Composite Environmental Index Research Articles

Environmental determinants of health: Measuring multiple physical environmental exposures at the United States census tract level

Physical environment plays a key role in determining human health risks. Exposure to toxins, weather extremes, degraded air and water quality, high levels of noise and limited accessibility to green areas can negatively affect health. Furthermore, adverse environmental exposures are often correlated with each other and with socioeconomic status, thereby compounding disadvantages in marginalized populations. Moreover, despite their importance in determining human health risks, the role of multiple environmental exposures is not well studied, and only a few resources contain aggregate environmental exposure data and only for selected areas of the contiguous US. To fill these gaps, we took a cumulative approach to measuring the environment by generating a composite Multi-Exposure Environmental Index (MEEI) as a US Census Tract-level summary of key environmental factors with known health effects. This measure quantifies multiple environmental exposures in the same area that can result in additive and synergistic effects on health outcomes. This information is crucial to better understand and possibly leverage environmental determinants of health for informed policy-making and intervention.

Assessment of ecological civilization construction from the perspective of environment and health in China

This study innovatively evaluated ecological civilization in China from the perspective of environment and health. A Composite Environmental Health Index (CEHI) was constructed based on the Driving force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) and Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD) models. Results showed that significant and sustained improvements were observed in the ecological environment after ecological civilization, while economic development continued to progress at a steady pace. However, the advancement in population health (impact subsystem), exhibited comparatively modest progress, potentially linked to issues such as demographic aging and the enduring consequences of past exposure to environmental pollutants. At the provincial level, the regional development was uneven. The CEHI performance was highest in the eastern regions, followed by the central regions, with the western regions showing the least progress. Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang emerged as top performers with higher CEHI scores, which can be attributed to their favorable geographical positioning and the response subsystem. Conversely, northeastern regions (Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning) and northwestern regions (Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai) experienced limited advancements in post-ecological civilization implementation. For these underperforming regions, there is a pressing need to intensify efforts aimed at enhancing their response subsystems. In summary, China's pursuit of ecological civilization has yielded significant successes, potentially offering valuable insights for other nations striving for sustainable development. The ecological civilization model's integration of ecological environmental protection into economic, political, cultural, and social constructs may serve as a meaningful reference for the sustainable development of other countries.

Juxtaposing the environmental consequences of different environment-related technological innovations: The significance of establishing good democratic governance

In the contemporary era of digitalization, innovating technologies is deemed appropriate for promoting socioeconomic development while enhancing environmental welfare in tandem. Hence, considering the paramount importance of technological innovation for restoring the lost environmental well-being, this study aims to check how different environmental innovations, in the presence of good democratic governance, affect environmental quality across the BRICS. Using a novel composite environmental quality index, based on data concerning different carbon emission-related indicators, it is found that environmental innovations impose equivocal (both favorable and unfavorable) repercussions on the environment. Notably, the results endorse that climate change mitigation-related innovations improve environmental conditions while more environmental management-related innovations exert environmental quality-inhibiting impacts. Besides, the results certify that good democratic governance directly enhances environmental quality and indirectly exerts moderating and mediating effects for improving environmental conditions jointly with environmental innovations. Furthermore, influx of foreign direct investment and urbanization are identified as major environmental condition-deteriorating factors for the BRICS. Accordingly, the concerned governments need to emphasize the adoption of relevant policies that can simultaneously stimulate environmental innovations, establish good democratic governance, attract clean foreign direct investment, and make urbanization policies greener so that environmental quality can be effectively improved across the BRICS.

