Linking a biodiversity abundance metric to life cycle assessment for quantifying the biodiversity footprint of Dutch diets

This paper presents a life cycle approach to assess biodiversity loss using the Mean Species Abundance (MSA) indicator as an endpoint. The method entails the adjustment of life cycle inventory (LCI) data and impact assessment based on biodiversity-loss impact factors derived from the Global Biodiversity Model for Policy Support. The impact factors translate pressures from five midpoints (land occupation, climate change, nitrogen deposition, habitat fragmentation and habitat disturbance) into the MSA endpoint indicator.

The method is applied to the Dutch diet, using food consumption survey data and LCI data for 216 food items from the Blonk life cycle inventory database. Results show that beef, dairy, chicken, cheese, pork, fats and oils, and coffee contribute most to MSA loss in the Dutch diet. Land occupation and climate change are the main drivers, contributing 44 % and 35 %, respectively. Of total biodiversity loss, 12 % occurs in the Netherlands, 32 % in Europe, and 10 % in South America.

Operationalizing the MSA-loss metric in LCA offers a complementary indicator to commonly used LCA biodiversity metrics and allows LCA to align with economic production models and global scenario studies where the MSA-loss metrics is already applied. This integration provides new insights on effects of policies targeting various actors in the food supply chain.