Session “Midpoint, endpoint or single score for decision-making?”—SETAC Europe 25th Annual Meeting, May 5th, 2015

• DOI: 10.1007/s11367-015-0998-0
• Publication Date: 2015-11-20T09:04:44Z
• Authors: Thomas Kägi; Fredy Dinkel; Rolf Frischknecht; Sebastien Humbert; Jacob Lindberg; Steven De Mester; Tommie Ponsioen; Serenella Sala; Urs Walter Schenker
• Keywords: CLARITY; Midpoint; Clinical endpoint; Scarcity

There is a strong demand for simple, understandable and clear LCA outcomes to support decision-making especially in the context of policy-making or company management. The debate is ongoing as to whether clarity and simplicity may be obtained by adopting either LCA endpoint or even single score methods. As a contribution to this debate, a session was organised to discuss the use of midpoint, endpoint or single score indicators in support of the decision making process. The session, comprising 10 presentations about different aspects of this topic, concluded with a 40 minute panel discussion. Most authors who contributed to this SETAC Europe LCA session concluded there was a need for endpoint or single score assessment (and transparent communication of the same) for sound and effective decision-making support. This may be the better option than letting the decision makers choose the relevant impacts subjectively. But endpoint or single score results do not mean that midpoint indicators have no value. Even though endpoint or single score indicators can be very helpful in decision support, midpoint indicators help identify issues of specific environmental concern (e.g. climate change, acidification or water scarcity).