This came via the ESRC Global Environmental Change Programme list. I've
added the executive summary to give a flavour of the report. I'm
beginning to wonder what role education plays in such a list of
indicators ... Discussion welcome. Alan Reid

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A Pilot Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) was unveiled last week
at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The
pilot ESI was developed as an initiative of the World Economic Forum's
Global Leaders for Tomorrow Environment Task Force, in partnership with
Columbia University's Center for International Earth Science Information
Network (CIESIN) and the Yale University Center of Environmental Law and
Policy.

The ESI ranks 56 countries on a range of factors encompassing discrete
aspects of environmental sustainability. The main purpose of the
prototype ESI is to stimulate international dialogue over what actually
constitutes environmental sustainability, how it should be measured, and
what policy levers drive it. The full Pilot Environmental Sustainability
Index report is available for viewing (in PDF format) at:
http://www.ciesin.org/indicators/ESI/pilot_esi.html

Executive Summary  

We seek here to create a Pilot Environmental Sustainability Index, as
part of an exploratory effort to measure the ability of economies to
achieve environmentally sustainable development. The Index is calculated
utilizing a number of data sources that cover a range of fundamental
components of environmental sustainability. These components, and the 64
individual variables that go into the index, were identified in
consultation with a range of international experts. We draw three
primary conclusions from this pilot effort:  

First, it is possible to construct a single index measuring
environmental sustainability, generating results that appear to be both
plausible and useful. Such an index can serve a helpful role in gauging
the progress of the world's economies in achieving environmental
sustainability. It makes use of a breadth of available information while
generating a simple, easy-to-understand benchmark.  

Second, by comparing the Prototype Environmental Sustainability Index
with the Economic Competitiveness Index and other measures of economic
performance, it is possible to shed light on debates over the degree to
which economic and environmental objectives are in conflict. Our
analysis suggests that decisions of how vigorously to pursue
environmental sustainability and of how vigorously to pursue economic
growth are in fact two separate choices. These results are consistent
with the hypothesis that high levels of environmental protection are
compatible with, or possibly even encourage, high levels of economic
growth, though they do not prove it.  

Third, there is considerable work to be done to move from the Pilot
Index presented here to a more refined index in the future. A number of
serious limitations in the available data relevant to environmental
sustainability drastically limit the ability of the world community to
monitor the most basic pollution and natural resource trends. We find
this inexcusable and offer some suggestions for how to help correct the
situation. We also recognize that there are significant methodological
questions that remain to be addressed. We have not, most notably,
"weighted" the factors that go into the Index. We hope over time to
identify drivers of environmental sustainability and to use regression
analysis and other more sophisticated methods to test more rigorously
what policies promote sustainability.


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