Measuring Sustainability And Decoupling

Author : Nordic Council of Ministers
Publisher : Nordic Council of Ministers
Page : 72 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9789289314107

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Measuring Sustainability and Decoupling by Nordic Council of Ministers Pdf

There is growing interest among policymakers for the prospects of decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation, in order to achieve improved environmental quality without compromising economic growth. However, whilst decoupling indicators give a reasonably good measure for potential or progress towards sustainability, decoupling is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for sustainability. Decoupling indicators, unlike many other statistical efforts related to the environment, are not meant to summarise the general state of the environment, but rather to measure countries' progress towards mitigating or alleviating particular environmental pressures from relevant driving forces.

Author : Nordic Council of Ministers
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 69 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Renewable natural resources
ISBN : 9289335203

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Measuring Sustainability and Decoupling by Nordic Council of Ministers Pdf

There is growing interest, among policymakers, for the prospects of decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation, as they have a hard time disentangling environmental policies from their economic and social impacts. Opportunities for improved environmental quality without compromising economic growth are, and always will be, welcomed. Decoupling should not be thought of as an approximation of sustainability. While decoupling indicators often give a reasonably good measure for potential or progress towards sustainability, decoupling is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for sustainability. Decoupling indicators, unlike many other statistical efforts related to the environment, are not meant to be all-inclusive or to summarize the general state of the environment. Their purpose is rather to measure countries' progress towards mitigating or alleviating particular environmental pressures from the relevant driving forces. Decoupling indicators are primarily attractive for their simplicity. For detailed policy analysis in which sustainability is the objective, other methods are needed.

Author : Tomás Hák,Bedrich Moldan,Arthur Lyon Dahl
Publisher : Island Press
Page : 448 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2012-09-26
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781597266284

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Sustainability Indicators by Tomás Hák,Bedrich Moldan,Arthur Lyon Dahl Pdf

While the concept of sustainability has been widely embraced, it has been only vaguely defined and is exceedingly difficult to measure. Sustainability indicators are critical to making the broad concept of sustainability operational by providing specific measures by which decision makers and the public can judge progress. Sustainability Indicators defines the present state of the art in indicator development. It presents a comprehensive assessment of the science behind various indicators, while placing special emphasis on their use as communications tools. The contributors draw on their experience as academics and practitioners to describe the conceptual challenges to measuring something as complex as sustainability at local, regional, national, and global scales. The book also reviews existing indicators to assess how they could be better employed, considering which indicators are overused and which have been underutilized. Sustainability Indicators will help planners and policy makers find indicators that are ready for application and relevant to their needs, and will help researchers identify the unresolved issues where progress is most urgently needed. All readers will find advice as to the most effective ways to use indicators to support decision making.

Author : OECD
Publisher : OECD Publishing
Page : 428 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2004-07-07
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9789264020139

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Measuring Sustainable Development Integrated Economic, Environmental and Social Frameworks by OECD Pdf

The papers in this conference proceedings address the various conceptual, measurement and statistical policy issues that arise when applying accounting frameworks to the concept of sustainable development.

Author : Slobodan Kacanski,Johannes Kabderian Dreyer,Kristian J. Sund
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2023-03-28
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9783031269592

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Measuring Sustainability and CSR: From Reporting to Decision-Making by Slobodan Kacanski,Johannes Kabderian Dreyer,Kristian J. Sund Pdf

This book discusses reliability and other related issues, such as reporting and decision-making, pertinent to sustainability and corporate responsibility reporting practices. Investors, governments, and NGOs expect businesses to report their environmental and social performance. This information is used to legislate, regulate industries, and guide the investment of billions of dollars through pensions and mutual funds. But can we trust these measurements? In order to answer this question, the editors and contributors, all academic thought leaders from a variety of fields, offer a set of reflections on problems that various stakeholders might be exposed to. These problems are mainly due to a lack of standardized reporting practices and guidelines, and inconsistencies in measurements used for the valuation of corporate sustainability performance indicators. This book is of great interest to students, scholars, and stakeholders to help comprehend the importance of accounting on sustainability practices for decision-making and measures therein, but also the reliability risks involved in these measurements. Thus, it moves away from simply pushing for more sustainability reporting towards a more critical discussion of measurement issues and potential consequences of the aforementioned problems to different fields such as finance, marketing, or strategy.

