| An Analysis of Environmental Sustainability Index for G-8 and SAARC Countries | |||||
Abstract | |||||
| In the year 1990, the OECD countries initiated a specific program on environmental indicator to track environmental progress and integrate environmental concerns into decision-making. Subsequently, in the year 2005, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy (YCELP), Italy, came out with a comprehensive Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI-2005) based on the available data for 146 countries. In the paper, a comparison has been made between G-8 and SAARC countries based on the data available in the report. These two sets of countries are selected because SAARC region is the home of almost half of the world's poor, and G-8 countries are the world's most industrialized countries. From the analysis it is found that the ESI score for G-8 countries is higher than SAARC countries, which indicates more environmental sustainability in G-8 countries. However, the SAARC countries are better ranked in reducing environmental stress and providing global stewardship. The paper puts forward a case for these indicators at the local and other sub-regional levels based on the priorities and weightage to the components and indicators, so that policy deliberations can take place at local or sub-regional levels. The paper also highlighs that the ESI-2005 is not a weighted index and further research is required to remove the subjectivity in the index. | |||||
Publication details | |||||
| |||||