A comparative assessment of Composite Environmental Sustainability Index for emerging economies: a multidimensional approach

PurposeThe present study aims to construct and compare Composite Environmental Sustainability Index (CESI) for 20 emerging countries for the period 1990–2020.Design/methodology/approachThe study constructs CESI using the principal component analysis (PCA). Furthermore, for the preparation of index weights, varimax rotation is used to get component loadings.FindingsThe study finds that the overall CESI values lies between 2 and 4.8 for the 20 emerging countries considered in the study. This study depicts a diverse picture of environmental sustainability among emerging countries. The study also shows the trend of CESI values from 1990 to 2020. The bottom three countries whose CESI is very low compared to others are Iran, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. However, Brazil, Columbia and Chile are top three highest scorers in 2020.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the literature by constructing a composite index comprising of three sub-indices to measure the environmental sustainability of an economy. These sub-indices include seven indicators that are more inclusive and comprehensive. To the authors' knowledge, this is a pioneering attempt in the construction of the index for emerging countries.

Does financial and economic expansion allow for environmental sustainability? Fresh insights from a new composite index and PSTR analysis

Despite the use of different environmental proxies, the economic and financial development (FD)-environmental quality (EQ) nexus is still enigmatic. In this regard, a new composite environmental quality index (CEQI) is used to holistically represent EQ. Moreover, the Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) method is applied to estimate the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and the financial development Kuznets Curve (FKC) hypotheses using data from 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The findings reveal that economic growth in the first regime positively affects CEQI while having a negative effect after exceeding the threshold and entering the second regime. Also, FD positively affects CEQI for the first regime and has a negative influence for the second regime. Other factors such as energy consumption and composite trade share (CTS) in both the first and second regimes have a negative effect on CEQI. Accordingly, several environmental quality-improving policies are recommended.

Environmental innovations, energy innovations, governance, and environmental sustainability: Evidence from South and Southeast Asian countries

At the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26), the world economies have re-pledged to collectively attain the global objective of ensuring environmental sustainability, especially by adopting credible initiatives that can address the environmental problems experienced worldwide. Accordingly, this study aims to assess how environment- and energy-related technological innovations contribute to the establishment of this objective across South and Southeast Asia, Notably, this study proposes a new composite environmental sustainability index using environmental data from different dimensions. Further, considering data from 1996 to 2019, the results derived from the econometric analyses confirm that environmental innovation is effective in facilitating environmental sustainability only in the context of Southeast Asian countries while energy innovation is effective in doing the same for both South and Southeast Asian countries. Besides, for both cases, good governance is evidenced to directly promote environmental sustainability and also indirectly facilitate it by jointly reducing the environmental problems along with environmental and energy-related technological innovations. Moreover, greater urbanization and more involvement in economic globalization-related activities are observed to inhibit the prospects of establishing environmental sustainability in the concerned South and Southeast Asian nations. Furthermore, the results certify that compared with the South Asia the prospects of achieving environmental sustainability are relatively higher across Southeast Asia. Based on these critically important findings, a couple of policy-level suggestions are provided.

A novel composite environmental fragility index to analyse Italian ecoregions’ vulnerability

Italy is one of the countries in Europe with the highest probability of suffering economic losses due to extreme weather and climate events and the fourth country for seismic risk. The study proposes a new Composite Fragility Index to assess the environmental fragility of Italian ecoregions, which represent ecologically homogeneous areas within which natural communities and species interact with the physical elements of the environment. The environmental fragility is the susceptibility of an area to change as a result of a disturbance. The index measures fragility related to natural and anthropic factors. The variables employed are an expression both of natural and anthropic hazard and pressures. Study findings allow for building maps of environmental fragility across Italy, and the derivation of a local spatial autocorrelation index results in the detection of clusters of high or low fragility areas, to which sustainable targeted planning strategies should be promptly addressed.

Revisiting environmental Kuznets curve: an investigation of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption role.

