Human expansion of land use through agriculture and forestry is globally one of the main drivers of reduced biodiversity. This exploitation has also led to increased greenhouse gas emissions and decreased carbon sequestration. Sweden’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 means that society will need to shift towards extensive use of biofuels and bio-based materials. This will entail significant future changes in land use, requiring us to also assess the resulting environmental impacts.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method currently used to evaluate the environmental impact of various products and is employed by industry, policymakers, and even consumers. However, a major challenge for LCA remains how to incorporate impacts on biodiversity. One reason for the difficulty in finding a global solution to this is that biodiversity is highly location-specific.

Our goal in this project is therefore to develop methods for measuring biodiversity in an effective way.