The Environmental Footprints Explorer - a database for global sustainable accounting

Environmentally Extended Multi Regional Input
Output tables and analysis (EE MRIOs) have emerged as one
of the main tools to analyze resource use and environmental
impacts across international supply chains. They provide insights
into the life cycle impacts of the production and consumption of
commodities world wide, taking into account the global supply
chain of purchased commodities. Currently half a dozen EE
MRIO databases are available which differ in their environ-
mental and economic focus as well as in the level of detail.
As these databases become increasingly large, it has become
increasingly difficult for the non-input-output expert to access
the most important attributes and results of basic calculations.
Here we present an integrated web-platform, the Environmental
Footprints Explorer (http://www.environmentalfootprints.com),
designed to access indicator results calculated based on these
databases. The main functionality of the web-platform include
(1) exploring environmental accounts based on a single database
(2) comparison between databases using a common classification
system and (3) exporting analysis results visualization. The
presented web-platform removes the obstacle for policy-makers
and the public alike to access EE MRIO results.