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Aggregate indices for identifying environmentally responsible nations: an empirical analysis and comparison

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 70; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00207233.2012.752059

1029-0400

J. Ram Pillarisetti, Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh,

Energy, Environment, Economic Growth

Environmental and sustainable development indicators have proliferated since the Rio Earth Summit. This paper attempts to evaluate five indices developed in recent years: the Sustainable Society Index, Happy Planet Index, Environmentally Responsible Happy Nations Index, Responsibility–Capacity Index and Sustainability Index by Fuzzy Evaluation. These indices aggregate information about environmental and development indicators. A comparison of the empirical values of the indices reveals that they do not provide a consistent picture and that the aggregation methods are subjective and debatable. Nevertheless, they all show that the majority of nations in the world need to re-examine their development policies.