Hosted by SOCIAL ALLIANCE Guidelines for SOCIAL LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF PRODUCTS AND ORGANIZATIONS 2020 Copyright © United Nations Environment Programme, 2020 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purpo- ses without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. The United Nations Environment Programme would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from the United Nations Environment Programme. Disclaimer The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expres- sion of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Environment Programme concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Moreover, the views expressed do not necessarily represent the decision or the stated policy of the United Nations Environment Programme, nor does citing of trade names or commercial processes constitute endorsement. Cite this document as: UNEP, 2020. Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Organizations 2020. Benoît Norris, C., Traverso, M., Neugebauer, S., Ekener, E., Schaubroeck, T., Russo Garrido, S., Berger, M., Valdivia, S., Lehmann, A., Finkbeiner, M., Arcese, G. (eds.). United Na- tions Environment Programme (UNEP). 2 Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Organizations 2020 3 Guidelines for SOCIAL LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF PRODUCTS AND ORGANIZATIONS 2020 2 Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Organizations 2020 3 Acknowledgments Producer Blanca Corona Bellostas Yashi Dadhish These Guidelines have been produced by Manuela D’Eusanio the Life Cycle Initiative (hosted by UNEP) Silvia Di Cesare and the Social LC Alliance Claudia Di Noi Franziska Eisfeldt Co-Chairs of the project Jessica Hanafi Bettina Heller Catherine Benoît Norris Diana Indrane Marzia Traverso Maria Paula Jimenez Saenz Matthias Finkbeiner Arunima Malik Lucia Mancini Supervision and support Rose Mankaa Bernard Mazijn Feng Wang Luigia Petti Llorenç Milà i Canals and Laura Williamson Solène Sureau – UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Carlos Tapia Cesar Teran Editors, Authors and Steering Committee Cassia Ugaya Members Marie Vuaillat Arne Wangel Catherine Benoît Norris – NewEarth B Alessandra Zamagni Marzia Traverso – RTWH Aachen University Stanley Zira Sabrina Neugebauer – RTWH Aachen Uni- versity Elisabeth Ekener – KTH Royal institute of Advisory Committee Technology Sara Blackwell – SHIFT Thomas Schaubroeck – Luxembourg Insti- Lina Azuero – Dell tute of Science and Technology Mark Goedkoop – Pré Social Roundtable Sara Russo Garrido – CIRAIG Peter Saling – BASF Markus Berger – TU Berlin Claudia Topalli – IDEXX Laboratories Sonia Valdivia – World Resources Forum Bettina Heller – UN 10YFP Association Mathieu Lamolle – UN ITC Annekatrin Lehmann – TU Berlin Lucia Mancini - EU JRC ISPRA Matthias Finkbeiner – TU Berlin Bernard Mazjin – Ghent university Gabriella Arcese – Università degli Studi Sancia Dalley – Robert F Kennedy Human Niccolò Cusano Rights Foundation Paul Vanegas – Universidad de Cuenca, Contributing Authors Ecuador Pierre Mazeau – Électricité de France Wouter Achten Sanjeevan Bajaj, Director – Sukhbir Agro Ener- Jonathan Barbeau-Baril gy Ltd. India Breno Barros Telles Do Carmo Jessica Hanafi, Director – PT Life Cycle In- Philipp Bolt donesia Vikas Chandola Matthew Watkins – WBCSD Acknowledgments (continued) Design and lay-out Ingrid Kaltenegger, Austria Michael Kühnen, Germany Élisabeth Benoît Sophie Laroche, France Mathias Lindkvist, Sweden Proofreading Julia Martínez-Blanco, Spain Claudia Pena, Chile Lindsey Roche Philipp Preiss, France Justin S. Richter, USA Photo credits (in order) Erwin M. Schau, Slovenia Naomi Scott-Mearns, United Kingdom Front cover Petchprakai Sirilertsuwan, France Top: Dwijen Mahanta (Pexels) Dolores Sucozhañay, Ecuador Left: Jahidul Islam (Pixabay) Olubukola Tokede, Australia Right: Anja - cocoparisienne (Pixabay) Tatiana Vakhitova, United Kingdom Paul Vanegas, Ecuador Back cover Joost Vogtländer, The Netherlands Henning Wigger, Germany Alexas-Fotos (Pixabay) Marc-Andree Wolf, Germany Report Naeem Mayet (Pexels) Sarathy Selvamani (Unsplash) Quang Nguyen Vinh (Pexels) Quang Nguyen Vinh (Pexels) Thomas Gerlach (Pixabay) Oğuzhan Karaca (Pexels) Anja - cocoparisienne (Pixabay) Jahidul Islam (Pixabay) Quang Nguyen Vinh (Pexels) Creative Commons CCO (Pixabay) Public consultation participants Adriana Abril, Argentina Ilonka de Beer, The Netherlands Monique Bennema, USA Jaylton Bonacina de Araujo, Brazil Fanny Cabrera, Ecuador Francesc Castells, Spain Andreas Ciroth, Germany Henri Fraisse, France