Life Cycle Thinking in decision-making for sustainability: from public policies to private businesses
Proceedings of the 12th Italian LCA Network Conference
Messina, 11-12th June 2018
Edited by Giovanni Mondello, Marina Mistretta, Roberta Salomone, Arianna Dominici Loprieno, Sara Cortesi, Erika Mancuso
ISBN: 978-88-8286-372-2
2018 ENEA
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
Cover: Cristina Lanari
Editorial review: Giuliano Ghisu
Index
Scientific Committee 5
Organising Committee 6
Conference program 7
Preface 11
Energy and building 13
Agri-Food applications 63
Life cycle thinking methods and tools 111
Waste management 167
Life cycle thinking methods and tools 223
Poster 275
Conference program
JUNE 11th, 2018 - Monday
08.30 - 09.00 Registration to Italian LCA Network Conference
09.00 - 09.30 Italian LCA Network Conference - Opening ceremony Salvatore Cuzzocrea - Rector of the University of Messina Augusto D’Amico - Director of the Department of Economics Maurizio Cellura - President of the Italian LCA Network Roberta Salomone - Conference Chair
09.30 - 11.00 SESSION I (in Italian language) LCA, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Chairs: Maurizio Cellura – University of Palermo Giuseppe Saija – University of Messina
EU Policies for ENERGY Research: the SET Plan and the new 2018-19 Horizon 2020 Work Program
Riccardo Basosi – Italian Permanent Representative H2020 Energy EU Programme and
MIUR Delegate in the SET Plan Steering Committee
Life Cycle Assessment of electrochemical storage technologies Marco Ferraro – CNR-ITAE
European Environmental Footprint methods: status update and future outlook Michele Galatola – European Commission - DG Environment - Sustainable Production,
Products & Consumption
The Accredia’s experience in environmental conformity assessment, supporting LCA-based activities
Filippo Trifiletti – General Director ACCREDIA
11.00 - 11.30 Coffee break
11.30 - 13.00 SESSION II
ENERGY AND BUILDING
Chairs: Giuseppe Ioppolo – University of Messina Marina Mistretta – Mediterranea University
Comparative LCA of renovation of buildings towards the nearly Zero Energy Building Grazia Barberio – ENEA
Life Cycle Analysis of an innovative component for the sustainability in the building sector
Maria Laura Parisi – University of Siena Life Cycle Assessment of building end of life Serena Giorgi – Politecnico of Milano
ELISA: A simplified tool for evaluating the Environmental Life-cycle Impacts of Solar Air-conditioning systems
A comparative study between a Prefab building and a Standard building for the characterisation of production and construction stages
Mónica Alexandra Muñoz Veloza – Politecnico of Torino Energy saving in LT/MT transformers
Simone Maranghi – University of Siena 13.00 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 - 15.00 Poster Session 15.00 - 16.30 SESSION III
AGRI-FOOD APPLICATIONS
Chairs: Bruno Notarnicola – University of Bari “Aldo Moro” Roberta Salomone – University of Messina
Steps towards SDG 4: teaching sustainability through LCA of food Nicoletta Patrizi – University of Siena
The blue water use of milk production in North Italy – a case study Doriana Tedesco – University of Milan
Practitioner-related effects on LCA results: a case study on Energy and Carbon footprint of wine
Emanuele Bonamente – University of Perugia
Environmental impacts and economic costs of nectarine loss in Emilia-Romagna: a life cycle perspective
Fabio De Menna – University of Bologna
Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses: preliminar results towards an environmental eco-label with Life DOP project
Daniela Lovarelli – University of Milan
Life Cycle studies in agrifood sector: focus on geographical location Anna Mazzi – University of Padova
16.30 - 17.00 Tea break
17.00 - 17.30 YOUNG RESEARCHER AWARDS
Chairs: Grazia Barberio – ENEA
Andrea Raggi – University “G. d’Annunzio”
Environmental implications of future copper demand and supply in Europe Luca Ciacci – University of Bologna
Multifunctional agriculture and LCA: a case study of tomato production Cristian Chiavetta – ENEA
Development of a method to integrate particular matter formation in climate change impact assessment
Andrea Fedele – University of Padova
17.30 - 18.30 ITALIAN LCA NETWORK CONFERENCE ASSEMBLY
18.30 - 20.00 Free time
20.00 Bus transfer to Gala Dinner 20.30 - 22.30 Gala Dinner – Villa Ida
JUNE 12th, 2018 - Tuesday 9.30 - 11.00 SESSION IV
LIFE CYCLE THINKING METHODS AND TOOLS
Chairs: Grazia Barberio – ENEA
Serena Righi – University of Bologna
A case study of green design in electrical engineering: an integrated LCA/LCC analysis of an Italian manufactured HV/MV power transformer
Emanuela Viganò – CESI S.p.A.