Author : David William Pearce
Publisher : Earthscan
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1853831832

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Blueprint 3 by David William Pearce Pdf

First Published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Author : Subhas K. Sikdar,Debalina Sengupta,Rajib Mukherjee
Publisher : Springer
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2016-11-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783319427195

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Measuring Progress Towards Sustainability by Subhas K. Sikdar,Debalina Sengupta,Rajib Mukherjee Pdf

This book is a state of the art treatise on what has been done so far on measuring sustainability for decision making. Contributions will appeal to engineers and scientists engaged in technology development, assessment, and verification. Researchers working on engineering sustainability are likely to get ideas for further research in quantifying sustainability for industrial systems. Concepts described can be applied across all scales, from process technology to global sustainability; and challenges and limitations are also addressed. Readers will discover important insights about simulation-based approaches to process design and quantitative measurement techniques of sustainability for business and technology systems. Most of the examples and case studies are from chemical enterprises but the methodologies presented could be applicable to any system for which quantitative data for indicators are available, and the choice of the set of indicators of sustainability are comprehensive.

Author : OECD
Publisher : OECD Publishing
Page : 168 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2000-02-11
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9789264180635

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Frameworks to Measure Sustainable Development An OECD Expert Workshop by OECD Pdf

This volume brings together a number of approaches to measuring sustainable development pursued in academia, national administrations and international organisations, as presented at an expert workshop held at the OECD headquarters in September 1999.

Author : Simon Bell,Stephen Morse
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2012-05-04
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 9781136556012

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Sustainability Indicators by Simon Bell,Stephen Morse Pdf

Praise for the first edition: 'This book should be of interest to anyone interested in sustainable development, and especially sustainability indicators. Bell and Morse easily succeed in exposing the fundamental paradoxes of these concepts and, more importantly, they offer us a way forward. Readers ... will find their practical recommendations for those attempting to do sustainability analysis in the field most welcome, which is also the book's greatest strength.' Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability 'This book makes a valuable contribution to the theory and practice of using indicators for sustainability. It introduces systems ideas and a range of tools and techniques that have the potential to broaden and deepen our understanding of a whole range of complex situations. Well worth a closer look.' Christine Blackmore, Open University 'This is a book that explores new ways of thinking about how to measure sustainability... It offers stimulating food for thought for environmental educators and researchers.' Environmental Education Research 'This book tells me, as an SI 'practitioner', where I have been and why, and more importantly how I should be thinking in order to effectively present to and empower the local community in the years ahead.' David Ellis, Principal Pollution Monitoring Officer, Norwich City Council 'A practical guide to the development of sustainability indicators which offers a systemic and participative way to use them at local scale. Our preliminary results are highly positive and the approach is applicable in many contexts.' Elisabeth Coudert, Programme Officer Prospective and Regional Development, Blue Plan The groundbreaking first edition of Sustainability Indicators reviewed the development and value of sustainability indicators and discussed the advantage of taking a holistic and qualitative approach rather than focusing on strictly quantitative measures. In the new edition the authors bring the literature up to date and show that the basic requirement for a systemic approach is now well grounded in the evidence. They examine the origins and development of Systemic Sustainability Analysis (SSA) as a theoretical approach to sustainability which has been developed in practice in a number of countries on an array of projects since the first edition. They look at how SSA has evolved into the practical approaches of Systemic Prospective Sustainability Analysis (SPSA) and IMAGINE, and, in particular, how a wide range of participatory methodologies have been adopted over the years. They also provide an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of projects that undertake work in the general field of sustainable development.

Author : Simon Bell,Stephen Morse
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 209 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2013-06-17
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781136561337

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Measuring Sustainability by Simon Bell,Stephen Morse Pdf

' Measuring the sustainability of development is crucial to achieving it, and is one of the most actively studied issues in the area. To date, most studies of measurements or indicators have been largely theoretical. However, this book, a follow-on to Bell and Morse's highly influential Sustainability Indicators (1999), presents valuable practical advice on how to develop measurements that will work in real-life development contexts. It describes and analyses how to derive, validate and apply indicators in the course of an actual development project - in this case the Mediterranean Action Plan in Malta. The authors explain the trade-offs and constraints involved and how it is possible to combine the open-ended and flexible perspectives of sustainability with the more linear processes and fixed targets of specific projects through the use of pragmatic and reflective methodologies.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : OECD
Page : 442 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2004-07-15
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : STANFORD:36105121812700

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Measuring Sustainable Development by Anonim Pdf

This publication contains the proceedings of an OECD workshop, held in May 2003 organised to discuss how to measure progress towards achieving sustainable development policy objectives through the development of a framework of internationally comparable indicators which can adequately synthesise economic, environmental and social dimensions. The workshop considered a range of projects launched by OECD countries and International organisations to extend established economic accounts schemes to environmental and social phenomena. The papers contained in this volume address the various conceptual, measurement and statistical policy issues that arise when applying accounting frameworks to this complex problem.

