Peter Baccini leaves behind a life’s work whose impact reached far beyond the boundaries of science. As a visionary natural scientist, researcher, and university professor, he shaped our understanding of resource management, material cycles, and sustainable development over several decades.

Together with Paul Brunner, he developed the method of Material Flow Analysis and advanced the concept of the anthropogenic metabolism. Alongside his close collaborator Brunner, he captured this knowledge in several outstanding textbooks. Peter Baccini had a remarkable ability to make the complex relationships between people, the environment, and resources both visible and understandable. His research at ETH Zurich inspired not only fellow scientists but also generations of students and postdoctoral researchers, whom he mentored with dedication, foresight, and genuine humanity.

With Peter Baccini, we have lost an exceptional individual, a rigorous and analytical thinker, and a committed bridge-builder between science and society. His legacy will endure through his ideas, his publications, and the many people whose lives and work he influenced.

Our deepest sympathies go to his family, his friends, and all those who were close to him.

With gratitude and remembrance,

Helmut Rechberger and the FAR Team