Environmental Sustainability Indicators

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What are environmental or sustainability indicators?

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Anything that can be defined to describe and measure a component of the environment.

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Why are sustainability indicators useful?

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They can be measured currently and again after a period of time to assess changes.

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What is an ecological footprint (EF)?

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The area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate of consumption and assimilate all wastes at the rate of production by a given human population.

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What does it indicate if the ecological footprint exceeds the available resources?

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It indicates unsustainability.

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What is biocapacity?

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The capacity of a biologically productive area to generate an ongoing supply of renewable resources and absorb its resulting wastes.

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What happens if the ecological footprint exceeds biocapacity?

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The country is considered unsustainable.

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What is a carbon footprint?

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A measure of sustainability that includes: Scope 1 - emissions generated directly into the company's facilities

Scope 2 - indirect emissions from purchased energy e.g. electricity for heating

Scope 3 - indirect upstream and downstream emissions e.g. travel and purchased materials

measured in carbon dioxide equivalents.

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What does a water footprint measure?

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Water use in cubic metres per year.

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What are the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

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A set of social and environmental goals and targets agreed by all UN countries to guide action on sustainability and environmental justice.

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What are some limitations of the SDGs?

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They do not go far enough, are top-down and bureaucratic, and tend to ignore local context and supporting data.