Life cycle assessment sparks interest at the highest levels of state

Published on 04/12/2018

On Tuesday 27 November 2018, HRH Grand Duke Henri held a private audience with two employees from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST): Lucien Hoffmann, Director of the Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN) and Enrico Benetto, Head of the Environmental Sustainability Assessment and Circularity research unit.

International conference paves the way for discussion

This audience follows a successful meeting between the three men on 6 September 2017, on the last day of the Life Cycle Management – LCM conference, which took place from 4 to 6 September 2017 at the European Convention Centre Luxembourg in Luxembourg-Kirchberg. Accompanied by Prince Louis, HRH Grand Duke Henri visited the different stands, taking the time to talk to the speakers.

At his own request, HRH Prince Louis also participated in one of the congress workshops. The congress brought 730 scientists and international practitioners from 46 countries together in Luxembourg, all convinced of the effectiveness of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to assess the environmental durability of products and technologies. This message was conveyed by the Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, who, in his inaugural discussion, argued for the emergence of a sustainable growth model.

Environmental issues at the heart of the interview

The topics covered at the 8th LCM conference formed the backbone of the private audience with HRH Grand Duke Henri, which took place on Tuesday 27 November 2018. The Grand Duke is very interested in environmental issues and is also highly committed to the awareness-raising campaigns for these major challenges to the economic future of the country. This commitment is highlighted by the Head of State’s participation in the 24th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24), which takes place from 3 to 14 December 2018 in Katowice, Poland, with these issues at its core.

At the end of the meeting, Lucien Hoffmann and Enrico Benetto offered HRH Grand Duke Henri a special edition of the LCM 2017 conference publication, entitled “Designing Sustainable Technologies, Products and Policies”, bringing together the best scientific contributions presented at the congress.

>> To find out more about this publication, see the news entitled “LCM2017 post-event book “Designing Sustainable Technologies, Products and Policies - a success”, published on 24 July 2018.