Life cycle assessments (LCAs) provide information about where key impacts of products lie and how these impacts can be reduced in the most efficient way. They also allow for the calculation of emission factors to be used in carbon accounting.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, the Climate Action Accelerator and two departments of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the EssentialTech Centre and the Laboratory of Environmental and Urban Economics teamed up to conduct and openly share the life cycle assessments of some of the most sourced items in the humanitarian sector. The project was supported with scientific advice by high-level expert Damien Friot.
By sharing these results, the project team would like to make available knowledge about key levers to reduce the impact on climate change, human health and plastic pollution in an open source manner. This will allow organisations to make progress on sustainable sourcing, focus on most impactful actions, and start engaging with their suppliers to implement these changes. By improving emission factors and adapting them to the realities of the humanitarian sector, the project also contributes to improving the carbon footprint measurement of the sector.
