Making sure the voice of nature is heard
Humans make the decisions on this planet. As a result, nature hasn’t done well. Can we make better decisions if plants, animals, mountains and rivers are fairly represented?
Mark Goedkoop
Mark is widely recognized as an international thought leader in the field of sustainability metrics and methodology development. His primary goal is to help companies create value from sustainable products and services. While with PRé, Mark has developed pioneering methodologies for impact assessment (Eco-indicator 95/99 and ReCiPe). He has also published seminal studies on sustainable consumption, rebounds, and product service systems methodology, as well as initiating development of the world’s most widely used LCA software, SimaPro.
Prior to founding PRé, Mark was a partner in a small industrial design consultancy, where he developed, among other things, special tools for the Dutch Railroad maintenance staff to use in their work on overhead electric wires, an anesthesia ventilator (which received an international IF design award), and text telephones for deaf people (before the invention of SMS). Mark’s career in industrial design began at Demotech-1 in the 70’s where he was inspired by open source technology and the ‘small is beautiful’ movement. This led him to attempt to develop a completely new way of producing metal parts on a very small scale. While this attempt was largely unsuccessful, he remained focused on the goal of developing practical yet scientifically sound solutions for improving the environmental and social performance of products and services.
Mark holds a Master of Science in industrial design engineering from Delft University of Technology.
Mark has transferred the management of the company to Eric Mieras and focuses on some pioneering projects, such as the Product Social Metrics Roundtable (social LCA) and the use of LCA metrics to quantitatively assess Biodiversity impacts.
Articles by Mark Goedkoop
Addressing the next challenge: metrics for biodiversity
The UN IPBES report on dramatic global biodiversity loss caused a worldwide splash in the news. For LCA practitioners in industry, agriculture, finance and consulting, it is important to gear up to address this new challenge.
The 2018 Handbook for Product Social Metrics is available now!
The Roundtable for Product Social Metrics is proud to announce the fourth edition of the Handbook, with many interesting updates that make its social LCA methodology more robust and easier to apply.
Biodiversity, part 3: biodiversity, climate change and a final question
In our biodiversity series, we discuss the impact assessment of biodiversity. In this article, we link climate change to biodiversity and pose one final question for all sustainability professionals and policy makers interested in biodiversity.
Biodiversity, part 2: land use and biodiversity
In our biodiversity series, we account for the effects of biodiversity in impact assessment. In this article, we tie land use to loss of biodiversity. What has the biggest impact, land conversion or land use? And who do we hold responsible?
Biodiversity, part 1: our impact on biodiversity
Biodiversity is an important topic for sustainability professionals and policymakers. In this article, we start to unravel biodiversity impact assessment. Some starting points: how do you define nature? And why is nature so valuable?
GLAD Is Great: About the Global LCA Access to Data Initiative
LCA data standards have always been a tricky topic - to come to an alignment, many parties need to be on the same page. Ever since life cycle thinking started, attempts to find consensus have been unsuccessful. We're glad that we now have GLAD.
5 roads to a circular economy – Part II: Product as a service
The circular economy aims to produce no waste - by reusing, repairing and recycling materials in the highest possible quality, all measurable with LCA. How can offering a product as a service help you reach that goal?
Celebrating 25 years of sustainability metrics: Why sharing and collecting is the way forward
PRé is celebrating 25 years of thought leadership this year. Our new SimaPro Share & Collect is designed to solve a problem we have noticed from the start, and which still exists today: how to get more business value out of your LCAs.
PEF: a game changer in LCA
PEF SERIES | The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) approach is game-changing, with effects we are only just beginning to understand. PRé is devoting an article series to PEF, discussing it one aspect at a time. Today: how did PEF come about?
Life cycle assessment and cradle to cradle: friends or foes?
LCA is a quantitative, bottom-up sustainability tool. C2C is qualitative and top-down. LCA provides numbers; C2C provides stories. Often, it is thought that the two methods are incompatible. But is this really true? Or can they work together?
What’s more important than Life Cycle Innovation?
FSLCI is a new membership organisation that says it wants to innovate life cycle thinking. PRé's founder Mark Goedkoop thinks they may be missing the mark. This article explains where he thinks the focus should be to really innovate LCA.
The Footprint of Food: Consolidating Data
Food production is, in a way, the cheapest way to pollute the environment. But the world needs increasing amounts of good-quality food to sustain its population. What's currently going on in the sustainability field to help reduce the impact of food?
On developing globally relevant LCA databases
In the past, LCA database developers have mostly used data from European production processes. But in a global economy we need truly global LCA databases. Read more here about some of the initiatives trying to bring together global production data.
Rediscovering LCA, twice in one week
Sustainability communities and LCA desperately need to re-connect | Mark goedkoop, founder of PRé, visited two conferences in the UK in one week, and discovered how two new communities are developing that LCA people really need to know about.
SimaPro at the heart of sustainability metrics
This video is a short introduction to SimaPro and provides explanations from LCA consultants and the founder of PRé Consultants on how the software is used to assist in understanding and reducing environmental impacts.
SimaPro Life cycle assessment Social impact assessment
A method for assessing the impact of novel technology
For PROSUITE, PRé helped develop a novel sustainability impact assessment method for technology, including social impact assessment and new sustainability metrics. This helps understand the effect of these hard-to-predict technologies.
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Introducing SimaPro 8 | Improved Sustainability Metrics
Mark Goedkoop, founder of PRé and SimaPro, proudly introduces to you the new release of LCA software, SimaPro 8.
Review and verification
Mapping the sustainability activities of retailers
For UNEP, PRé surveyed retailers in different countries and conducted a comprehensive literature review about sustainability value chain management. Knowing what value chain management strategies retailers use helps guide improvement.
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A brief on the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint Guide
The European Commission released the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) Guide in April, 2013, along with the Organizational Environmental Footprint (OEF) Guide, under the premise of the “Single Market for Green Products Initiative.” The objective is to support a single metric for a single market, thus enhancing transparency and fair competition.
PCR guidance review for the Sustainable Apparel Coalition
PRé was commissioned to review the internal PCR Guidance documents for the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. This coalition spans about one-third of the apparel (clothing and shoes) sector. Their aim is to create a Higgs index for all apparel, reflecting the environmental impact
Product Environmental Footprint to provide critical mass for footprinting
The critical mass has been reached to provide unified product environmental footprinting. The plan to move forward with this initiative was discussed at the recent PCF World Forum in Berlin.
Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Product category rules (PCR)
Organizing a global PCR database for GEDnet
For non-profit organization GEDNET, an association that fosters worldwide information exchange, PRé created a global database of product category rules. The main benefits of this are cost reduction and increased traceability of data.
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PCF Roundtable | Why PCR Harmonization is Critical
On 29-30 April 2013 the PCF World Forum will host in Berlin the PEF Policy Conference and the PCF Rountdable, to discuss developments and perspectives around Product Footprinting. Mark Goedkoop gives a brief insight about the conference and tells why PCR harmonization is critical