Comparing the ecological footprint with the biodiversity footprint of products

This study compares the ecological footprints with the biodiversity footprints of products that result from land use and carbon dioxide emissions. The biodiversity footprints were quantified using mean species abundance statistics, whereas the ecological footprint refers to the impacts on bioproductivity. We used a data set of 1340 product systems subdivided into 13 product groups, which included various types of energy generation and material production. We found that the importance of direct land use vs. carbon dioxide emissions is different for biodiversity footprints compared to ecological footprints. This difference is particularly relevant if the environmental impact of bio-based products (dominated by direct land use) is compared with the environmental impact of fossil-based products (dominated by CO2 emissions). Our results also show that the relative importance of different drivers can change over time within the biodiversity footprint and that the relative importance of climate change significantly increased for longer time horizons. As the interpretation of the biodiversity footprint can differ from the ecological footprint, the inclusion of impacts on biodiversity should be considered in the footprint calculation of products.