-LCA
• S-LCA and global inequality
• S-LCA applications in the private sector
• S-LCA in the context of ESG
• Social impacts of novel technologies: is S-LCA suitable?
• SO-LCA for public management

More information.

Side events at the 3rd Session of the International Negotiating Committee (INC-3)

November 13-19, 2024 • Nairobi, Kenya

The third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-3) marks a momentous stride in the ongoing battle against plastic pollution. The Zero Draft of INC-3 adheres to a life-cycle approach, in accordance with UNEA5 Resolution 14, as it addresses this pressing worldwide issue. During INC-3, member states will commence negotiations grounded in the contents of the Zero Draft.

This assembly is scheduled to take place from November 13-19 at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

Following the publication of the Zero draft of INC-3, a series of informative and engaging side events has been scheduled to take place from 13:30 to 14:45 EAT at the same location as the event.

Access a comprehensive schedule and find further information regarding the thematic events.

14th LCA Food International Conference

8-12 September 2024 • Barcelona, Spain

The 14th LCA Food conference will be held in Barcelona, Spain. Hosted by IRTA, a research institute under the Government of Catalonia and the Ministry of Climate Action, Food, and Rural Agenda, this conference is committed to reducing the environmental impact of agrifood systems and advancing healthier, more sustainable diets. With a 28-year legacy, it has grown into the world’s foremost platform for addressing environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. It attracts participants from academia, consultancy, agrifood companies, NGOs, and public bodies, occurring biennially across Europe, America, and Asia.

More information: https://www.irta.cat/en/lca-food-2024/

SETAC Europe 26th LCA Symposium, “Making LCA Meaningful: Good Data, Better Models, Sustainable Decisions”

21 – 23 October 2024 | Gothenburg, Sweden

The SETAC Europe 26th LCA Symposium is a two-and-a-half-day event gathering experts from academia, industry, government, and NGOs to discuss the latest research and applications in life cycle assessment (LCA). This year’s theme, “Making LCA meaningful: good data, better models, sustainable decisions,” aims to enhance life cycle inventory data, improve life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) application, and deepen the understanding of LCA’s diverse contexts and enhancements. The symposium will offer presentations, discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities to contribute to these goals.

More information: https://www.setac.org/discover-events/topical-events/setac-europe-26th-lca-symposium.html

Sustainability Expert – Footprinting/LCA at Quantis, Paris, France
This role supports the development and delivery of sustainable solutions that address key challenges that Quantis clients in the LCA and footprinting space ensuring that the proposed delivery meets clients’ needs. Your mission will be to maintain Quantis at the cutting edge of your area of expertise to maximize the quality and impact of our advice to transform our clients, and to continuously improve our offerings.

For more information visit: Sustainability Expert – Footprinting/LCA

Note that we cannot accept contributions of a commercial nature. LCNet is released bimonthly in the beginning of January, March, May, July, September and November; please send us your piece approximately two weeks before the release date. We look forward to your contributions in disseminating life cycle knowledge from global policy and business agendas!