Climate change damage functions in LCA – (2) data availability and selection of indicators...

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Climate change damage functions in LCA (2) data availability and selection of indicators Ingeborg Callesen 1,2 , Beier, C. 2 , Bagger Jørgensen R. 2 , Olsen, S.I. 1 and Hauschild, M.Z. 1 1 DTU Management Engineering, Section for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment 2 Biosystems division, Risø DTU, Technical University of Denmark, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark. [email protected]. Abstract : The unknown magnitude of future GHG emissions and the complexity of the climate-carbon system induce large uncertainties in the projected changes in the Area of protection ‘Natural environment’. These may together be termed ‘global change’. A changed climate may result in new interactions between global change drivers and new directions of ecosystem change due to differing adaptive capacities of biota and new species assemblages in ecosystems with consequences for e.g. biodiversity. Within the framework ‘ecosystem services’ both marketed and non-marketed utilities of the natural environment are formulated. Provisioning, cultural, supporting, and regulating ecosystem services have been described. How will these services be affected by the increasing atmospheric GHG concentrations ? How can the changes be expressed in a damage model for LCIA? Topic C: Environmental health assessment. Abstract TH010 Data: The www is full of on-line data. What to choose for LCIA of climate damage? Q: WHAT WE SUGGEST FOR LCIA re: impact category ’climate change’ ? A: Adoption of the ’global change’ world view – focus on important possible, clearly negative interactions between other damage drivers and climate change damage on the natural environment and thus on ecosystem services. Observation-based on-line access indicators from the science and the management/policy domains. Examples of subject areas of future ES indicators: Future ecosystem services: Q: If global warming potential is the midpoint what is then the endpoint damage ? A: Loss of ecosystem services or loss of biodiversity ? Domain Framework Subject areas for Indicators Providers or sources Scienc e STATUS - Protected areas - Status of selected threatened and endagered species, species groups and ecosystems or more aggregated the living planet index (WWF) - Observed plant stress anomalies based on climate data (fire, drought), e.g. ecosystem experiments - FAO – forest inventory data on reserves and stocks IUCN, www.iucn.o rg GBIF, www.gbif.o rg WWF, www.wwf.or g www.nasa.o rg Scienc e ENVIRON- MENT SCENARIO - Future climate-carbon – feedback through dynamic exchanges between marine and terrestrial carbon pools and the atmosphere. - Future sea level rise - Assessment of invasive species’ potential range enlargements due to climate change (a negative interaction with climate change) www.ipcc.c h Policy MITIGATI ON STATUS - Index for public and private spendings on nature conservation and restoration, and law and regulation UNEP, other ? Terrestrial global change leads to changes in ecosystem services 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 ? Cumulative global change pressure up to the year 2100: (climate change, landuse change, invasive species, water regime, nitrogen saturation, unusual water stress, acidification and ozone, migration disturbances) Relative ES damage, year 1990=0 Robust ES, e.g. global food production, soil formation Sensitive ES, e.g. arctic wildlife, sensitive species groups 1990 2100 THE MODELLING CHALLENGE FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES Modelling of future damages to ecosystem services requires a mix of assessment and valuation techniques. Market economy based provisioning ecosystem services (ES) can be described (e.g. agriculture and forest yields, and traded CO 2 emissions). Damages to provisioning services can be measured as insured economic losses. For ES without market it’s more difficult, e.g. supporting and regulating services. WHAT WE KNOW Terrestrial global change signifies changes in the physical growth environment (water and nutrient cycles, heat regimes, acidifying and ecotoxic substances, ozone, and CO 2 ). Effects on ecosystems in response to global change will be diverse in time and space. Ecosystem damages should be assessed from fine resolution dynamic spatial models with detailed soil, climate and ecosystem state and function (process) data adopting an ecosystem view and a landscape perspective. WHAT WE DON’T KNOW The extent of growth environment changes. These depend on socio-economic scenarios of the future including population growth, technological development, life styles, mitigation activities (climate policy) and societal efforts within ecosystem conservation and restoration activities. The sensitivity of many species and ecosystems towards global environment changes Worldwide detailed descriptions of ‘valuable’ ecosystems and their species assemblies WHAT WE NEED – a global assessment of ecosystem services and their relation with global change and biodiversity loss. Keywords for sustainability assessments: ECOSYSTEM VIEW – LANDSCAPE PERSPECTIVE – RELEVANT SCALES IN TIME AND SPACE Suggested ranking of ‘game changing’ drivers for ecosystem change by severity: Flooding > land use change > invasive species, local extirpations, nitrogen saturation, acidification, ozone, toxic compounds, changed precipitation, temperature and wind regimes. Measured observational Measured experimental Remote sensing data Scaled observational data based on remote sensing Modeled spatial data, upscaled with covariates Aggregated modeled spatial data, upscaled with covariates Classifications, interpretations Valuations, assessments Valuations, assessments Scale or resolution Level of abstraction NASA Climate & atmosphere obs. Data collected or USED by whom : Science (blue), management (yellow) or policy (red )?? Data collected by whom: Science, management or policy ?? GBI F CLIMAITE - experimen t experimen t Fine Coarse Low High +/- scenario based REDD+ monitorin g FAO climate assessmen t 2000 ISRIC soil profile database Management , compliance Figure 1. F1-F6 are possible damage functions of cumulative global change pressures for different environmental services. On that timescale climate change will be prominent, and interacting with most other drivers will occur. Modeling of possible damages will require socio-economic scenarios. Come see our platform presentation on Thursday 19.,12.30- 12.50 hrs in the White 1 hall, session CS01B

