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Using Regionalized Life Cycle Assessment to Inform Environmental Justice
Citation:
Niblick, B. Using Regionalized Life Cycle Assessment to Inform Environmental Justice. American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA) 2021, N/A, N/A, September 21 - 24, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
The current U.S. Administration has declared environmental justice (EJ) to be one of its top priorities. While the environmental justice community has built on decades of organizing experience and scholarly expertise, life cycle assessment (LCA) researchers and practitioners haven’t traditionally had much opportunity to engage with EJ experts. Therefore, this presentation provides an educational introduction for the LCA community with a brief overview of EJ concepts and where these concepts intersect with LCA research. It also highlights several opportunities to integrate an EJ lens along all phases of research development and asks the question, "who benefits from this research?". This work may be of interest to researchers, programmatic partners, and members of the public.
Description:
The current U.S. Administration has declared environmental justice (EJ) to be one of its top priorities. While the environmental justice community has built on decades of organizing experience and scholarly expertise, life cycle assessment (LCA) researchers and practitioners haven’t traditionally had much opportunity to engage with EJ experts. Yet the two fields complement one another. This presentation explores questions of theory and practice in linking LCA and EJ analyses. It also highlights the elements of environmental justice already included in common life cycle assessment tools. Intentional scientific collaboration could help advance both fields and expand the community reach beyond what either could accomplish alone.