FORMULATING ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. ESRI Policy Research Series, 1996

Scott, S. and Nolan, B. and Fahey, T. (1996) FORMULATING ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. ESRI Policy Research Series, 1996. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

The programme of the present government includes a commitment to "working towards a new set of indicators of sustainable economic development which will take account of environmental as well as social factors". The central concern is to go beyond existing measures of economic activity produced within the national accounting framework (such as GDP or national income) in order to develop a more complete picture of economic and social progress in Ireland. The present publication provides an overview of the issues and options which arise in connection with this commitment, and suggests steps which might be taken in pursuing it. The publication is set out in two largely separate essays, one dealing with environmental indicators, the other with social indicators. While it would be desirable to deal with those two topics together, the differences in the intellectual and institutional traditions from which they have developed are such that an integrated approach has not yet emerged. In the final section of the present summary, the recommendations emerging from the two essays are brought together, though they are presented separately in the body of the report.

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