How to assign the responsibility of GHG emission plays an important role in the research fields of mitigation of, and adaptation to climate change. The main efforts that have been done so far are focused on the macrosystem (especially country) level, investigating, for instance, how to discriminate between producer and consumer countries, including phenomena like decentralization, delocalization, or decoupling. The proposal adapts the responsibility approach to the micro- or the meso- system, using a Life Cycle Thinking approach to GHG estimation and responsibility allocation. The accounting can be extended to include the indirect emissions (or process emissions), in order to calculate the effects of the production and consumption of goods and services in terms of the so-called Carbon Footprint (namely, accounting the GHG emission throughout the life cycle of the products or flows analyzed) in a system in which a set of subjects (production units, companies) are involved in a composite process made of phases that can be connected with each other. The main aim of the research is to find ways to highlight, measure and increase the cooperation, and the circularity of the whole system and mitigate the impact on the environment. The approach, first refined theoretically, will be applied to different systems. Examples of great interest are, circle closure in industrial districts and energy, water and waste management strategies.

The PhD candidate is expected to have a background in environmental science, sustainability foundations, assessment and indicators.The candidate must have proficient English and familiarity with the most common tools for the estimation of environmental impacts. Knowledge of GHG accounting method, Life Cycle Assessment and other environmental accounting methods is seen as a significant merit.The candidate should be motivated and open-minded, available to develop and share his/her experience in a transdisciplinary environment. He/she must be available to stay in Siena and also travel for both education and research purposes.

Sustainability is a strategic task of the University of Siena. The PhD candidate will work in the Ecodynamics Group (Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment), a multidisciplinary research team that has been dealing with sustainability and climate change for three decades. The group has extensive experience in compiling GHG inventories at territorial level, certification tools, Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint, applied in multiple contexts and to various systems (territorial, productive, etc.). Other projects of the group are based on sustainability assessment of systems and processes, GHG emission responsibility assessment