Contrasting and comparing sustainable development indicator metrics

Jeffrey Wilson, Peter Tyedmers, Ronald Pelot

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

200 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Despite the fact that it has been well over a decade since Agenda 21 first called for sustainable development indicators, there is no consensus regarding the best approach to the design and use of SDI models. It is important, therefore, to question the effectiveness of SDIs in an effort to continue advancing sustainability. This paper addresses one aspect of this question by exploring whether our global SDI metrics are sending a clear message to guide us towards sustainable development. Six global SDI metrics are compared by relative ranking in colour coded tabular format and spatially in map format. The combined presentation of results clearly illustrates that the different metrics arrive at varying interpretations about the sustainability of nations. The degree of variability between the metrics is analyzed using correlation analysis. The variability in findings draws attention to the lack of a clear direction at the global level in how best to approach sustainable development. Canada is presented as a case study to highlight and explain the discrepancies between SDI measures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)299-314
Number of pages16
JournalEcological Indicators
Volume7
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2007

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • General Decision Sciences
  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Ecology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Contrasting and comparing sustainable development indicator metrics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this