An outlook into a applications of

footprint methodologies

Manfred LenzenManfred Lenzen

ISA, The University of Sydney

Australia

Supply-chain analysis

Two examples in detail

Overview & outlook

Example 1:

Threatened species

Origins and Destinationsof Australia’s species threats

both “driven” overseas and “suffered” at home

Origins and Destinationsof global species threats

both “driven” overseas and “suffered” at home

High Impact Production Chains

High Impact Production Chains

Spider monkey

(Ateles geoffroyi)

Mexico and

central America

High Impact Production Chains

Round Whipray (Himantura pastinacoides)

Brown Cheeked Hornbill

Bycanistes cylindricus

Ivory Coast

Johnston’s Genet

Genetta johnstoni

Jentink’s Duiker

Cephalophus jentinkii

Consumers: What To Do ?

• Know your labels and try to shop better

• Recognise greenwash

• Change procurement practices at work

• Be country-aware and check origins

• Investigate production chains

Example 2: Carbon footprint of the UK

Supply-chain analysis

Trend analysis

Uncertainty analysis

What other applications are

possible ?possible ?

1. More indicators.

Carbon, land, water

Nitrogen, air pollutants,

phosphorus, NPP, water scarcityphosphorus, NPP, water scarcity

Value added

Employment, inequality, slavery,

war casualties, occupational health

Trade in value added

Employment

– global flows of labour

Source: Alsamawi

Employment

– the master-servant story

Source: Alsamawi

Inequality

Source: Alsamawi

Conflict

Source: Moran & McBain

2. High geographical resolution.

The Sydney Environmental Atlas

Sydney: Transport energy

32

Sydney: Embodied energy

33

Sydney: Income structure

34

Energy requirement vs Income

35

The Sydney energy catchment

36

What might the future hold ?

3. Collaborative = efficient

Footprinting in virtual laboratories

39

40

41

LCA EE-IOA CGE

43

LCA EE-IOA CGE����

Footprints

44

64gbRAM cloud, 500gbRAM crunch

455tb storage

46

47

48

4. Aligned standards: 4. Aligned standards:

GHG Protocol & PAS 2050

“Often, the majority of total corporate emissions come from scope 3 sources,

which means many companies have been missing out

on significant opportunities for improvement.”

GRI on boundary setting and validation :

… “The Validation step requires all identified material Aspects to be assessed against

the Reporting Principle of ‘Completeness’ ”…

British Standards Institute (BSI) inits Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2050:… “a GHG-emitting source in the life cycle of a product shall be included in the assessment of GHG emissions if it makes a ‘material GHG emissions if it makes a ‘material contribution’ of more than 1% of the total anticipated life-cycle footprint. In addition, PAS 2050 requires that ‘at least 95% of the anticipated life-cycle GHG emissions of the functional unit’ must be captured in the assessment” …

FUNCTIONAL CompanyFUNCTIONAL UNIT

?

Company

•••

•••

•••

•••

•••

•••

•••

•••

•••

•••

M L E T S B M L E T S B M L E T S B M L E T S B M L E T S B M L E T S B

Supplier level:∞

.

.

.

.

2

Organisation

Mining Legal SteelTrans. BankingElect. 1

On-siteBoundary

UpstreamDownstream

Product 2Product 1

Consumer Industry

Trucost & Defra

“… there is still a lack of quantification in most reporting … the majority of reports lack depth, reporting … the majority of reports lack depth, rigour or quantification ... There is no single, quantifiable measure that companies can use as a Key Performance Indicator for the effect of their upstream supply chain on the environment.

University of Sydney – Carnegie -Mellon study

University of Sydney – Carnegie -Mellon study

What are the risks

associated withassociated with

mis -specification ?

No meaningful industry benchmarking

Water service provider

A

Pumping

Catchment

Water service provider

B

Pumping

Catchment

C

D

Loopholes via demerging and outsourcing

AGHG

emissionsA 1

Dairy farming

Transport

Dairy processing

98%

<0.1%

2%

Dairy farming

Transport

Dairy processingA 2

No inventive for improving supplier performance

Alum. / HDPE

X

Bio-plastic

Y

Dairy processing

B

Alum. / HDPE

Packaging

Bio-plastic

Packaging

Dairy processing

B

Investors and lenders can’t see hidden risks

Carbon footprint Carbon footprint

Construction Pty

C

On-site carbon

from materials

Water supplier Pty

D

On-site carbon

from materials

Carbon offsetting –are organisations really neutral?

Flights. Waste.

Flights, waste, officeequipment, catering,

XYZ Finance

C

On-site emissions

Flights. Waste.

ABC Insurance

D

On-site emissions

equipment, catering,outsourcing, new building

There is a reputational risk

“Tesco‘s recent attempt to present itself as a force for environmental good appears to be backfiring, as evidence emerges that Britain’s backfiring, as evidence emerges that Britain’s biggest retailer has severely underestimated its true contribution to climate change ... the true impact Tesco has on the environment could be as much as 12 times higher than the level the supermarket admits to.”

The Observer, 9 September 2007

5. Corporate accounting support.

Product carbon labelling

6. Stronger global governance

institutions.institutions.

Li Gao, Director of the Department of Climate Change in

China's National Development and Reform Commission

''We produce products and these products are

consumed by other countries, especially the

developed countries. This share of emissions should

be taken by the consumers but not the producers''

Thank you !

www.isa.org.usyd.edu.au

www.worldmrio.com