Transcript of Climate change damage functions in LCA – (2) data availability and selection of indicators...

Page 1: Climate change damage functions in LCA – (2) data availability and selection of indicators Ingeborg Callesen 1,2, Beier, C. 2, Bagger Jørgensen R. 2, Olsen,

Climate change damage functions in LCA – (2) data availability and selection of indicators

Ingeborg Callesen1,2, Beier, C.2, Bagger Jørgensen R.2, Olsen, S.I.1 and Hauschild, M.Z.1 1DTU Management Engineering, Section for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment

2 Biosystems division, Risø DTU, Technical University of Denmark, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark. [email protected].

Abstract : The unknown magnitude of future GHG emissions and the complexity of the climate-carbon system induce large uncertainties in the projected changes in the Area of protection ‘Natural environment’. These may together be termed ‘global change’. A changed climate may result in new interactions between global change drivers and new directions of ecosystem change due to differing adaptive capacities of biota and new species assemblages in ecosystems with consequences for e.g. biodiversity.Within the framework ‘ecosystem services’ both marketed and non-marketed utilities of the natural environment are formulated. Provisioning, cultural, supporting, and regulating ecosystem services have been described. How will these services be affected by the increasing atmospheric GHG concentrations ? How can the changes be expressed in a damage model for LCIA? For the area of protection ‘Natural environment’ both sensitive and robust responses to climate change may be foreseen for different species within ecosystems and between ecosystems. A common metric may thus show high variability. Plural metrics may be needed to adequately describe the variety of different ecosystem services in different regional settings.

Topic C: Environmental health assessment. Abstract TH010

Data: The www is full of on-line data. What to choose for LCIA of climate damage?

Q: WHAT WE SUGGEST FOR LCIA re: impact category ’climate change’ ?

A: Adoption of the ’global change’ world view – focus on important possible, clearly negative interactions between other damage drivers and climate change damage on the natural environment and thus on ecosystem services.Observation-based on-line access indicators from the science and the management/policy domains. Examples of subject areas of future ES indicators:

Future ecosystem services:Q: If global warming potential is the midpoint what is then the endpoint damage ?A: Loss of ecosystem services or loss of biodiversity ?

SCENARIO ??