Author : Cheryl Desha,Charlie Hargroves,Michael Harrison Smith
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 466 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2010-09-23
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781136532566

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Cents and Sustainability by Cheryl Desha,Charlie Hargroves,Michael Harrison Smith Pdf

Cents and Sustainability is a clear-sighted response to the 1987 call by Dr Gro Brundtland in Our Common Future to achieve a new era of economic growth that is 'forceful and at the same time socially and environmentally sustainable'. The Brundtland Report argued that not only was it achievable, but that it was an urgent imperative in order to achieve a transition to sustainable development while significantly reducing poverty and driving 'clean and green' investment. With some still arguing for significantly slowing economic growth in order to reduce pressures on the environment, this new book, Cents and Sustainability, shows that it is possible to reconcile the need for economic growth and environmental sustainability through a strategy to decouple economic growth from environmental pressures, combined with a renewed commitment to achieve significant environmental restoration and poverty reduction. Beginning with a brief overview of some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, the book then explains 'decoupling theory', overviews a number of factors that can undermine and even block efforts to decouple in both developed and developing countries, and then discusses a number of key considerations to assist the development of national 'decoupling strategies'. The book then focuses on presenting evidence to support greater action, not just on climate change, but also on decoupling economic growth from the loss of biodiversity and the deterioration of natural systems, freshwater extraction, waste production, and air pollution. In the lead up to the 2012 United Nations Earth Summit and beyond, Cents and Sustainability will be a crucial guide to inform and assist nations to develop strategies to significantly reduce environmental pressures, strengthen their economy, create jobs and reduce poverty. 'I commend the team from The Natural Edge Project and their partners for undertaking to develop a response to 'Our Common Future' to mark its 20th anniversary.' Dr Gro Brundtland. Sequel to The Natural Advantage of Nations Published with The Natural Edge Project

Author : David Pearce
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 217 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2014-04-08
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781134163618

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Blueprint 3 by David Pearce Pdf

Blueprint 3 is the direct sequel to the ground-breaking Blueprint for a Green Economy. Taking the argument much further, David Pearce and his colleagues show how progress towards sustainability in the UK can be measured. They set out the conditions for sustainable development and the measures of economic progress these imply, before looking in detail at all the main areas of economic activity to which the measures are applicable. The result is a wide-ranging and cogent critique of existing policies which also offers new options - options which will require far-reaching reform of this country's existing political and institutional structure. Blueprint 3 will be a touchstone for future discussions of all the major policy areas.

Author : Jingzheng Ren
Publisher : Elsevier
Page : 446 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2021-08-05
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780128242407

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Methods in Sustainability Science by Jingzheng Ren Pdf

Methods in Sustainability Science: Assessment, Prioritization, Improvement, Design and Optimization presents cutting edge, detailed methodologies needed to create sustainable growth in any field or industry, including life cycle assessments, building design, and energy systems. The book utilized a systematic structured approach to each of the methodologies described in an interdisciplinary way to ensure the methodologies are applicable in the real world, including case studies to demonstrate the methods. The chapters are written by a global team of authors in a variety of sustainability related fields. Methods in Sustainability Science: Assessment, Prioritization, Improvement, Design and Optimization will provide academics, researchers and practitioners in sustainability, especially environmental science and environmental engineering, with the most recent methodologies needed to maintain a sustainable future. It is also a necessary read for postgraduates in sustainability, as well as academics and researchers in energy and chemical engineering who need to ensure their industrial methodologies are sustainable. Provides a comprehensive overview of the most recent methodologies in sustainability assessment, prioritization, improvement, design and optimization Sections are organized in a systematic and logical way to clearly present the most recent methodologies for sustainability and the chapters utilize an interdisciplinary approach that covers all considerations of sustainability Includes detailed case studies demonstrating the efficacies of the described methods

Author : Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Staff
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2002-01
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9264197389

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Indicators to Measure the Decoupling of Environmental Pressure from Economic Growth by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Staff Pdf