A global consensus life cycle impact assessment method - GLAM: impacts on ecosystem quality
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to report and document the models integrated into the ecosystem quality part of the first life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) version of the GLAM (Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment Indicators and Methods) project. The focus is on endpoint models, and all included models provide characterization factors related to the loss of species richness, indicated in potentially disappeared fraction of species (PDF·yr). In the scoping phase eight impact categories have been identified as being of relevance and provided recent methodological developments that were mature enough to be included in the consensus model within GLAM. These include ecotoxicity, land use, water consumption, eutrophication (individually for marine and freshwater ecosystems), aquatic microplastic pollution, terrestrial acidification and climate change (individual models for terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems). Apart from harmonizing and developing these models, aspects of vulnerability have been included by further developing and applying the global extinction probability (GEP) concept. The eight impact categories provide in total more than 500 000 characterization factors (CFs) at country and global scale for the GLAM research version 1.1.2025.11, representing potential global species loss. Five of the impact categories (land use, water consumption, marine and freshwater eutrophication and terrestrial acidification) provide values at country levels as well as global averages. The other three (ecotoxicity, climate change and aquatic microplastics pollution) provide global CFs only. Climate change and marine eutrophication provide average CFs only, terrestrial acidification only marginal while all the others provide average and marginal CFs. The covered impact categories for the first time consistently represent potential global species losses in terms of PDF.
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BibTeX
@article{verones2026global,
title = {{A global consensus life cycle impact assessment method - GLAM: impacts on ecosystem quality}},
author = {Francesca Verones and Valerio Barbarossa and Anne-Marie Boulay and Elena Corella-Puertas and Mélanie Douziech and Laura Golsteijn and Carla Hajjar and Arnaud Hélias and Andrew Henderson and Koen J. J. Kuipers and Marion Lebrun and Andreas Link and Alexandra Marques and Ottar Michelsen and Montse Núñez and Eléonore Pierrat and Stephan Pfister and Leo Posthuma and Francesca Rosa and Nadim Saadi and Laura Scherer and Chloe Stanford-Clark and Mikołaj Owsianiak and Rosalie Van Zelm and Ian Vázquez-Rowe and Jinhui Zhou and Martin Dorber},
journal = {International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1007/s11367-026-02748-4},
url = {https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05786899v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A global consensus life cycle impact assessment method - GLAM: impacts on ecosystem quality
AU - Francesca Verones
AU - Valerio Barbarossa
AU - Anne-Marie Boulay
AU - Elena Corella-Puertas
AU - Mélanie Douziech
AU - Laura Golsteijn
AU - Carla Hajjar
AU - Arnaud Hélias
AU - Andrew Henderson
AU - Koen J. J. Kuipers
AU - Marion Lebrun
AU - Andreas Link
AU - Alexandra Marques
AU - Ottar Michelsen
AU - Montse Núñez
AU - Eléonore Pierrat
AU - Stephan Pfister
AU - Leo Posthuma
AU - Francesca Rosa
AU - Nadim Saadi
AU - Laura Scherer
AU - Chloe Stanford-Clark
AU - Mikołaj Owsianiak
AU - Rosalie Van Zelm
AU - Ian Vázquez-Rowe
AU - Jinhui Zhou
AU - Martin Dorber
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/24
JO - International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
DO - 10.1007/s11367-026-02748-4
UR - https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05786899v1
AB - The aim of this paper is to report and document the models integrated into the ecosystem quality part of the first life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) version of the GLAM (Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment Indicators and Methods) project. The focus is on endpoint models, and all included models provide characterization factors related to the loss of species richness, indicated in potentially disappeared fraction of species (PDF·yr). In the scoping phase eight impact categories have been identified as being of relevance and provided recent methodological developments that were mature enough to be included in the consensus model within GLAM. These include ecotoxicity, land use, water consumption, eutrophication (individually for marine and freshwater ecosystems), aquatic microplastic pollution, terrestrial acidification and climate change (individual models for terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems). Apart from harmonizing and developing these models, aspects of vulnerability have been included by further developing and applying the global extinction probability (GEP) concept. The eight impact categories provide in total more than 500 000 characterization factors (CFs) at country and global scale for the GLAM research version 1.1.2025.11, representing potential global species loss. Five of the impact categories (land use, water consumption, marine and freshwater eutrophication and terrestrial acidification) provide values at country levels as well as global averages. The other three (ecotoxicity, climate change and aquatic microplastics pollution) provide global CFs only. Climate change and marine eutrophication provide average CFs only, terrestrial acidification only marginal while all the others provide average and marginal CFs. The covered impact categories for the first time consistently represent potential global species losses in terms of PDF.
SN - 0948-3349
SN - 1614-7502
ER -