Abstract
The environmental footprint is a method to quantify the impact of products, processes, people, and institutions on the environment. Although aiming for standardization, there are to date large differences in the application of the method impairing comparability of results across studies. Climate change is arguably the most frequently analyzed impact in environmental assessments and shows a comparatively high level of standardization. Nevertheless, differences in system boundaries, the way the system is credited for avoided emissions, and the timescale on which impacts are considered remain. Furthermore, quality of the input data determines reliability of the assessment results and scientific knowledge on essential calculation factors such as global warming potential of different substances is still evolving. This chapter summarizes the current state-of-the-art on considering greenhouse gas emissions in the environmental footprint and similar environmental assessment methods, the remaining flaws in the methodological approaches, and the needs for further research.
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