Empirical studies on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis have not reached a consensus on their findings because different environmental indicators are used, among other reasons. So, this study proposes using a composite index encompassing all dimensions of environmental pollution, using the composite environmental quality index (CEQI) which is introduced by Fakher et al. (Environ Sci Pollut Res 28(43): 61096-61114, 2021b). To do so, continuously updated fully modified (CUP-FM) and continuously updated bias-corrected (CUP-BC) techniques are used for the panel of selected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and Organization in the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from 2000 to 2019. The findings show that the EKC hypothesis is confirmed in the inverted N-patterned relationship for the OPEC countries and an inverted U-patterned relationship for the OECD countries. Our findings also declare that consumption of renewable energies (REC) significantly increases environmental quality (EQ) while consumption of non-renewable energies (NREC) adds to environmental degradation (ED). Further, the role of financial development (FD) in our composite index is respectively negative and positive for sampled OPEC and OECD economies. The positive coefficient of combined trade share (CTS) in both groups of studied countries indicates that this variable works to reduce ED. Lastly, the implications of these findings for economic-environmental policies are discussed.

Exploring renewable energy, financial development, environmental quality, and economic growth nexus: new evidence from composite indices for environmental quality and financial development.

The association between trade, financial development, consumption of renewable energy, environmental quality, foreign direct investment, and economic growth is important for sustainable growth and environmental strategies. Hence, this research unveils this association in selected low- and high-income economies from 1996 to 2020. Unlike most of the previous literature, this study uses a composite environmental quality index, a composite financial development index, and a composite trade share measure to better represent environmental quality, financial development, and trade openness, respectively. The Continuously Updated Fully Modified and Continuously Updated Bias Corrected estimators along with the Dumitrescu Hurlin causality method are utilized to scrutinize the nature of the linkage between the modeled variables. The long-run estimation provided that consumption of renewable energy and environmental quality augment economic growth in high-income nations, while both these variables do not contribute to the economic growth in low-income countries. Financial development upsurges economic growth in high- as well as low-income nations. Interestingly, trade openness boosts economic growth in high-income countries, while in low-income countries, it obstructs economic growth. In causal linkage, the conservation hypothesis for low-income countries and the feedback hypothesis for high-income countries are confirmed in the context of consumption of renewable energy and economic growth association. The supply-leading hypothesis for low-income countries and the feedback hypothesis for high-income countries are supported regarding the financial development-economic growth nexus. Moreover, one-way causality from growth to environmental quality and bidirectional causality between environmental quality and economic growth for low- and high-income countries are established, respectively. Lastly, exhaustive environmental and economic policies are directed.

A Novel Composite Index to Measure Environmental Benefits in Urban Land Use Optimization Problems

In urban land use optimization problems, different conflicting objectives are applied. One of the most significant goals in urban land use optimization problems is to maximize environmental benefits. To quantify environmental benefits in land use optimization, many researchers have employed a variety of methodologies. According to previous studies, there is no standard approach for calculating environmental benefits in urban land use allocation problems. Against this background, this study aims to (a) identify indicators of environmental benefits and (b) propose a novel composite index to measure environmental benefits in urban land use optimization problems. This study identified four indicators as a measure of environmental benefits based on a literature assessment and expert opinion. These are spatial compactness, land surface temperature, carbon storage, and ecosystem service value. In this work, we proposed a novel composite environmental benefits index (EBI) to quantify environmental benefits in urban land use allocation problems using an ordered weighted averaging (OWA) method. The study results showed that land surface temperature (LST) is the most influential indicator of environmental benefit while carbon storage is the least important factor. Finally, the proposed method was applied in Rajshahi city in Bangladesh. This study identified that, in an average-risk decision, most of the land (64.55%) of the study area falls within the low-environmental-benefit zone due to a lack of vegetated land cover. The result suggests the potential of using EBI in the land use allocation problem to ensure environmental benefits.