Rosan Harmens, The Netherlands Nils Heuer, Global Nathalie Iofrida, Italy Ismael Izquierdo, Ecuador Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Organizations 2020 Foreword In 2009, UNEP’s Life Cycle Initiative launched the first Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). Since then, researchers and practitioners have used these Guidelines to assess the positive and negative social and socio-econo- mic impacts of products over their lifecycle. In parallel, the practice of S-LCA has evolved from a small circle of acade- mic practitioners to one that now includes stakeholders from industry, policy makers, and business. This evolution from theory to practice requires having updated information and guidelines that do not need prior un- derstanding of lifecycle approaches. It also means ensuring that the right tools are in the hands of those who can inform the decision-making processes. These updated Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment fulfil both these objectives. This 2020 edition also looks at how to link the social impacts of a product’s production and consumption to the larger impacts associated with an organization’s influence across the life cycle of a product. Social organizational LCA (also known as SO-LCA) strengthens S-LCA by providing an organizational perspective that guides many organizational decisions. SO-LCA also complements Organizational LCA guidance, another tool developed by the Life Cycle Initiative. The importance of social sustainability in moving towards sustainable development is undeniable. UNEP’s Life Cycle Initiative has joined forces with the Social Life Cycle Alliance to deliver this publication as a practical guide to unders- tand and improve the social sustainability of our consumption and production processes. Now, more than ever, social sustainability, social inclusion and leaving no one behind must be critical parts of our thinking and efforts to build back better and greener. My thanks go to the authors, researchers, and stakeholders who have contributed their knowledge and expertise to this publication, much of it given in kind. I trust it will encourage and increase attention by decision makers on the social aspects of products and organizations. Ligia Noronha Director, Economy Division United Nations Environment Programme Table of Contents Executive summary 12 Reader’s guide 13 Preface 15 1. Introduction 16 1.1 References 19 2. What is social life cycle assessment? 20 2.1 Definition and structure of social life cycle assessment 20 2.2 Stakeholder categories, impact categories, and impact subcategories 22 2.3 Main definitions of core concepts 24 2.4 Where to start and the two main approaches in S-LCA 27 2.5 Positive impacts 29 2.5.1 Social handprinting 31 2.6 Uses of S-LCA 32 2.7 Linkages with international frameworks 33 2.8 Linkages with other corporate social responsibility tools 34 2.9 Implementation of S-LCA and SO-LCA 37 2.9.1 Path 1: Experience with social assessment at organizational level 38 2.9.2 Path 2: Experience with environmental life-cycle approaches 38 2.9.3 Path 3: Experience with product/organizational social life cycle approaches 38 2.10 References 39 3. Goal and scope definition 41 3.1 Goal definition 41 3.2 Scope definition 42 3.2.1 Defining the functional unit 43 8 Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Organizations 2020 9 Table of Contents 3.2.2 Defining the reference flow 45 3.2.3 Defining the product system 46 3.2.4 Identifying the system boundaries 48 3.2.5 Activity variable 48 3.2.6 Cut-off criteria 49 3.2.7 Limitations of data access 50 3.2.8 Stakeholder categorization & involvement 50 3.2.9 Impact assessment method and impact subcategories 52 3.2.10 Indicators, data type, and data collection strategies 53 3.3 References 54 4. Life cycle inventory 56 4.1 How to conduct the life cycle inventory analysis? 56 4.1.1 The basics of life cycle inventory in the context of S-LCA 56 4.1.2 Prioritizing data collection 59 4.1.3 Activity variables 63 4.1.4 Collecting data for impact assessment method 65 4.1.5 Determining data sources and social inventory indicators 66 4.1.6 Collecting generic and secondary data 68 4.1.7 Collecting site-specific and primary data 72 4.1.8 Refining the data collection strategy 73 4.2 Handling co-products 74 4.3 Data quality 75 4.3.1 Appropriate instruments, sources and collection methods 76 4.3.2 Data quality management 76 4.3.3 Challenges for generic and secondary data 78 4.3.4 Documentation of data quality 78 8 Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Organizations 2020 9 Table of Contents 4.4