On the use of national-level LULUC data in product-level LCA: reflections on methodological alignment

We read with interest the recent publication by Lehtilä and colleagues [1], which proposes a framework for including national-level land use and land-use change (LULUC) emissions and removals in the global warming potential (GWP) of agricultural and forestry products in life cycle assessment (LCA). While the transparency and structure of the approach are appreciated, several methodological issues arise that deserve attention. • Rebuttal to Lehtilä et al.‘s framework on LULUC accounting in product-level LCA. • Framework relies on average retrospective data, limiting decision-use relevance. • Method excludes indirect land-use change and marginal dynamics. • Conceptual misalignments with GWP metric and managed-land proxy are noted. • Highlights the need for methodological coherence in LCA applications.

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Journal
Journal of Cleaner Production
Published
2025-10-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.146802
Primary Topic
Environmental Impact and Sustainability
Type
article
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article

On the use of national-level LULUC data in product-level LCA: reflections on methodological alignment

Jannick Hoejrup Schmidt, Miguel Brandão, Bo P. Weidema
Journal of Cleaner Production
Environmental Impact and Sustainability
article

On the use of national-level LULUC data in product-level LCA: reflections on methodological alignment

Jannick Hoejrup Schmidt, Miguel Brandão, Bo P. Weidema
article en

Abstract

We read with interest the recent publication by Lehtilä and colleagues [1], which proposes a framework for including national-level land use and land-use change (LULUC) emissions and removals in the global warming potential (GWP) of agricultural and forestry products in life cycle assessment (LCA). While the transparency and structure of the approach are appreciated, several methodological issues arise that deserve attention. • Rebuttal to Lehtilä et al.‘s framework on LULUC accounting in product-level LCA. • Framework relies on average retrospective data, limiting decision-use relevance. • Method excludes indirect land-use change and marginal dynamics. • Conceptual misalignments with GWP metric and managed-land proxy are noted. • Highlights the need for methodological coherence in LCA applications.

Journal of Cleaner ProductionVol. 528
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US), Riga Technical University (LV), 2.-0 LCA Consultants (Denmark) (DK), Sustainable Energy Systems (United Kingdom) (GB), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE), Aalborg University (DK)
Openalex Percentile: Top 74%
Environmental Impact and Sustainability
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On the use of national-level LULUC data in product-level LCA: reflections on methodological alignment — Jannick Hoejrup Schmidt, Miguel Brandão, et al. · Journal of Cleaner Production (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS