How to understand and measure environmental sustainability: Indicators and targets

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development and its three pillars has evolved from a rather vague and mostly qualitative notion to more precise specifications defined many times over in quantitative terms. Hence the need for a wide array of indicators is very clear.

The paper analyses the different approaches and types of indicators developed which are used for the assessment of environmental sustainability. One important aspect in the paper is setting targets and then “measuring” the distance to a target to get the appropriate information on the current state or trend.

Keywords

• Sustainable development indicators
• Environmental sustainability
• Performance indicators
• Target setting
• Proximity to target assessment