Overview
In today's environmentally conscious production and consumption landscapes, availability of accurate and trustworthy information regarding the environmental impacts of products and organisations plays a pivotal role in decision-making of businesses and consumers.
Companies, especially SMEs, often lack the necessary knowledge and tools to quantify and convey their environmental performance in a reliable way. This is where the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF) methods, collectively known as Environmental Footprint methods, come into play.
The Environmental Footprint methods provide meticulous guidelines for modelling, calculating, and reporting life cycle environmental impacts of products and organisations. The Environmental Footprint methods build upon established international practices and standards, such as ISO 14000/44. These methods are instrumental in advancing towards a more sustainable economy by providing producers and buyers with the tools they need to make informed and more sustainable choices.
Businesses
Consumers
When businesses adopt harmonised, reliable, and transparent approaches to calculate the environmental performance, and effectively communicate about it, consumers can make informed choices, contributing to the development of more sustainable and responsible consumption patterns.
Check out the Environmental Footprint methods factsheet
Policy Makers
Policy makers can use the Environmental Footprint methods to analyse and design policies in a more systemic way, understanding environmental hotspots and possible trade-offs across value chains and impact categories.
Researchers
Researchers can use the Environmental Footprint methods to conduct life cycle assessment studies in a more harmonised way. For instance, these methods can be used to support development of sustainable technologies or improve the production and consumption systems.
Learn more here
Find out more
Documents
Find out how your business can benefit from using the EF methods!
To measure your footprint, you need reliable data from the correct sources. This quick guide tells you what you need to know about EF data.
The Environmental Footprint (EF) methods are scientific tools and rules designed to calculate the environmental impact of products and organisations.
The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and the Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF) are life cycle assessment (LCA) based methods to measure and communicate the potential life cycle environmental impact of products (goods or services) and organisations, respectively. Together they form the...
Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 of 15 December 2021 on the use of the Environmental Footprint methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations
NEWS
News article2 October 2024
Discover the future of sustainability in sports at the Free Kicks Conference 2024, part of the Sport Positive Summit. This event, taking place on 8-9 October 2024 and will focus how the sports industry, especially football, can contribute to environmental sustainability.
1 min read
News article24 June 2024
Understanding a product's or an organisation’s environmental impact can be challenging. This month, we explore the European Commission's Environmental Footprint methods, which help businesses accurately measure and improve their sustainability while providing consumers with reliable information and
2 min read
News article13 April 2024
On 12 April the European Council adopted revised energy performance rules for buildings with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy poverty in the European Union.
3 min read
News article29 February 2024
EFRAG has published two Exposure Drafts on sustainability reporting standards for SMEs and invites feedback until May 21st, 2024. EMAS stakeholders are encouraged to provide their input.
7 min read