Domain Framework Subject areas for Indicators Providers or sources

Science STATUS - Protected areas- Status of selected threatened and endagered species, species groups and ecosystems or more aggregated the living planet index (WWF)- Observed plant stress anomalies based on climate data (fire, drought), e.g. ecosystem experiments- FAO – forest inventory data on reserves and stocks

IUCN, www.iucn.orgGBIF,www.gbif.orgWWF,www.wwf.org

www.nasa.org

www.FAO.org

Science ENVIRON-MENTSCENARIO

- Future climate-carbon – feedback through dynamic exchanges between marine and terrestrial carbon pools and the atmosphere.- Future sea level rise- Assessment of invasive species’ potential range enlargements due to climate change (a negative interaction with climate change)

www.ipcc.ch

Policy MITIGATIONSTATUS

- Index for public and private spendings on nature conservation and restoration, and law and regulation compliance at national scale

UNEP, other ?

Manage-ment

MITIGATIONSTATUS

- REDD+ status, quantitative indicators for certified sustainable forest management in a development context, energy efficiency of the technosphere

www.un-redd.orgUNEP

Terrestrial global change leads to changes in ecosystem services

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 F1F2F3F4F5 ?F6 ?

Cumulative global change pressure up to the year 2100:(climate change, landuse change, invasive species, water regime, nitrogen saturation, unusual

water stress, acidification and ozone, migration disturbances)

Rela

tive

ES d

amag

e, y

ear 1

990=

0

Robust ES, e.g. global food production, soil formation

Sensitive ES, e.g. arctic wildlife, sensitive species groups

1990 2100

THE MODELLING CHALLENGE FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICESModelling of future damages to ecosystem services requires a mix of assessment and valuation techniques.Market economy based provisioning ecosystem services (ES) can be described (e.g. agriculture and forest yields, and traded CO2 emissions). Damages to provisioning services can be measured as insured economic losses. For ES without market it’s more difficult, e.g. supporting and regulating services.

WHAT WE KNOWTerrestrial global change signifies changes in the physical growth environment (water and nutrient cycles, heat regimes, acidifying and ecotoxic substances, ozone, and CO2).

Effects on ecosystems in response to global change will be diverse in time and space. Ecosystem damages should be assessed from fine resolution dynamic spatial models with detailed soil, climate and ecosystem state and function (process) data adopting an ecosystem view and a landscape perspective.

WHAT WE DON’T KNOW• The extent of growth environment changes. These depend on socio-

economic scenarios of the future including population growth, technological development, life styles, mitigation activities (climate policy) and societal efforts within ecosystem conservation and restoration activities.

• The sensitivity of many species and ecosystems towards global environment changes

• Worldwide detailed descriptions of ‘valuable’ ecosystems and their species assemblies

WHAT WE NEED – a global assessment of ecosystem services and their relation with global change and biodiversity loss.

Keywords for sustainability assessments: ECOSYSTEM VIEW – LANDSCAPE PERSPECTIVE – RELEVANT SCALES IN TIME AND SPACESuggested ranking of ‘game changing’ drivers for ecosystem change by severity:Flooding > land use change > invasive species, local extirpations, nitrogen saturation, acidification, ozone, toxic compounds, changed precipitation, temperature and wind regimes.

Measured observational

Measured experimental

Remote sensing data Scaled observational data based on remote sensing

Modeled spatial data, upscaled with covariates

Aggregated modeled spatial data, upscaled with covariates

Classifications, interpretations

Valuations, assessmentsValuations, assessments

Scale or resolution

Leve

l of a

bstr

actio

n

NASA Climate & atmosphere obs.

Data collected or USED by whom : Science (blue), management (yellow) or policy (red )??Data collected by whom: Science, management or policy ??

GBIF

CLIMAITE -experiment experiment

Fine Coarse

Low

High

+/- scenario based

REDD+ monitoring

FAO climateassessment 2000

ISRIC soil profile database

Management, compliance

Figure 1. F1-F6 are possible damage functions of cumulative global change pressures for different environmental services. On that timescale climate change will be prominent, and interacting with most other drivers will occur. Modeling of possible damages will require socio-economic scenarios.

Come see our platform presentation on Thursday 19.,12.30-12.50 hrs in the White 1 hall, session CS01B