Evaluation of the intensity of environmental pressures from agriculture on groundwater in Slovenia

Using a composite environmental index, we assessed how environmentally sustainable agriculture is by examining water bodies of groundwater (WBG) in Slovenia. Apart from studying identifiable differences among 21 WBG, we also analysed and detailed the pressures of agricultural activities including by different types of aquifer porosity. We found that the most heavily burdened WBG have an intergranular type of porosity. From the standpoint of environmental sustainability agriculture is ill-suited on all five of the alluvial plains with intergranular aquifers in Slovenia. The lowest index was calculated in the area of the WBG in the Drava basin (-0.54), followed by the Mura (-0.34) and Sava basin together with the Ljubljana Marshes (-0.24). In order to better illustrate responsiveness, through analysis of spatial patterns of ecologically cultivated areas, we evaluated the distribution of the most sustainable agricultural practices and found that organic farming is more prevalent on water bodies with predominantly karst type of porosity (17.1% of organically cultivated agricultural land) and it occurs least on alluvial plains with intergranular aquifers (barely 3.7% of organically cultivated agricultural land). Calculations of the sustainability index of agriculture at the level of WBG proved to be very suitable approach for determining environmental sustainability.

New Insights into Development of an Environmental – Economic Model Based on a Composite Environmental Quality Index: A Comparative Analysis of Economic Growth and Environmental Quality Trend

In order to fill the research gap regarding the use of a comprehensive index that includes all dimensions of environmental pollution, this study sought to develop a composite environmental quality index to tackle with the possible bias and remove the possible linearity in the experimental research model. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) methods were used to obtain this composite index. This study used six environmental indicators from two groups of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) during 2008-2019. According to the obtained error criteria related to the two methods, ANN method was used to calculate the weight of environmental indicators due to having the lowest error criteria and therefore reliable results. Finally, using this composite index, the trend of economic growth and environmental quality were analyzed graphically. The results showed that along with the upward trend of economic growth, the quality of environment follows a downward trend in OPEC countries and an upward trend in OECD countries. At the end of this paper, some limitations of study are presented, and some suggestions for future studies are provided as well.

New insight into examining the role of financial development in economic growth effect on a composite environmental quality index.

The inclusion of an index, which can be the representative of environmental quality from different aspects, seems to be of paramount significance. This issue is a major challenging one in the economic-environmental literature. This study investigates the role of financial development in economic growth effect on the composite environmental quality index (CEQI) in two groups of selected Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. In this regard, System Generalized Method of Moment (SYS-GMM) is applied to fit the research models. According to the findings, in the selected OPEC countries, financial development reinforces negative impacts of economic growth on environmental quality. In the selected OECD countries, economic growth has negative effect on the environmental quality and financial development weakens this effect. The effect of financial development on the CEQI is respectively negative and positive in OPEC and OECD countries. Moreover, in both groups of selected countries, energy consumption and economic growth have a negative impact on the CEQI; nonetheless, trade openness has a positive effect. Accordingly, some policy suggestions and new recommendations are presented for future studies, which would contribute to the better implementation of economic-environmental policies. Graphical abstract.

The sustainability index of the physical mining Environment in protected areas, Eastern Amazon

The application of sustainability principles to mining activities remains challenging. Explorations of non-renewable natural resources are irreversible; however, they can be better compensated for if the profit resulting from extraction is reinvested in social and human well-being and if environmental impacts are repaired. Thus, the evaluation of mining sustainability is necessary and requires efficient indicators to measure economic, social, and environmental performance. Here, we present the composite environmental sustainability index [CESI] of the landscape for iron mines in the Carajás National Forest, a protected site in the Brazilian Amazon. The index integrates 20 individual environmental indicators related to (1) changes in land cover and land use, (2) direct impacts caused by operations, (3) residue disposal and management, (4) energy, water, and soil resources, and (5) compensation for environmental damage. To define the threshold values for classifying individual indicators, we use legal requirements, data from the literature and historical time series. The values obtained for each of the individual indicators were normalized in terms of linguistic criteria, such as unsustainability (1), low sustainability (2) and high sustainability (3). The sustainability index of each of the five categories was calculated and based on these values, we computed the CESI of the physical mining environment. The values presented here represent baselines for further monitoring and evaluating the sustainability of the physical environment, guaranteeing iron ore exploitation in Carajás mining region with minimum environmental impacts. The proposed index can indicate a path towards environmental sustainability, especially in protected areas. • Environmental sustainability evaluation is required for mining in protected areas. • Legal requirements or historical series represent threshold values for evaluation. • Regarding physical environment, Carajás iron mines show moderate-high sustainability. • Values represent baseline for further assessments and comparison with similar projects.

