There are daily information challenges for stakeholders in transforming their consumption and production patterns, for achieving global climate, biodiversity and pollution-free goals and targets. For instance, how can business be better informed about the impact of the increasing planetary crises and the resulting disruption to production, logistics and regulatory uncertainties? How can investors assess the risks and impact of investments with limited visibility and accessibility to critical data in the field? How can consumers access and appropriate the best available information for decisions of purchase, consumption and disposal towards sustainability? Which public policies will be most effective in relieving environmental hotspots? Which economic policies can facilitate the access to goods, services and knowledge needed for the green economic transformation?  

In this context, the project aims to build a digitally enabled infrastructure that generates, pools and analyses the critical data needed for decision-making and incentivizes actions by a variety of stakeholders (governments, business, citizens) for sustainable consumption and production. This entails two-way translations: firstly, it involves translating the daily information challenges of stakeholders into questions of data science and transparency mechanisms. Secondly, it involves translating viable methods for connecting policy drivers, value chain performance and environmental impact into actionable solutions for stakeholders and transparency tools with real-world impact.  

The project “Digital Enabling of Circularity, Innovation, Development and Environment” (DECIDE) is a joint initiative of UNEP, ETH Zurich, Global Trade Alert at the University of St. Gallen and Zurich University of Applied Sciences, under the umbrella of the Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership.