The challenge of global warming, that we have posed upon ourselves over the last hundred and fifty years, is substantial. Dealing with this will most likely require persistent and ingenious efforts by all of us over the next half of this century. One of the challenges that need to be resolved is how we assess and benchmark our production and consumption activities with respect to the environment.
In this context it is appropriate to quote Albert Einstein who once said: "The world we created today as a result of our thinking thus far has problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them."
Following his line of thinking, a new set underlying of thoughts, a paradigm change is required. The hypothesis forming the theme of this conference is that life cycle thinking will be an important element in this new paradigm. It is crucial that the investments we make in the next decades to address climate change actually do result in reduced climate impacts.
Just as important, in times when there is so much focus on global warming, keeping a holistic perspective on environmental impacts is necessary to avoid that we solve one problem merely to create another.
The first challenge, posed to conference contributors, is to present material that exemplifies the use of life cycle approaches in the context of global warming mitigation.
The second challenge is to reflect upon how the application of life cycle approaches can gain momentum and make significant contributions to global warming mitigation and a sustainable development in general. That is, how to make it happen!
We welcome you to the NorLCA symposium 2008
On behalf of NorLCA 2008 Scientific Committee
Anders Strømman