Detecting unsustainable pressures exerted on biodiversity by a company. Application to the food portfolio of a retailer. (10th November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wolff, Anastasia; Gondran, Natacha; Brodhag, Christian
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 166(2017)
• Page Start: 784
• Page End: 797
• Publication Date: 2017-11-10
• Subjects: Sustainability -- Biodiversity -- Business -- Carrying capacity -- Life cycle assessment -- Corporate social responsibility; Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.08.057
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: Companies are called by institutional organizations to assess their impacts on biodiversity and to take actions to achieve collectively conservation objectives. This paper presents a method to assess whether the pressures exerted by a business and its value chain on biodiversity are compatible with biodiversity conservation. The absolute environmental sustainability assessment framework is used to compare relevant life cycle assessment midpoint and endpoint indicators to the ecological budgets assigned to the company. This approach is illustrated based on the case study of a mass-market retailer with a focus on the pressures exerted by its food portfolio at the agricultural production step. The results indicate that several pressures driving biodiversity loss are not sustainable. The study also highlights the prominent weight of a few product categories in the ecological burden. These findings have implications for mass-market retailers as well as their food value chains and open research perspectives to make such an approach fully operational. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Link business ecological impacts to biodiversity conservation targets. Absolute environmental sustainability assessment (AESA) framework is used. Application to the food portfolio of a mass-market retailer, focus at agricultural phase. Non sustainable pressures and prominent product categories are identified. This approach has added-value for strategic corporate decision-making.