Page 22 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

4 M.Z. Hauschild et al.

1.1 Introduction

Our generation is facing daunting challenges of a changing climate and an overall
increasing pressure on the environment, challenges that are under the influence of
human-made activities. Reflecting on these environmental conditions and their
relationship to social and economic challenges that we face, a sustainable devel-
opment was coined in 1987 by UN’s World Commission for Environment and
Development as a development that “… meets the needs of the present generations
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
(UN WCED 1987). In 2015 the 193 member states of the United Nations adopted
17 goals to ‘end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a
new sustainable development agenda’ by 2030, setting targets for the way in which
the present generations can meet their needs (UN 2017). To meet the goals and
targets, sustainability must gain strong prominence in decision support for pro-
fessionals who are responsible for creating solutions for the future, but also for
everybody else who, in today’s global economy, is both a stakeholder and a
decision-maker with a role to play concerning sustainability as a consumer, as
member of a local community, or as a voter. Each individual needs answers and
information based on comprehensive and robust tools to help them decide what best
supports a sustainable development, from small- to large-scale decisions. To avoid
the often seen problem shifting where solutions to a problem creates several new
and often ignored problems, these decisions must take a systems perspective. They
must consider what in this book is referred to as the life cycle of the solution, and
they need to consider all the relevant impacts caused by the solution. Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) is a tool that has these characteristics, and there is a strong and
growing need for professionals who understand or even master this tool and who
know how to critically appraise and use the information that it provides. It is our
ambition with this book to offer a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the
tool and its underlying methodological considerations and potential applications.

1.2 Structure of This Book

The book consists of five parts.
The first part sets the scene. First, if you are a newcomer to LCA, you get a
short introduction to important characteristics of LCA and some of its strengths and
weaknesses, illustrated through a collection of questions that LCA can—or cannot
be used for answering. This short introduction is followed by a presentation of the
history of LCA from its early beginnings half a century ago to today, with a focus
on methodological developments, growth in number and variety of applications and
international harmonization and consensus building. Finally, LCA is positioned in
the context of sustainability and its use as a tool for quantitative sustainability
assessment is discussed.