Current LCA methodologies employed to assess the intensity of environmental impacts lack a
regional view even though the sensitivity of the receiving environment is important in
determining the specific levels of risks. This book seeks to redress the balance and develop a
globally applicable affordable and feasible approach to determine differentiated sets of
possible impacts with higher environmental burdens derived from food supply chain processes. To
this end the earth's land surface is divided into so-called ecoregions defined by their
specific characteristics such as soil climate and topography physiography and associated
with the relevant risks for each ecoregion. The use of ecoregions and respective environmental
risks can help enterprises recognize the environmental effect of their products but also help
improve the reliability of comparisons between LCA results in different regions.
