Does environmental LCA assumptions and framework fit Social LCA like a glove?
Assess needs
What to include, which questions to address and why, consideration of values and means, where and how to get the material
The hammer case
Sharing
Context of the project
The project started in 2003
Our first feasibility study revealed the interest to merge life cycle analysis with social impact assessment and vice-versa.
We are now at the stage of developing a list of indicator.
Where to build? Sustainable development
The inclusion of social aspects How and why?
Development era (Marshall Plan 1949) and the creation of the Bretton Woods institutions, IMF and World Bank (1944).
Principal paradigm : the economic growth will entail social development.
Only economic aspects were assessed.
Growing critics among world population concerning environmental and human aspects.
The Growth theory is challenged. (Limits To Growth, 1972)
Which gave birth, among other things, to the Brundtland report, which itself contributed greatly to « sustainable development » popularisation.
Ethics, social justice and politics
Corporate Social Responsibilities as background
Howard Bowen, Father of the concept of Business Social Responsibility (1950).
Stockholder vs Stakeholder (1980)
Social contract theory
Corporate citizenship
Corporate accountability)
Corporate governance
Corporate sustainability
Motivations: Risks and opportunities, end of impunity, wired society
Design a Building
Fertile ground: Corporate social responsibilities
Principles
Sullivan, Caux Round table, Voluntary
Principles for security and Human Rights,
Global Compact, Equator Principles, Amnesty
International Human Rights Principles for
Companies
Responsibility and monitoring
framework
Global Reporting Initiative, AA 1000
Financial index
Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Vigeo ASPI,
FTS4Good, Goldmann Sachs
Guidelines
OECD guidelines for multinational enterprise,
Sustainability Integrated Guidelines for
Management (SIGMA)
Theoretical foundations
Social Life cycle analysis would follow the same theoretical basis as environmental LCA at the difference that its object would not be elementary flow but relations.
From the start it takes space and time attributes in account.
Because of those two major aspects, the team of Bernard Mazjin concluded that it was not possible to account for social aspects through a LCA. They proposed instead to use value chain analysis in parallel to the construction of the process tree.
Life cycle analysis principles
Elementary flow
= Environmental intervention
Exchange between an elementary process and the ecosphere
Do not have an economical value but represent a social or environmental cost
Input drawn from the ecosphere
petroleum, tree, mineral, sun shine, territory
Output rejected from the ecosphere
Air emissions, water, In the ground, solid waste, radiation
Social life cycle analysis: Relations system
Representation of the different relations linking the different value chain stakeholders, even if the relations are not illustrated in the process tree.
Those relations are linked to space and time.
Basis: Value Chain analysis and the Stakeholders approach
Value chain analysis is very effective in tracing product flows,showing the value adding stages, identifying key actors and the relationships with other actors in the chain. It is actor oriented.
Often, however, these actors operate within certain rules that are set by others. Trade rules and standards are obvious examples. Value chain analysis needs to be complemented with information on these rules. Providing information on the trade rules that apply in distant countries is widely seen as an important function of government.
Getting to know the blockages and opportunities that arise throughout the chain.
Source: Hubert Schmitz, Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex, England
Assess the needs: Goal and scope definition of the study
Use of the tool :goals and objectives can be similar
The use of the tool is not limited to the diminution of impacts but also aim to improve a given situation X, « Know better the issues faced by a company » (example : use of rare timber in a product, performance improvement.
Value Chain analysis: relations system linked to the product system, identification of geographical zone where the activities are situated.
Improvement or comparison study.
Setting Boundary.
The hammer case
Conclusion
Recipe based on existing ingredients.
In line with actual standards, processes and guidelines.
Respect the LCA framework.
Relevant.
Collaboration between different expertise (engineering, design, management, socio-economy and social science)
