
Environmental Footprinting and Input-Output Analysis
Environmental footprints characterize the impacts on the environment driven by human consumption activities throughout the whole supply chain. This course introduces theories and concepts of environmental footprints, methods and tools to quantify environmental footprints of consumption activities at the nation and international scales, and applications such as carbon footprints and hybrid life cycle analysis. The key objective of this course is to introduce the input-output analysis (IOA) framework and its application in environmental footprinting. The first part of the course aims to develop a conceptual and practical understanding of IOA. The second part of the course demonstrates how to apply basic IOA framework and its various modifications to examine environmental footprints of consumption and trade. Upon completing this course, students are expected to have a good understanding of production systems, global supply chains, and their impacts on the environment.