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Integrating Ecological, Carbon and Water Footprint into a “Footprint Family” of indicators

Integrating Ecological, Carbon and Water Footprint into a “Footprint Family” of indicators. Alessandro Galli (GFN) Thomas Wiedmann (SEI) Ertug Ercin (University of Twente) Brad Ewing (GFN) Stefan Giljum (SERI).

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Integrating Ecological, Carbon and Water Footprint into a “Footprint Family” of indicators

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  1. Integrating Ecological, Carbon and Water Footprint into a “Footprint Family” of indicators Alessandro Galli(GFN) Thomas Wiedmann (SEI) Ertug Ercin (University of Twente) Brad Ewing (GFN) Stefan Giljum (SERI) Footprint Forum’s Academic Conference: The State of the Art in Ecological Footprint Theory and Applications Colle Di Val D’Elsa, Italy – June 9th, 2010

  2. The goal of the OPEN EU project is to help transform the EU economy to aOne Planet Economy by 2050 Building the evidence base: > footprint family of indicators (carbon, water, ecological) Building the applications: > scenario modelling and policy analysis Building the capacity and dissemination: > network of decision-makers The OPEN EU Project: Aims and Phases

  3. The Indicators selected: definition • Ecological Footprint (Wackernagel & Rees, 1996)Def.: human pressure on the planet in terms of the aggregate demand that resource-consumption and CO2 emissions places on ecological assets. • Water Footprint (Hoekstra, 2002)Def.: human appropriation of natural capital in terms of the total freshwater volume required (blue, green, grey) for human consumption. • Carbon Footprint (multiple authors, ~2000 / 2008)Def.: human pressure on the planet in terms of the total GHG emissions (associated with an activity or accumulated over the life stages of a product) and human contribution to climate change.

  4. Testing the Indicators: criteria • Research question • Main message • Scientific robustness • Accounting methodology • Data and sources • Unit of measure • Policy Usefulness • Strengths and Weaknesses The search for operational indicators should be guided by a number of specific criteria that indicators or set of indicators should meet. This has been a guiding principle in analyzing the Ecological, Carbon and Water Footprint. Similarities and differences among the three indicators were highlighted to show how the indicators overlap, interact, and complement each other.

  5. Testing the Indicators: outcomes

  6. Testing the Indicators: outcomes

  7. Testing the Indicators: outcomes

  8. Testing the Indicators: outcomes

  9. Testing the Indicators: outcomes

  10. Testing the Indicators: complementary and overlapping properties • The three indicators of the Footprint Family complement one another in assessing human pressure on the planet • Use a consumption-based perspective and are able to track both direct and indirect human demands, enabling for a clear understanding of the ‘hidden/invisible’ human-induced sources of pressure. • However, only the Ecological and Water Footprint were found to be able to account for both the source (resource production) and sink (waste assimilation) capacity of the planet. • The Ecological Footprint was found to be the sole indicator able to provide a clear ecological benchmark (biocapacity) to test human pressure against.

  11. Testing the Indicators: complementary and overlapping properties • Human-induced CO2 emissions are tracked by both the Ecological and the Carbon Footprint. • Both EF and CF go beyond the sole CO2 investigation as the Carbon Footprint also tracks the release of additional greenhouse gases (usually CO2, CH4, N2O, HFC, PFC, and SF6) and the Ecological Footprint expands its area of investigation by looking at human demand for food, fibers, wood products, etc. • All three indicators illustrate the unequal distribution of resource use and/or related impacts between the inhabitants of different world regions and could thus be linked to policy debates in the development policy area, oriented at concepts such as “Contraction and Convergence”, “Environmental Justice” or “Fair Share”.

  12. Towards the “Footprint Family” • The three indicators enable representing multiple aspects of the environmental consequences of human activities. • By looking at the amount of bioproductive area people demand because of resource consumption and CO2 emission, the Ecological Footprint can be used to inform on the impact placed on the biosphere. • By quantifying the effect of resource use on climate, the Carbon Footprint informs on the impact humanity places on the atmosphere. • By tracking real and hidden water flows, Water Footprint can be used to inform on the impact humans place on the hydrosphere.

  13. The “Footprint Family”: definition • The Footprint Family is defined as a set of indicators - characterized by a consumption approach - able to track human pressure on the planet in terms of appropriation of ecological assets, GHGs emissions and freshwater consumption and pollution. Three key ecosystem compartments are monitored, namely the biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. • The three indicators can be regarded as complementary in the sustainability debate and the Footprint Family as a tool able to track human pressures on various life-supporting compartments of the Earth and from various angles.

  14. The “Footprint Family”: scope • It helps to more comprehensively monitor the environmental pillar of sustainability (extend the scope of assessments). • It has a wide range of research and policy applications as it can be applied to single products, processes, sectors, up to individuals, cities, nations and the whole world. • It can support decision makers in discussing and developing answers on issues such as limits to natural resource and freshwater consumption, and sustainable use of natural capital across the globe. • The Footprint Family is not yeta full measure of sustainability as several environmental issues (e.g., toxicity, soil quality and land degradation, nuclear wastes, etc) are not tracked.

  15. Next steps: how to use the “Footprint Family”? Work is currently ongoing to answer questions such as: • What are the policy fields addressed by each indicator? • Which issues can each of the indicators fully, partly or not at all address? • How to use the indicator for this issue • How to interpret the issue through the indicator • How can the three Footprint indicators be used in combination? • What are the complementary properties of each indicator in the Footprint Family? • What is the value added of the “Footprint Family” compared to single indicators?

  16. Alessandro Galli, PhD. Senior Scientist Global Footprint Network alessandro@footprintnetwork.org Thank You ! For more information please visit: http://www.oneplaneteconomynetwork.org/index.html http://www.footprintnetwork.org

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