Online Workshop Session: Environmental monitoring

Calls to action

• To various actors: REV for Dummies - rule of thumb catalog  for different products/ materials. Ensure researchers, Swiss Recycling, Beratung, BAFU, practicioners, etc., to have net positive impact

• To the Swiss government/SECO: Use the (international) tax system to send incentives along supply chains. Rate of taxation will be at the place of consumption.

• To the government, cantons, municipalities: Impose higher resource taxes to companies and have subsidies to encourage projects that go towards more circular economy.

Presentations Input Session Leaders

• How can we measure environmental value retention in the circular economy? (Stephanie Hellweg)
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• Switzerland’s Sustainability Footprint NRP73 (Joseph Francois)
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• OASES: Project and intermediate results (Christopher Mutel)
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Environmental impact of the supply chains of the globally connected Swiss economy

The NRP 73 research project from Prof. Dr. Joseph Francois Switzerland’s Sustainability Footprint shows that GHG emissions associated with the global supply chains of Swiss consumption, the so-called consumption-based emissions, are among the largest in the world. The same applies to other environmental footprints of Swiss final consumption, such as land use or water use footprints.

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Federal policy needs comprehensive and periodically update data of Switzerland's global supply network to evaluate its inherent risks and its environmental and social impacts. The research project of Dr. Christopher Mutel Open Assessment of the Swiss Economy and Society starts from the recognition that in existing databases (ecoinvent, Exiobase & Social Hotspots Database), Swiss global supply chains are incompletely represented, and inconsistent data dominates. With the help of complementary data sets, critical reflection and modern computational methods, data resolution and completeness will be improved, and data uncertainties reduced.

In the project Towards a sustainable circular economy of Prof. Dr. Stephanie Hellweg environmental indicators for circular value chains in Switzerland have been developed. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) measures of the environmental value retained through reuse, remanufacturing, repairing or recycling have been undertaken.

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Objectives of the workshop 

• Presentation and discussion of research findings

• Formulating three calls to action and address them to specific stakeholders

Programme

15:45 | Participants join the online workshop

16:00 | Introduction by the facilitator

16:05 | Breaking the ice

16:15 | Input by the session leaders to set the scene

16:30 | Discussion in breakout rooms. Participants are invited to formulate two calls to action based on the research findings.

17:30 | Fishbowl discussion with the session leaders, experts and participants to validate and prioritize the calls to action and discuss how stakeholders can implement them.

18:00 | End of the session

Session leaders & Experts

Session leaders:

• Prof. Dr. Stephanie Hellweg, Ecological Systems Design, Institute of Environmental Engineering, Department Civil, Environmental, and Geomatic Engineering, ETH Zürich

• Prof. Dr. Joseph Francois, International Economics, World Trade Institute, University of Berne

• Dr. Christopher Mutel, Paul Scherrer Institute

Expert

• Niklas Nierhoff, Science Officer, Economics Section, Federal Office for the Environment

• Daniel Lachat, Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Sektion Umwelt, Nachhaltige Entwicklung und Raum, Bundesamt für Statistik

Co- Organizer