Task 1.1

Ocean acidification poses a critical threat to marine ecosystems. While life cycle assessment frameworks provide a method for assessing and combatting many anthropogenic impacts, marine impact models remain underdeveloped compared to their terrestrial counterparts. We present the first spatially explicit characterization model for quantifying the impacts of ocean acidification that includes both midpoint and endpoint characterization factors (CFs). We have calculated mid and endpoint CFs for 232 marine ecoregions and 18 FAO major fishing areas, for each of the three greenhouse gases CO2, CO, and CH4. The CFs calculated in this study can be applied to any life cycle inventory containing CO2, CO, or CH4 emissions to the air. The complete dataset can be found in the supplementary information of the publication.

Task 1.5

There is an increasing demand for consistent methods and tools to quantify biodiversity footprints. We have developed the intactness-based biodiversity impact factors (IBIF) dataset: a consistent set of country-level impact factors that can be used to attribute losses in local terrestrial biodiversity intactness to emissions and resource use associated with production or consumption in a given country.

We used the GLOBIO model and its mean species abundance (MSA) metric to obtain these impact factors for 234 countries and five environmental pressures: CO2 emissions, NH3 emissions, NOx emissions, land use (urban land, cropland, pasture, forest plantations and mines) and roads. IBIF includes impact factors for vascular plants, warm-blooded vertebrates (birds & mammals) and both species groups combined. The dataset can be used to quantify the biodiversity footprints of current products, industrial sectors or consumers, in support of policy- and decision-making aimed at halting or reversing biodiversity loss.

Upcoming

Database of characterization factors for biodiversity impacts from seabed damage (expected March 2026)
Database of characterization factors for biodiversity impacts from overfishing (expected June 2026)

Upcoming

Database of characterization factors for impacts on functional diversity and ecosystem services (expected in August 2026), covering:

- Climate change impacts on functional diversity of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems
- Eutrophication impacts on functional diversity of freshwater and marine ecosystems
- Overexploitation impacts on functional diversity of marine ecosystems
- Land use impacts on pollination, pest control, soil erosion, and carbon sequestration

Upcoming

Work Package 4 will deliver a set of prospective multiregional input–output (MRIO) tables with environmental extensions covering major greenhouse gas emissions and land-use indicators. Instead of projecting future production and consumption patterns using MRIOs, we construct the prospective MRIOs by integrating scenario outputs from the integrated assessment model IMAGE into the EXIOBASE. The resulting datasets therefore represent prospective global supply chains consistent with a suite of futures developed by IMAGE under the Nature Futures Framework. Alongside a Baseline scenario (SSP2 with current policies), the scenario will cover four sustainability-oriented pathways—Protected Areas (“Nature for Nature”), Reduced Demand (“Nature as Culture”),  Climate Mitigation (“Nature for Society”), and mix of the above three — each explored at both low and high levels of implementation. Prospective MRIOs in all scenarios will be constructed for the years 2035, 2040, 2045, and 2050, with a resolution of 20 regions and 70 sectors. The prospective MRIO datasets, planned for open-access release on Zenodo by Month 48 (September in 2026), will enable the identification of key economic drivers and leverage points underlying biodiversity loss across alternative global futures, providing valuable insights for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and researchers.

Upcoming

1) Report on data availability, covering data availability, sourcing methods and the challenges on sourcing data required for biodiversity impact assessment, stemming from the Retail Partners case study, available in December 2025
2) Report on the modelling standards approach, covering the match between the models and approaches and industry standards, guidelines and potential model input adjustment due to certification and reporting schemes, available in September 2026
3) Leverage points for retailers, covering the methodology and key outcomes around useability, data sourcing and the potential insights and decisions for retail partners towards nature positive impact, available in September 2026

All data and model output will also be made available on Zenodo.