Cost-effectiveness of the common agricultural policy and environmental policy in country districts: Spatial spillovers of pollution, bio-uniformity and green schemes in Poland

A significant part of the common agricultural policy (CAP) focuses on implementing environmentally friendly practices, which have been evaluated in many studies. However, these analyses do not usually consider spatial spillovers that may concern pollution and biodiversity, as well as participation in policy schemes. Most studies evaluate national environmental policies at the macroeconomic level, focusing on cities. However, the majority of natural resources are in rural districts, and environmental policy is mainly implemented at the local level, where most of the budgets for environmental protection are decided. Thus, in this paper, our first objective is to assess the cost-effectiveness of Poland's environmental policy schemes, combining local expenditures at the county level with the CAP's green schemes. Additionally, we investigate the spatial (neighbourhood) effects of environment quality and the policy, as well as their mutual interactions. First, the environmental quality at the county level is proxied by the composite environmental quality index (CEQI); second, the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) with endogenous covariates is estimated. Third, the interactions among the policy's spatial effects are explored using the structural equation model (SEM). We find that the CAP's green component not only positively affects the environmental quality in the long term but also generates positive spillovers that have been hitherto underestimated.

A comparative analysis of green economy development in border regions of the Silk Road economic belt

Subject. The article addresses green economy development in border regions of the Silk Road Economic Belt. Objectives. The purpose of the study is to design a composite index of environmental management to analyze the green economy development. Methods. The study employs economic and mathematical approaches and methods of statistical analysis. Results. We developed groups of indicators that reflect various aspects of environmental management (environmental and resource efficiency, environmental quality of life, natural assets, institutional factors, i.e. activities and policy tools that affect the state of environment). The paper presents a methodology for quantitative assessment of the composite Environmental Management Index, which consists of several steps. Conclusions. The performed study complements the results obtained by other researchers. The presented methodology rests on the formation of a system of criteria for assessing the green economy development. The use of methodological approach permits the objective evaluation of the level of green economy development in model territories. Testing the developed methods and quantifying the composite Environmental Management Index enable to make a classification of model territories, to identify factors affecting the green economy development.

Model of calculating a composite environmental index for assessing the impact of port processes on environment: a case study of container terminal

Environmental standards are not harmonized in ports and neither are the instruments used for the assessing the condition of environmental efficiency of a port system. The purpose of the research conducted in the framework of this paper is to propose the methodology for calculating the Port Environmental Index (IE) which synthesizes all environmental aspects of port operations into a single value. The goals of the paper were the following: (1) to integrate the relevant environmental aspects of port activities and evaluate the impact of port terminal processes on the environment by calculating the IE and (2) to validate the index by applying it to a container terminal in the north-western part of Croatia. IE was constructed using the compound index method where compilation and aggregation of individual indicators were used to form a compound index of the overall effect of port processes on the environment. The validation of IE by applying it to a container terminal (Port of Rijeka, north-western part of Croatia) showed that the IE can be easily applied and its application allows monitoring the overall changes in environmental performance of port areas. In addition, IE can be used to test different pollution abatement strategies including testing interventions in the port processes and determining their share in the overall impact on the environment. In addition, the potential constraints to using such an approach are discussed in the paper.