Eco-design of wooden furniture based on LCA. An armchair case study Isabella Bianco – Politecnico Torino
Life Cycle Thinking in online accommodation booking platforms: making a more sustainable choice
Ioannis Arzoumanidis – University “G. d’Annunzio”
Matching Life Cycle Thinking and design process in a BIM-oriented working environment
Anna Dalla Valle – Politecnico Milano
Lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles: combining Environmental and Social Life Cycle Assessments
Silvia Bobba – Politecnico Torino
State of art of SLCA: case studies and applications Gabriella Arcese – University of Bari “Aldo Moro” 11.00 - 11.30 Coffee break
11.30 - 13.00 SESSION V
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Chairs: Anna Mazzi – University of Padova
Marzia Traverso – RWTH Aachen University
Life cycle assessment applied to biofuels from sewage sludge: definition of system boundaries and scenarios
Serena Righi – University of Bologna
Analysis of a recycling process for crystalline silicon photovoltaic waste Fulvio Ardente – European Commission - Joint Research Centre
Environmental comparison of two organic fraction of municipal solid waste liquid digestate’s management modes
Federico Sisani – University of Perugia
Life Cycle Thinking for Food waste management alternatives, an experience in Costa Rica
Laura Brenes-Peralta – University of Bologna/Researcher Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica
The way towards sustainable policies: combining LCA and LCC for construction waste management in the region of Flanders, Belgium
Andrea Di Maria – KU Leven
Highlighting food waste in school canteens: a preliminary assessment of the associated environmental and economic impacts
Laura García-Herrero - University of Bologna 13.00 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 - 15.00 Poster Session 9.30 - 11.00 SESSION VI
LIFE CYCLE THINKING METHODS AND TOOLS
Chairs: Marco Ferraro – CNR-ITAE
Giuseppe Tassielli – University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
The Constructal Law to optimize performances of energy systems through the Life Cycle approach
Francesco Guarino – University of Palermo
Walk-the-talk: Sustainable events management as common practice for sustainability conferences
Rose Nangah Mankaa – RWTH Aachen University
A Preliminary LCA Analysis of Snowmaking in Fiemme Valley Paola Masotti – University of Trento
Life Cycle Assessment of a calcareous aggregate extraction and processing system Rosa Di Capua – University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
Efficient Integration of Sustainability aspects into the Product Development and Materials Selection Processes of Small Businesses
Jonathan Schmidt – RWTH Aachen University
Bioplastics in designing beauty and home packaging products. A case-study from Aptar Italia SpA
Michele Del Grosso – APTAR Italia SpA 16.30 - 17.00 Tea break
17.00 - 18.20
ROUND TABLE
LIFE CYCLE THINKING IN DECISION-MAKING FOR SUSTAINABILITY: FROM PUBLIC POLICIES TO PRIVATE BUSINESSES
Moderators: Maurizio Cellura – University of Palermo
Bruno Notarnicola – University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
Methodological advancements and remaining challenges after 5 years of Environmental Footprint road field testing
Michele Galatola – European Commission - DG Environment - Sustainable Production, Products & Consumption
Life Cycle Thinking in the U.S. Public Policy Sangwon Suh – University of California
Life cycle based environmental assessment of EU consumption
Serenella Sala – European Commission - Joint Research Centre - Directorate D – Sustainable Resources, Bio-Economy Unit (D1)
18.30 Bus transfer to Regional Museum
Some lessons learned and highlights from the
working group on tourist services to position the
Italian LCA Network in the context of SDGs
Camillo De Camillis1, Anna Mazzi2, Ioannis Arzoumanidis3, Agata Matarazzo4, Luigia Petti3,Sara Toniolo2, Andrea Raggi3
1 University of International Studies, UNINT, Rome, Italy
2 Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Padua, Italy 3Department of Economic Studies,University “G. d’Annunzio”, Pescara, Italy
4 Department Economics and Business, University of Catania, Italy
Email: c.decamillis@gmail.com
Abstract
Pursuing achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals requires immediate action and empowerment of stakeholders, provided the ambitious policy timeline ending in 2030. In order to stimulate discussion on the role of the Italian LCA Network in the context of the SDGs, a survey was conducted within the working group on tourist services. A questionnaire was disseminated (a) to map relevant projects having an influence on tourism LCA, (b) to share major lessons learned from project implementation and stakeholder dialogue, (c) to identify challenges in mainstreaming application of LCA and LCT, (d) to brainstorm ideas to position the work of the working group on tourist services in the context of the SDGs and to highlight topics for a research agenda and action of the broader Italian LCA Network. This paper presents all contributions received from the 4 research groups that took action and responded to the questionnaire.
