TY - JOUR
T1 - Theoretical exploration for the combination of the ecological, energy, carbon, and water footprints: Overview of a footprint family
AU - Fang, K.
AU - Heijungs, R.
AU - de Snoo, G. R.
N1 - ISI Document Delivery No.: 281DV Times Cited: 111 Cited Reference Count: 123 Fang, Kai Heijungs, Reinout de Snoo, Geert R. Heijungs, Reinout/K-7855-2013; Fang, Kai/K-7881-2013 Heijungs, Reinout/0000-0002-0724-5962; Fang, Kai/0000-0003-2017-7092 China Scholarship CouncilChina Scholarship Council [20113005] The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. The work was financially supported by China Scholarship Council (Grant No. 20113005). 126 12 205 Elsevier science bv Amsterdam 1872-7034
<Go to ISI>://WOS:000329081100055
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Over the past two decades, a continuously expanding list of footprint-style indicators has been introduced to the scientific community with the aim of raising public awareness of how humanity exerts pressures on the environment. A deeper understanding of the connections and interactions between different footprints is required in an attempt to support policy makers in the measurement and choice of environmental impact mitigation strategies. Combining a selection of footprints that address different aspects of environmental issues into an integrated system is, therefore, a natural step. This paper starts with the idea of developing a footprint family from which most important footprints can be compared and integrated. On the basis of literature review in related fields, the ecological, energy, carbon, and water footprints are employed as selected indicators to define a footprint family. A brief survey is presented to provide background information on each of the footprints with an emphasis on their main characteristics in a comparative sense; that is, the footprints differ in many aspects more than just the impacts they are addressed. This allows the four footprints to be complementarily used in assessing environmental impacts associated with natural resource use and waste discharge. We evaluate the performance of the footprint family in terms of data availability, coverage complementarity, methodological consistency, and policy relevance and propose solutions and suggestions for further improvement. The key conclusions are that the footprint family, which captures a broad spectrum of sustainability issues, is able to offer a more complete picture of environmental complexity for policy makers and, in particular, in national-level studies. The research provides new insights into the distinction between environmental impact assessment and sustainability evaluation, properly serving as a reference for multidisciplinary efforts in estimating planetary boundaries for global sustainability. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
AB - Over the past two decades, a continuously expanding list of footprint-style indicators has been introduced to the scientific community with the aim of raising public awareness of how humanity exerts pressures on the environment. A deeper understanding of the connections and interactions between different footprints is required in an attempt to support policy makers in the measurement and choice of environmental impact mitigation strategies. Combining a selection of footprints that address different aspects of environmental issues into an integrated system is, therefore, a natural step. This paper starts with the idea of developing a footprint family from which most important footprints can be compared and integrated. On the basis of literature review in related fields, the ecological, energy, carbon, and water footprints are employed as selected indicators to define a footprint family. A brief survey is presented to provide background information on each of the footprints with an emphasis on their main characteristics in a comparative sense; that is, the footprints differ in many aspects more than just the impacts they are addressed. This allows the four footprints to be complementarily used in assessing environmental impacts associated with natural resource use and waste discharge. We evaluate the performance of the footprint family in terms of data availability, coverage complementarity, methodological consistency, and policy relevance and propose solutions and suggestions for further improvement. The key conclusions are that the footprint family, which captures a broad spectrum of sustainability issues, is able to offer a more complete picture of environmental complexity for policy makers and, in particular, in national-level studies. The research provides new insights into the distinction between environmental impact assessment and sustainability evaluation, properly serving as a reference for multidisciplinary efforts in estimating planetary boundaries for global sustainability. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KW - Footprint family Environmental impact assessment Characteristics Performance evaluation Planetary boundaries life-cycle assessment input-output-analysis international-trade carrying-capacity virtual water sustainability demand indicators appropriation con
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecolind.2013.08.017
DO - 10.1016/j.ecolind.2013.08.017
M3 - Article
VL - 36
SP - 508
EP - 518
JO - Ecological Indicators
JF - Ecological Indicators
SN - 1470-160X
ER -