miljøbelastning

Miljøbelastning is a term used to describe the overall pressure exerted by human activities on the environment. It encompasses emissions to air, water, and soil; resource extraction and depletion; waste generation; and land-use changes that affect ecosystems and biodiversity. The concept is used to assess how much a given activity or system imposes on natural systems and how that burden compares with ecological capacity and sustainability targets.

Measurement and indicators vary, but commonly include life cycle assessment (LCA), which evaluates environmental burdens across a product’s life cycle from raw materials to end-of-life. Other indicators include greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint), energy use, water consumption, eutrophication, acidification, biodiversity loss, and waste generation. The ecological footprint and planetary boundaries frameworks provide higher-level views of relative burden and Earth’s capacity to sustain it.

Typical sources of miljøbelastning include transport and logistics, energy production, industry, agriculture, and construction. Key burdens are CO2 and methane emissions, air pollutants, water and soil pollution, plastic and other waste, and habitat fragmentation or loss.

Management and policy approaches aim to reduce miljøbelastning through environmental impact assessments (EIA) for proposed projects, pollution controls, resource-efficiency programs, and incentives for sustainable practices. In business and governance, sustainability reporting and life cycle thinking help quantify and manage burdens, guiding decisions toward reduced environmental impact and greater resilience.