1. Introduction
“Tourism can make a significant contribution to address economic, climate and poverty imperatives. Tourism represents up to 45% of the exports of services of developing countries and is often one of the few entry possibilities into the job market. It is also one the most viable and sustainable economic development options given its significant impact on related areas of economic activity”, Taleb Rifai, former Secretary-General World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in his address in the flagship UNWTO report positioning tourism in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2010. The substancial contribution of tourism towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015 made this sector at the core of many policy discussion at the time of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) release. By 2030, UNWTO forecasts international tourist arrivals to reach 1.8 billion (UNWTO, 2017). The significant amount of GHG emissions associated to travels poses a threat to climate. Global action was called in the context the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in order to pursue the objectives of the Paris Agreement andthe key role of tourism in the UN agenda for an inclusive and sustainable economic growth was hence confirmed through the launch of “the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017”.
Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) is a mainstream perspective enabling to drive sustainable consumption and production through its tools. Sustainable sourcing of raw materials and services, environmental communication and reporting schemes, environmental management and eco-design are a few application contexts for LCT. LCA and other LCT tools has great potencial to play a major role in achieving the SDG #12 as well as SDG#2 and a few others. However, gaps in research, application and governance still exist.
This paper is an attempt to collect ideas to prioritize research efforts in LCT and sustainable tourism, and to position the working group on tourist services and the broader Italian LCA Network in the context of the SDGs, whose timeline is ambitious as it comes to end in 2030.
To come up with research priorities and proposals for action, a questionnaire was initially circulated to working group members to realize how many experts in the group are working on topics affecting tourism LCA and SDGs. The questionnaire started with a description of the research group and continued with a short description of those projects generating knowledge for sustainable travel and tourism. Experts were requested to provide detail of all projects relying on LCA and complementary tools. The questionnaire continued with a short description of the challenges the experts envisage in mainstreaming usage of LCA and LCT tools in support of strategies for sustainability, thus supporting both public and private businesses in making more informed decisions. Experts were then requested (a) to describe what role they see for LCA and LCT in the context of the SDGs, and (b) to propose must-have topics for the research agenda of the Tourism working group or the broader Italian LCA Network so that challenges in application and dissemination can be overcome and the impact of the Italian LCA Network is maximised with regard to the achievement of the SDGs and national targets on sustainable transport and tourism. In order to accelerate the pathway towards the SDGs, the experts were eventually requested to propose topics around which new working groups could be set up within the Italian LCA Network.
This paper includes contributions from 4 research groups involved in the working group on tourist services. The authors of this paper are solely responsible for their own contribution33. Co-authors might not necessarily agree on the content of all sections, accordingly.
Chapter 2 focuses on results, lessons learned and highlights from a research project led by the University of Padua aiming at supporting environmental management and local development through a methodological framework based on territorial LCA. Chapter 3 provides a short overview of the project presented by the University of Catania and ENEA Casaccia in the proceedings of this annual meeting of the Italian LCA Network. Such a contribution focuses on green marketing tools and techniques, applied into different hotels located in
33 References of each contribution can be requested making use of the contact details provided
eastern Sicily. The University “G. d’Annunzio” focuses on sustainable soucing and sustainable consumption in chapter 4. In particular, it is presented a new study aiming at integrating the concept of sustainability within online booking platforms for tour operators and tourists. The contribution from UNINT in chapter 5 focuses on methodology challenges for sectoral environmental reporting and continuous improvement, and provides elements to discuss priority research items for the LCA community in view of supporting countries to work on eco-friendlier transport and tourism.
2. Contribution from the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Padua, Italy34
Projects. Application of a life cycle management system in a touristic destination
Introduction: Proper management of a territory and local development are strictly linked each other and there are several interconnections between the sustainability territorial management and sustainable tourism policy (Cucculelli et al., 2015).
Research gaps: LCA has been evaluated as one of the most promising methodology to assess a territory as a whole (Loiseau et al., 2012) and has been applied on a theoretical case study for local authorities involved in urban planning (Loiseau et al., 2013). However, it has not been applied to highlight environmental burdens of a tourist destination.
