Measuring countries’ environmental sustainability performance—The development of a nation-specific indicator set
| Autor: | Snjólfur Ólafsson, David Cook, Lara Johannsdottir, Nina M. Saviolidis, Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir |
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| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
Data collection
Ecology business.industry 020209 energy Environmental resource management General Decision Sciences Context (language use) 02 engineering and technology 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences Environmental Sustainability Index Ranking Scale (social sciences) Sustainability 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering Radar chart Sustainability organizations business Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | Ecological Indicators. 74:463-478 |
| ISSN: | 1470-160X |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.12.009 |
| Popis: | The complicated task of measuring environmental sustainability has often led to comparative evaluations of national performance using ranking lists and generic policy targets. In this paper, a set of national environmental indicators is determined through the deployment of a five-stage methodology, which includes the use of focus group research and formation of an expert team to guide the process, selection of an initial pool of pre-existing indicators, establishment of criteria to guide the selection process, and setting of appropriate policy or trend-based targets given the nation-specific context. The nations of Iceland and Norway are used as case studies to demonstrate an effective means of communicating indicator outcomes over time. National performance is first evaluated on an indicator-by-indicator basis and then summarised overall through a system of traffic lights and radar charts for trend and target-based indicators respectively. Via this analytical process, it also becomes clear that data shortages partially constrain the extent to which a nation’s environmental sustainability performance can be deciphered. Improved data collection is necessary connected to the measurement of several environmental issues on a national scale, particularly the sustainability of fisheries, soil erosion and biodiversity. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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