To heighten awareness about the environmental impacts of products throughout their life cycle and cultivate a culture of environmental product declarations that advocate for ecologically responsible products, the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD) and EPD International AB have entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The signing ceremony took place during the 28th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 28) at GORD’s Pavilion in the Blue Zone, attracting attention from sustainability enthusiasts and industry leaders alike.

The MoU, signed by Dr. Yousef Alhorr, Founding Chairman of GORD, and Sebastiaan Francois Stiller, CEO of EPD International AB, aims to drive regional market awareness into the significance of environmental product declarations (EPDs) and support GORD's International Green Mark (IGM) EPD program. EPDs are standardized environmental management techniques that quantify a product's environmental impacts throughout its life cycle, employing a life cycle assessment (LCA).

Speaking at the signing event, Dr. Yousef highlighted the importance of product declarations in meeting global climate goals, “EPDs provide transparent and standardized information on a product's environmental performance, aiding informed decision-making by consumers and businesses. That said, a genuine environmental declaration extends beyond manufacturing, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive life cycle approach that motivates companies to innovate, optimize supply chains and comply with regulations, ensuring a holistic commitment to sustainability across the entire product life cycle. Together, EPDs and LCAs are indispensable tools for achieving global climate goals as they create a common language for sustainability. By collaborating with EPD International AB, we ultimately look forward to leveraging these tools as critical metrics for measuring progress and fostering a transition towards a more sustainable and climate-resilient future.”

Sebastiaan Francois Stiller, CEO of EPD International, said, “By signing this MoU between our independent organizations, we pave the way for a long-term relationship between our EPD schemes. We will start with joint activities on capacity and competence building in LCA and verification with the objective to sign a full MRA according to ISO14029.”

Under the MoU, EPD International being the owner and program operator of the international system of environmental product declarations called the International EPD® System, will collaborate with GORD in the latter’s capacity as the developer of International Green Mark (IGM) – an ecolabeling program for environmental labels, environmental claim validation, environmental declarations, and other sustainability certifications for construction materials and products.

The collaboration seeks to foster life cycle thinking in regional industries, particularly in the construction sector, through awareness events, workshops and targeted educational initiatives. This will include training programs for practitioners in LCA and EPD verification. To this end, GORD's in-house capacity development for LCAs will support IGM's EPD program and regional projects while EPD International's regional office, EPD MENA, will contribute expertise to enhance the credibility and transparency of LCAs and EPDs. GORD and EPD International will also collaboratively organize events to promote life cycle thinking and EPD in green finance. This aligns with partnering entities’ shared commitment to encouraging investors to finance projects with transparent, long-term plans for reducing environmental footprints.

Furthermore, the MoU addresses the scarcity of representative databases for LCA in Qatar and the wider MENA region. The initiative aims to compile data from existing Qatar-based LCAs and EPDs to develop a comprehensive database, enhancing the accuracy of environmental impact assessments.

The recently signed MoU also serves as a precursor to a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) between GORD and EPD International. While the standard LCA methodology is universally followed, EPDs require specific product category rules (PCRs). The MRA will enable mutual recognition of each other's PCRs, fostering PCR harmonization and facilitating accurate comparisons between EPDs of different products.

As the collaboration before GORD and EPD unfolds, it is anticipated to contribute significantly to the development of a marketplace where environmental considerations are integral to decision-making, ultimately steering industries and consumers towards a more ecologically responsible future.