Project objective: In this context, our project aims at investigating how LCA methodology can be applied to support public administrations in touristic sites to manage the environmental aspects of their territory and reduce the environmental impacts, through the identification and quantification of environmental burdens of a tourist destination as a whole.
Results: The methodological framework based on territorial LCA was developed focusing on the typical environmental aspects of touristic territories. In particular, the defined reference flow was identified as the studied territory, enlarged including the administrative activities. The reference unit was defined as the execution and provision of touristic and administrative activities by the territory during one year.
Lessons learned. A public administration, through the application of this framework, can identify the environmental aspects systematically, can gain a complete vision and a proper quantification of the related impacts and can finally use the obtained results to take decision with increased awareness.
Challenges. (i) Development of a suitable inventory embracing data from different sources (data from public administration under study, but also data from territorial/regional agencies and from private organisations); (ii) Inclusion of legislative aspects and evaluation of legal compliance; (iii) Assessment of aspects not yet in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods, e.g. the presence of underground tanks or asbestos in building
Benefits will be: better policies with clear environmental and social objectives. Perspectives. Role LCA and LCT in the context of the SDGs: (i)Development of frameworks to embrace life cycle aspects; (ii) Provide a calculation method to evaluate quantifiable aspects; (iii) Setting a baseline to define improvement goals.
Topics for the research agenda of the working group or Italian LCA Network: (i) Development of a common Italian framework to embrace life cycle aspects for touristic destinations; (ii) Development of a common Italian framework for social aspects for touristic destinations.
3. Contribution from the Department Economics and Business, University of Catania, Italy35
Projects. The aim of this research is to analyze the environmental impact of the tourism industry through green marketing tools and techniques, applied into different hotels located in eastern Sicily, in order to allow strategies based on bio-economy. Some analyzes will be carried out in this regard: the applicability of the water footprint by the ISO 14046 standard, on inbound and outbound water monitoring; The implementation and therefore the certification of the Ecolabel label, an eco-label that aims to reward the best products and services from an environmental point of view, so as to inform the final consumer about the business’s ecosystems. Lately, the tourism sector has spread and it offers different services such as transport, hospitality and entertainment. The instrument LCA, internationally standardized by the ISO 14040 and 14044 standards, is a technique that studies the environmental effects of all the stages of a service considering changes in the ecosystem, consumption of natural resources and the damage to human health. These instruments represent sustainable development techniques that enable the company to implement them to protect the environment and preserve ecosystems and biodiversity. Further analysis will be conducted on the economic benefits that sustainable tourism and green marketing strategies can generate, so the impact of such tools on tourism demand will be studied.
Lessons learned.The aim is to analyze how back up instruments for tourism, in our case the LCA, can become strategies of the application of the circular economy. The firm that we are studying is a hotel facility in the territory of Catania which had a lifelong experience on the sector.
Challenges and perspectives. The main advantage of this research in the field of international literature of the sector is to underline the social advantages exploitable from an economic perspective. Through the LCA tool, it is possible to highlight the inefficiencies of the various phases and to improve them from the environmental point of view by reducing consumption and emissions among other positive economic consequences.
4. Contribution from University “G. d’Annunzio”, Pescara, Italy36
Projects. The group has recently started a new study on sustainability in tourism (Raggi et al., 2018). The first objective regards the integration of the concept of sustainability within online tourist reservation platforms and tour operators, one of the most common means of booking in tourism. The literature review performed, showed that this issue has not been adequately adressed. A detailed analysis of selected online booking platforms confirmed this statement, with few exceptions where “green” accommodation was either proposed or awarded. The second objective of the study was to identify life cycle-based indicators suitable for the selection of sustainable accommodation within the aforementioned websites. Once again, this has been poorly dealt with. The promotion of a life-cycle indicator emerged only via the proposal of a single indicator (e.g., Filimonau, 2011; Kalbar et al. 2017). The preliminary results confirmed that the concept of sustainability has been so far inadequately introduced in online booking platforms and there is still much to be discussed. >The future outcome of this research could be a basis for supporting tourists when selecting a more sustainable accommodation through online booking platforms, thus helping to reduce the overall environmental impact of tourism. Lessons learned. Although most of sustainability challenges depend on human behaviour (Baddeley and Font, 2011), it is this behaviour that can be aided and/or guided when it comes to making the right choices, a “nudge” as described by the Nobel laureate Thaler (Thaler et al., 2014). Most users of the online booking platforms are used so as to make free choices regarding, for instance, price, location, luxury and so on, of their accommodation. It is this choice, e.g., selecting an environmentally friendly (throughout its life cycle) or so-called “green” hotel service, through the interface of an online booking platform that can make the difference towards a sustainable tourism.
