Externalities

Costs or benefits that fall on third parties or the environment and are not reflected in market prices — pollution damage, or the value of freshwater left in a river. Environmental LCC includes only those externalities expected to become real costs within the time frame of the decision, such as an announced carbon tax or a stricter discharge fee; the rest are left to the LCA so they are not counted twice. Societal LCC goes further and puts a monetary value on externalities in general. Bringing an external cost into market prices, through taxes, fees or regulation, is called internalisation.