A distributional equity assessment is an evaluation of how Costs and Benefits arising from activities, products, or policies are allocated across specified human sub-populations. This assessment examines not only the total magnitude of costs and benefits but crucially analyses their distribution patterns to understand who bears the burdens and who receives the advantages.
Whilst traditional Life Cycle Assessment and Cost-Benefit Assessment provide aggregate measures of environmental impacts and economic efficiency, distributional equity assessment complements these approaches by revealing potential inequalities in how impacts and benefits are shared amongst different groups. These sub-populations can be defined by various characteristics including geographic location, socioeconomic status, age, gender, occupation, or other relevant demographic or social factors.
Understanding distribution is essential for comprehensive sustainability assessment because aggregate figures can mask significant disparities. For example, a product system might demonstrate favourable overall cost-benefit ratios whilst simultaneously imposing disproportionate environmental burdens on vulnerable communities or generating benefits that accrue primarily to privileged groups. Without distributional analysis, such inequities remain invisible in decision-making processes.
The assessment provides critical information for addressing questions of environmental justice and social equity. It helps identify whether certain populations are systematically disadvantaged by bearing higher costs (such as exposure to pollution, health impacts, or economic burdens) whilst receiving fewer benefits, or whether benefits and costs are more equitably shared across society. This information supports more informed and ethically grounded decision-making that considers fairness alongside efficiency and environmental performance.