Challenges. The challenges for the definition of strategies for sustainability, from the perspective of the ongoing project, would include an effort by online booking platforms, towards more sustainable strategies. Indeed, the inclusion of the concept of sustainability would require the use of LCT tools (even simplified ones) for the single accommodation in order to identify its environmental and social performance to be displayed in terms of the identified indicators. Furthermore, another challenge would regard the level of interest and sensitivity of tourists towards the environmental performance characteristics of tourism services, especially of hotel accommodation. In other words, would they pay more or be willing to accept less attractive accommodation features in order to improve the environmental performance? Is sustainability an actual priority for tourists?
Perspectives. As soon as the various life-cycle indicators are identified and/or selected, the working group on Tourism could be requested to provide an assessment of the suitability of the indicators in tourism and in online booking platforms, in particular (expert judgements).
5. Contribution from the University of International Studies - UNINT, Rome, Italy37
Projects. The following is a short list of projects deemed relevant for the working group on tourist services:
- School of Advanced Studies, “G. d’Annunzio”, Chieti, 2007-2010. The PhD project focusing on Life Cycle Thinking approaches and tools for sustainable transport and tourism involved (a) a review of LCAs in the tourism sector, (b) an LCA of hotel services, and (c) exploratory research on how to integrate Life Cycle Thinking into tools enabling to design, assess and improve the environmental performance of tourist products and to boost sustainable consumption through communication vehicles and integrated tools (De Camillis et al., 2010a; 2010b; 2010c; 2012). The PhD project was conducted in collaboration with the Centre for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Breda University of Applied Science, NL.
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre, 2011-2012. In the context of a project supported by Eurostat, it was developed a life cycle assessment framework enabling to assess and monitor resource use and potential environmental impact from tourism and all other sectors (Lundie et al. 2012). - UN Environment, 2016-2017. In the context of the Life Cycle Initiative, in collaboration with UNESCO chairmanship in Life Cycle and Climate Change,
consensus was built on Recommended Key Environmental Indicators for The Tourism Private Sector (Shurland et al., 2017). The project involved an expert workshop, a consultation meeting and a public review. The technical report informed the UNFCCC COP22 and the International Year of Sustainable Tourism
- FAO, 2014-present. In the context of the Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership, consensus building is on-going for understanding, assessing and improving the environmental performance of livestock supply chains (De Camillis, 2016). Nearly 450 experts have been contributing to guideline development on GHG emissions from feed and livestock supply chains, and on biodiversity, water use, nitrogen and phosphorus cycle modelling, soil carbon stock changes, and feed additives. - UNINT, 2015-present. While teaching Food Quality Management, food and catering are presented as a major component of holiday packages. Sustainable sourcing of foods and drinks through LCA is part of tour operators’ and hotel chains’ strategy for business sustainable management. Last, food is presented as core component of agri-tourism and eno-tourism.
Lessons learned. - Tourism is a continuously growing sector. GHG emissions land use impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services, water use and waste production are major environmental aspects for the tourism sector. While land use impacts on landscape, biodiversity and ecosystem services can be addressed through policies on land use planning and environmental management, while policies for water allocation and infrastructure development are able to address water scarcity issues, the sector growth and viability is indeed threatened by its tremendous carbon footprint. Depending on the reference study comparing the potential environmental impacts from all sectors a policy maker might pick up, tourism can be found or not as one of the sectors having the highest contribution to global warming. Indeed, the vast majority of these studies rely on GWP100, which is one of the indicators recommended by IPCC. However, IPCC and other authoritative bodies such as the Life Cycle Initiative also suggest usage of GTP500. CH4, a short-lived GHG, is a major contributor to global warming according to GWP100, while it is far less prominent its contribution if GTP500 is picked up. Depending on the indicator chosen by the practitioner, assessment results change drastically. Policy focus and research efforts can be easily diverted from a sector to another, accordingly.
While mitigating GHG emissions from agriculture is acknowledged as a measure to tangibly advance the climate agenda in the short run, focusing research and policy efforts in cutting down GHG emissions from tourism is likely to result as an effective action also in the long run.
