Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been promoted as a robust quantitative tool, and
a keystone in environmental decision making. While LCA was originally developed
for products, the benefits of the life cycle approach may be extended to the more
complex prospect of organizational assessment. Within this context, the UNEP/
SETAC Life Cycle Initiative launched the flagship project “LCA of organizations” to
further explore the capabilities and applicability of organizational life cycle assessment
(O-LCA). This Guidance document is the main milestone of the project. It builds on
key existing works and initiatives, like the Greenhouse Gas Protocol initiative, and
especially strives to align with ISO/TS 14072, and with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.
They are referenced throughout the Guidance as a basis for the explanations and
discussions.
O-LCA uses a life cycle perspective to compile and evaluate the inputs, outputs
and potential environmental impacts of the activities associated with an organization,
and the provision of its product portfolio. This methodology is capable of serving
multiple goals at the same time (e.g., identifying environmental hotspots throughout
the value chain, tracking environmental performance over time, supporting strategic
decisions, and informing corporate sustainability reporting). One goal that O-LCA
cannot currently fulfill is externally communicating comparisons between different
organizations. Comparative assertions are neither robust nor meaningful, mainly due
to the lack of a consistent basis for comparison.