Description: Das Projekt "Oekobilanzen und Oekocontrolling" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Basel, Institut für Volkswirtschaft durchgeführt. What are the perspectives for the methodical development of Life Cycle. Assessment (LCA)? In the present discussions about LCA a technical and an economical perspective can be distinguished. Depending on the perspective taken, the major findings of the coordinated project drifter substantially. The technical perspective: A) Supporters of present approaches of LCA mostly take a technical perspective with arguments such as: - in principle, the present approaches of LCA are environmentally beneficial. - More background inventory data should be collected and published for more raw materials and semi-manufactured products. - Screening methods to focus on relevant environmental interventions should be further developed. - The mostly ideological 'fights' about 'the best method to assess environmental impacts' have practically stopped. Today most researchers agree that one approach is to assess the contribution to specific environmental problems (e.g. the greenhouse effect) with a classification and characterization method. The other impact assessment approach, which can be combined with the first method, is the valuation according to socio-political goals. - Managers should be better educated in specific courses on LCA to better understand the increasing complexity of new approaches of LCA. The economic perspective: Supporters of an economic perspective mostly oppose present approaches of LCA. Among the main arguments are: - The present methods of LCA of products are very likely to provide unrepresentative, unaccurate and sometimes wrong results with extremely high costs. LCA In its current form is an economically inefficient and environmentally ineffective tool. New site-oriented tools such as eco-controlling are necessary and should be further developed and applied. - Background inventory data representing an industry average, are rarely accurate and often not representative for the specific situation of a decision maker. - Screening methods to focus on environmental information which are relevant in the site-specific context of a firm or region should be developed further. - Present methods of impact assessment do not consider spatial differences or differences in time (when the environmental intervention occurred). However, only environmental interventions with global impacts can be consolidated on a global level. - Managers need monetary and non-monetary incentives to implement environmental management systems for their firms and production sites. Once attractive incentives have been put in place, the managers and their consultants know best where to reduce environmental impacts in a most efficient and effective way. Concluding, both perspectives will prevail for the next couple of years. However, in the long run, the opinion and activities of managers, standard setters and politicians and to a limited extent also scientific arguments will decide which perspective will prevail after the year 2000.
Types:
SupportProgram
Origin: /Bund/UBA/UFORDAT
Tags: Basel ? Umweltauswirkung ? Umweltcontrolling ? Umweltmanagementsystem ? Main ? Ökobilanz ? Bewertungskriterium ? Daten ? Energie ? Management ? Rohstoff ? Standortwahl ? Umweltinformation ? Umweltökonomie ? Volkswirtschaft ? Wirkungsanalyse ? Boden ? Klassifikation ? Lebenszyklus ? Produktdesign ? Treibhauseffekt ? Umweltverträglichkeit ? Globale Aspekte ? Produktbewertng ? Screening [Voruntersuchung] ? politics ? problematic substances ? resouces ? society ?
License: cc-by-nc-nd/4.0
Language: Deutsch
Time ranges: 1993-01-01 - 1995-12-31
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