The FEEM Sustainability Index: An Integrated Tool for Sustainability Assessment (original) (raw)

EcoProduction, 2013

Abstract

ABSTRACT The FEEM Sustainability Index (FEEM SI) proposes an integrated methodological approach to quantitatively assess sustainability performance across countries and over time. Three are the main features of this approach: (1) the index considers sustainability based on economic, environmental and social indicators simultaneously; (2) the framework used to compute the indicators, i.e. a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model, allows to generate projections on the future evolution of sustainability; and (3) the methodology used for the normalisation and aggregation of the indicators delivers a unique and comprehensive measure of sustainability. These features along with the multi-regional nature of the CGE model consent to perform policy evaluations and sustainability assessments for different countries or regions in the world. This chapter offers a methodological overview of the FEEM SI approach. To illustrate the potential of the methodology for the measurement of sustainability, the chapter also illustrates results from a climate policy scenario. In the mitigation scenario considered Annex I and Non-Annex I countries taking action towards climate change achieve the lower end of the pledges proposed at the 15th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen. For countries putting into practice the policy, the environmental sphere more than offsets the related costs (economic pillar), leading to an overall improvement in sustainability. At world level, the outcome is positive even though carbon leakage in countries that are not acting reduces the effectiveness of the policy and the sustainability performance.

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