The Role of Life Cycle Thinking in the Sustainable Development Goal process

Sangwon Suh

Professor of Industrial Ecology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Sangwon Suh is professor in industrial ecology and director of the CLiCC Program, a university-industry partnership for understanding chemicals' environmental and human health implications. Professor Suh was trained as an environmental engineer and earned his PhD in industrial ecology at Leiden University in the Netherlands. His research focuses on the sustainability of the human-nature complexity through understanding materials and energy exchanges between them. Over the past twenty years, he contributed to the theoretical foundations and practical applications of life cycle assessment (LCA) and industrial ecology. Professor Suh was appointed as a member of the International Resource Panel (IRP) by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and served as the Coordinating Lead Author of the Assessment Report 5 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He received the McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, Leontief Memorial Prize and the Richard Stone Prize, the Robert A. Laudise Medal and Distinguished Teaching Award.