Background:
The European Green Deal (EGD) provides the central policy framework for the transformation of the European economy towards climate neutrality, circular economy, and security of supply. The energy sector plays a key role in this process, as it is both a major emitter of greenhouse gases and a driver of the energy transition. To systematically assess progress, transparent, indicator-based approaches are required that integrate relevant policy instruments and monitoring systems.
Objective of the Thesis
The Master’s thesis aims to develop a methodological analysis framework for the European energy sector. This framework will make it possible to measure and compare the sector’s progress with regard to the objectives of the EGD (climate neutrality, circular economy, innovation, investment, and security of supply).
Tasks
Methodological Approach
The thesis is based on an indicator-based methodology. By systematically linking value chain stages, policy frameworks, and measurable indicators, a robust analytical model will be developed. A particular focus will be placed on methodological transparency to enable later cross-sectoral comparability.
Profile
Start: immediately
Language: English
Contact: Sarina Achterfeldt (sarina.achterfeldt@inab.rwth-aachen.de)
Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) is the youngest among the three approaches related to Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment. It is evolving throughout time and new methodologies are being incorporated into the researchers’ practices. Data collection is still the greatest constraint, being the primary data collection one of the major challenges to SLCA.
According to the Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Organizations (Benoît Norris et al., 2020), SLCA comprises six stakeholders of analysis: worker, actors of the value chain, local community, society, consumers and children. Among them, the worker stakeholder is the one most commonly assessed either by collecting primary or secondary data sources.
Therefore, this project aims at running an extensive literature review on the data collections methods and tools, either related to generic or specific data, applied to assessing the six stakeholders, with an emphasis on workers. Furthermore, it aims to map the most assessed indicators, regardless of the economic sector of the studies, in order to propose a harmonised set of indicators for each stakeholder, comprised with a sound definition and suggesting data collection sources and reliable tools within the literature.
This thesis must be written in English.
Contact:
Dr. Arij Chabrawi: arij.chabrawi@inab.rwth-aachen.de
Background/Scope:
Corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by emerging regulatory frameworks such as the EU Taxonomy, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). These instruments aim to enhance transparency, harmonization, and comparability in corporate sustainability disclosures.
The DAX companies — Germany’s largest publicly listed firms — provide publicly disclosed sustainability reports to examine whether regulatory changes have led to more comprehensive, consistent, and life cycle–aligned GHG reporting.
From a life cycle based perspective, reporting only Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect energy-related) emissions is insufficient to capture a company’s full climate footprint and can lead to burden shifting. Scope 3 emissions — covering upstream and downstream value chain impacts — are essential for life-cycle completeness. However, their inclusion, calculation methods, and transparency might vary widely between companies and over time.
This thesis aims to:
The thesis can be written in German and English
Contact:
Sarina Achterfeldt: sarina.achterfeldt@inab.rwth-aachen.de
Suzana Ostojic: suzana.ostojic@inab.rwth-aachen.de
