Report on Opportunities for National Life Cycle Network Creation and Expansion Around the World

This is an example of a report to which the 10YFP CI-SCP Coordination Desk has contributed, and the authors (UNEP-SETAC LCI) are a MAC member. In addition to assessing the status of life cycle networks around the world, the survey also made an effort to assess and map Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) databases. As a result, a total of 23 databases have been identified. Of these 23 databases, 4 national databases are in the Americas, 4 in Asia/ Pacific and 4 in Europe. In addition, 2 European databases exist as well as 5 databases which are run by private-public partnership institutions and 4 by private consultancies. The mapping shows the dynamic character of the LCA database development at the moment worldwide. However, a particularly strong development has happened so far in Europe. It is interesting to note the general relationship between countries with a life cycle network and a national database. It appears that having a national life cycle network with a certain maturity which is organized as a legal entity significantly enhances the probability of creating a national LCA database, as most of the countries that have a network with a legal entity, for example Australia, France and the United States, also have a national LCA database. Only in a few cases, such as in Chile and Switzerland, has the national database been developed independently from the national network. In addition, countries without a life cycle network usually also don't have a plan to develop a LCA database, with the exception of Russia.