Similar to that of an Ecological Footprint, a Consumption Footprint is a life-cycle assessment (LCA) set of indicators to determine the environmental impact of production and consumption, this being in the European Union (EU).  The consumption footprint follows five indicators in regards to area of consumption, these include food, mobility, housing, household goods, and appliances.  The environmental impact of these indicators are combined and multiplied by their intensity to find the consumption footprint.

Assessing a consumption footprint is crucial when it comes to determining and maintaining ones conservation and sustainable development goals.  The framework for the assessment of a consumption footprint is built on its perspective of the environmental impacts of a product’s full lifecycle; from its extraction and production, through its use and re-purposing.  This is then allocated to the country where it is used and/or consumed; production of imported goods are considered in this framework as well.

—

Other Sources

“Consumption footprint and domestic footprint” Publications Office of the European Union. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/ea6f4326-b745-11ed-8912-01aa75ed71a1/language-en. Accessed February 1, 2024.

“Consumption footprint: Assessing the environmental impacts of EU consumption” European Commission. https://eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/sustainableConsumption.html. Accessed February 1, 2024.