Critical review of life cycle assessment

LCA is a method of high complexity, where different methodological choices may lead to conflicting results. That is why LCA results intended for communication to external stakeholders need a high level of credibility. An LCA critical review is a standard procedure for increasing the credibility of LCA studies and enhancing their quality.

A critical review is a procedure where an independent third party makes sure that an LCA study is consistent with the principles and requirements of one or more applied LCA standards. The need for a critical review is decided during the goal and scope definition stage by the commissioner of the study and the LCA practitioners. According to ISO 14040, every LCA that is intended to be used for a comparative assertion to be disclosed to the public must go through a critical review with a panel of reviewers including representatives of competing products and business. Still, a critical review is recommended for any study intended for external communication, to increase reliability and credibility. Further requirements and guidelines for the critical review process are provided in the ISO 14071:2024 standard.

RISE has extensive experience in carrying out LCA studies for a wide array of industrial sectors and product categories. This experience is also highly valuable for critical review assignments, since we understand well the complexities of different types of LCAs. Our LCA competence, in combination with our independence as a state-owned institute and our long tradition in certification and validation, makes us a perfect partner for carrying out critical reviews of LCA studies performed by other parties. We review mainly LCA studies that follow ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006, and carbon footprints based on ISO 14067:2018. We are also available for reviewing LCA studies following any other standard.