Usubiaga Liaño, Arkatiz;
(2022)
Implementing the Environmental Sustainability Gap framework to monitor the environmental sustainability of nations.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
Preview |
Text
00_ThesisFull_v1.5_forRepository.pdf - Accepted Version Download (5MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Countries lack resonant metrics to monitor environmental sustainability from a strong sustainability perspective. Building on the Sustainability Gap approach, which was developed in the late 1990s to address this indicator gap, this thesis formulates the Environmental Sustainability Gap (ESGAP) framework with a stronger focus on implementation. ESGAP comprises two novel indices of environmental sustainability: the Strong Environmental Sustainability Index (SESI) and the Strong Environmental Sustainability Progress Index (SESPI). SESI measures the performance of 21 natural capital indicators against science-based reference values of environmental sustainability that reflect whether the environmental functions provided by natural capital are threatened. Based on observed and desired trends, SESPI describes whether the country is making progress towards, or away environmental sustainability as defined by those environmental sustainability reference values. The analysis focuses on European countries due to good data availability. European countries perform quite poorly with SESI, which indicates that several environmental functions are threatened. Broadly speaking, European countries perform better in the functions related to the provision of natural resources and human health and welfare, but get lower scores in the functions associated with pollution and life support systems. As shown by SESPI, current trends are also insufficient to reach environmental standards by 2030, although relevant differences emerge depending on the countries and indicators. The results contrast with the generally high performance attributed to European countries in other environmental indices such as the Environmental Performance Index or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index. A qualitative assessment of the environmental SDG indicators suggests that the SDG indicators fail to represent strong sustainability, which can ultimately lead to misleading messages around environmental sustainability. Combined, SESI and SESPI can make the messages on environmental sustainability more digestible to relevant audiences, while complementing existing metrics, including those used in the context of the Beyond GDP literature.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Implementing the Environmental Sustainability Gap framework to monitor the environmental sustainability of nations |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2022. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10148053 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
