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Composite indicators of environmental sustainability Bedrich Moldan [email protected] Environmental sustainability Environment is seen as one of the three pillars of sustainable development A broader view does not restrain the distinct role of the environment but points out its essential interconnection with the other two pillars namely the economic and social pillar The term “environmental sustainability” stresses both the specificity of the environment and its fundamental anchoring within the sustainability framework. Demand for indicators of environmental sustainability There has been a need for indicators capturing the linkages between the environmental and the other two dimensions of sustainability (e.g. decoupling indicators) Such indicators cover well some of the essential features of sustainable development but by no means cover the issue of environmental sustainability as such Demand for a composite indicator Decision-makers as well as the general public would like to know at one glance what is the environmental situation in a given country - a clear request for developing a single indicator that could serve as an overall measure of environmental sustainability Criteria for sound indicators There are 3 essential criteria: salience, credibility and legitimacy Salience means that the indicator is interesting, useful and relevant for the user. It must show something “that really matters“ (a request for policy relevance) Among other things, the indicator should be able to serve as a benchmarking instrument, to show trends in time and set targets Criteria for sound indicators – credibility Credibility deals with the scientific validity of the indicator: quality of data used for its construction methodology of indicators construction, aggregation and other transformations adequacy of presentation and similar issues Criteria for sound indicators - legitimacy Legitimacy is the most difficult feature to define It touches, e.g., the perception of the indicator, the competence of the producer and his general acceptability Legitimacy is assessed from the point of view of a wide range of potential users and stakeholders whose interests, values, or beliefs might be affected by the indicator (national governments, business sector and civil society organizations). Application of the criteria on GDP and HDI Salience GDP Low level of arbitrariness HDI High level of arbitrariness Credibility Legitimacy Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) It is a measure of the overall progress towards environmental sustainability, developed for 142 countries. Environmental Sustainability Index, 2002 80 70 60 Index 50 40 30 20 10 0 CAN FRA USA GER JAP ITA UKD Dashboard of Sustainability (DS) It is a software which allows presenting complex relationships between economic, social and environmental issues. E.g it calculates Sustainable Development Index (based on UNCSD indicators) Sustainable Development Index, 2000 800 700 600 Index 500 400 300 200 100 0 DEU USA CAN FRA JAP UKD ITA Wellbeing index (WI) It combines 36 indicators into the Human Wellbeing index, and 51 indicators into an Ecosystem Wellbeing index - combined into the Wellbeing/Stress Index Wellbeing of Nations, end of 90'ies 70 60 Index 50 40 30 20 10 0 CAN DEU JAP USA ITA FRA UKD Ecological footprint (EF) An index expressed as the area of ecologically productive land needed to maintain its current consumption patterns and absorb its wastes (carbon dioxide) with the prevailing technology. Global ha per capita Ecological Footprint, 2001 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 ITA JAP DEU UKD FRA CAN USA Total energy footprint (Living Planet Report) A country’s energy footprint is calculated as the area required to provide, or absorb the waste from, fossil fuels (coal, oil,and natural gas), fuelwood, nuclear energy,and hydropower. Total Energy Footprint, 2001 7 Global ha per capita 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 ITA JAP DEU CAN UKD FRA USA Direct Material Consumption (DMC) DMC is a sum of all domestic extraction flows (extracted raw material, harvested biomass, etc.) including imported and excluding exported material flows Domestic Material Consumption, 2002 40 35 t per capita 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 UKD ITA JAP FRA GER USA CAN Does response matter? ESI, DS, and WI E-DS, EF, LPI, and DMC Response element Included High correlation with GDP Some links among three pillars of sustainability Response element not included Low correlation with GDP Links between physical anthropogenic activity affecting the environmental parameters Better suited for being accepted as the indicators of environmental sustainability Geobiosphere Load Index (GBL) It captures the most important factors of environmental sustainability: energy, materials and land These sub-indexes can be regarded as the essential components and prerequisites of nature’s services It focuses on pressures ( D-P-S-I-R framework) Geobiosphere Load Index (GBL) Relative results expressed in the “per km2” and „per capita“ (the best results = the lowest GBL values) Index GeoBiosphere Load, end of 90'ies 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 GBL per km2 GBL per capita CAN USA FRA ITA UK DEU JAP