Workshop 11: Finding a sweet spot for life cycle thinking in policy

Main Presenter:    Stijn van Ewijk 

Co-Authors:                                                  

Life cycle thinking (LCT) in public policy ranges from a “soft” conceptual approach that guides policymakers to consider the full life cycle of products and services, and a “hard” analytical approach that directly uses quantitative evidence from life cycle assessment (LCA). An example of the soft approach is an eco-design rule for recyclability, whilst a regulatory limit on whole-life carbon is a hard approach. The use of hard life cycle evidence is attractive because it has the potential to robustly avoid burden shifting. However, it also requires vast resources (time, expertise, data). Moreover, the intensive use of data and metrics invites gaming by stakeholders, and the policies may be discredited as overly complex or “red tape” by political opponents. This session investigates the conditions under which the “soft” conceptual or “hard” analytical use of life cycle thinking is most appropriate to achieve policy goals. Participants will discuss a series of structured questions to
identify challenges and opportunities of “soft” and “hard” life cycle approaches for representative policy problems. The outcome of the workshop will be a collective understanding of the sweet spot between soft and hard life cycle thinking in policymaking.

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