- The choice of impact assessment method indicator is just one choice out of many made by an LCA practitioners. Also other methodological choices drastically affect LCA results. Harmonization of environmental assessment
methods is necessary to make informed choices, prevent green washing and help sectors to focus on environmental improvement.
- The interpretation of LCIA results is fundamental to support policy making and policy monitoring. An in-depth knowledge of LCIA methods is a pre-requisite for interpretation and before any conclusion is drawn. Similarly, to figure out the potential of a given environmental improvement proposal to be adopted by users, socio-economic implications should be always assessed.
- As the sector growth is mainly constrained by its contribution to global warming, research efforts should be primarily intensified on solutions for carbon neutral or low carbon air transport. LCA-based tools supporting eco-design and environmental management of hotels, resorts and other tourist facilities can support mitigation of GHG emissions from tourism.
- A wide array of tourist products exist. However, very few LCAs have been conducted in the sector. This impedes identification of hot spots and best practices.
- Accommodations and many other tourist products can be assessed through LCA either focusing on the product system of the buildings providing tourist services or on the life cycle of the tourist experience.
- While consequential assessments are becoming prominent in the LCA community, policy makers often rely on ex-ante attributional assessments and consultations. Consequential modelling in LCA was found by ISO advisory as an interesting research topic, which is at current stage of conceptualization unsuited for broad application for policy making. While importance of grasping effects tied to knock-on effects is acknowledged by all stakeholders, assessments of policy implications are often conducted through dialogue with stakeholders.
- Water availability, soil degradation, habitats of wild species and biodiversity corridors, species richness and diversity, pests presence and spreading, soil quality and nutrients loss are all major elements for environmental management in agriculture. The abovementioned are all dependant on local conditions and pose a challenge for comparing the environmental performance of agricultural products belonging to the same category, but produced by different farms. Should environmental performance be integrated into market mechanisms, favourable environmental local conditions will result in competitive advantages. - If used in combination with GIS, LCA has much potential to be used in support of land use planning and, hence, to drive industrial, rural and tourism development following an integrated landscape approach.
- LCA is acknowledged by platforms such as LEAP and Life Cycle Initiative as a tool in support of decision making. In order to drive continuous environmental improvement of food systems – food is a major input for the tourism sector –
more research efforts are necessary both at the inventory and impact assessment level.
Challenges. In order to disseminate best practices in environmental management of tourist services, more LCAs are necessary to identify hot spots and potential measures to improve the environmental performance of tourist products. Only if knowledge produced by LCA is translated into action, the tourism sector can advance towards achievement of relevant SDGs. In order to make findings from LCAs usable by tour operators, hotel chains, accommodations, shops, museums and so forth, environmental improvement and adoption of best practices should always be translated into business opportunities, revenues or at least savings. Boosting sectorial sustainable development through dissemination of best practices requires not only additional research, but also proactive engagement in policy dialogue as stakeholder and setting up an enabling environment for capacity building and best practice dissemination at global level.
Perspectives. To reconcile sector growth with its environmental sustainability, research could seek for solutions enabling to drastically lower the carbon footprint of passenger transport. For example, LCA could focus on comparing latest concepts for biofuels whose production does not exacerbate competition for land with those sectors securing food, housing and other products. Research could also focus in conducting LCAs instrumental to identify hot spots and best practices for each tourist product identified by UN Environment in the technical report on Recommended Key Environmental Indicators for The Tourism Private Sector. Some of the research gaps to fill in order to enhance usage of LCA for policy dialogue on tourist products and all bio-economy sectors are the following: 1) land occupation and land use efficiency, 2) ecosystem services, 3) variability of herds and crops in a given timeframe, 4) eco-toxicity and soil quality, 5) assessment of policy options, 6) desertification and soil quality.
In order to upscale the usage of LCA in support of SDGs, environmental policies and a multi-stakeholder governance are necessary to ensure uptake of best practices and make the policy implementation an opportunity for economic growth and conservation of nature.
In order to increase its impact on the SDGs, the Italian Network on LCA could consider setting up: (a) ad hoc working groups to address the abovementioned methodology shortcomings, and (b) a task force in charge of setting up a strategy to position the Italian Network on LCA in the context of national governance mechanisms instrumental to the Paris Agreement and SDGs.
6. References
UNWTO, 2010. Tourism and the Millenium Development Goals. World Tourism Organization, Spain, Madrid.
UNWTO, 2017. UNWTO Tourism Highlights: 2017 Edition, World Tourism Organization, Spain, Madrid.