Associations of neighborhood environmental attributes with adults' objectively-assessed sedentary time: IPEN adult multi-country study

Neighborhood environmental attributes have been found to be associated with residents' time spent walking and in physical activity, in studies from single countries and in multiple-country investigations. There are, however, mixed findings on such environmental relationships with sedentary (sitting) time, which primarily have used evidence derived from single-country investigations with self-reported behavioral outcome measures. We examined potential relationships of neighborhood environmental attributes with objectively-assessed sedentary time using data from 5712 adults recruited from higher and lower socio-economic status neighborhoods in 12 sites in 10 countries, between 2002 and 2011. Ten perceived neighborhood attributes, derived from an internationally-validated scale, were assessed by questionnaire. Sedentary time was derived from hip-worn accelerometer data. Associations of individual environmental attributes and a composite environmental index with sedentary time were estimated using generalized additive mixed models. In fully adjusted models, higher street connectivity was significantly related to lower sedentary time. Residential density, pedestrian infrastructure and safety, and lack of barriers to walking were related to higher sedentary time. Aesthetics and safety from crime were related to less sedentary time in women only. The predicted difference in sedentary time between those with the minimum versus maximum composite environmental index values was 71 min/day. Overall, certain built environment attributes, including street connectivity, land use mix and aesthetics were found to be related to sedentary behavior in both expected and unexpected directions. Further research using context-specific measures of sedentary time is required to improve understanding of the potential role of built environment characteristics as influences on adults' sedentary behavior.

Proposing a composite environmental index to account for the actual state and changes in environmental dimensions, as a critique to EPI

While environmental composite indexes are useful tools in ranking the relative performance of countries on characteristics of interest, critiques are being made about their lack of relevance and responsiveness pertaining to changes in the environment; this negatively affects their usefulness and relevance. In this paper, an alternative to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is proposed by constructing a proof-of-concept index based on component variables whose changes reflect the actual state of the environment and the environmental sustainability on the particular dimensions measured. The proposed Environmental State and Sustainability Index (ESSI) also takes into account the relationships between variables in constructing the composite index by checking the relevance of the theoretical environmental dimensions against factor components, which explains the complex relationships between environmental variables and aims at achieving a relevant weighting of the component variables. Results indicate that ESSI scores are comparable with EPI and reflect better the actual situation of some countries with high-rank differences. Thus, ESSI can be used as a basis for constructing or revising environmental indicators that are closer to the objective of achieving a truly overarching measure of the state of the environment that is relevant in informing policy and reflect actual changes in the component dimensions as relevant data becomes available.

A Hybrid Analytic Network Process and Artificial Neural Network (ANP-ANN) Model for Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Assessment

Vulnerability assessment is one of the prerequisites for risk analysis in disaster management. Vulnerability to earthquakes, especially in urban areas, has increased over the years due to the presence of complex urban structures and rapid development. Urban vulnerability is a result of human behavior which describes the extent of susceptibility or resilience of social, economic, and physical assets to natural disasters. The main aim of this paper is to develop a new hybrid framework using Analytic Network Process (ANP) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models for constructing a composite social, economic, environmental, and physical vulnerability index. This index was then applied to Tabriz City, which is a seismic-prone province in the northwestern part of Iran with recurring devastating earthquakes and consequent heavy casualties and damages. A Geographical Information Systems (GIS) analysis was used to identify and evaluate quantitative vulnerability indicators for generating an earthquake vulnerability map. The classified and standardized indicators were subsequently weighed and ranked using an ANP model to construct the training database. Then, standardized maps coupled with the training site maps were presented as input to a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) neural network for producing an Earthquake Vulnerability Map (EVM). Finally, an EVM was produced for Tabriz City and the level of vulnerability in various zones was obtained. South and southeast regions of Tabriz City indicate low to moderate vulnerability, while some zones of the northeastern tract are under critical vulnerability conditions. Furthermore, the impact of the vulnerability of Tabriz City on population during an earthquake was included in this analysis for risk estimation. A comparison of the result produced by EVM and the Population Vulnerability (PV) of Tabriz City corroborated the validity of the results obtained by ANP-ANN. The findings of this paper are useful for decision-makers and government authorities to obtain a better knowledge of a city’s vulnerability dimensions, and to adopt preparedness strategies in the future for Tabriz City. The developed hybrid framework of ANP and ANN Models can easily be replicated and applied to other urban regions around the world for sustainability and environmental management.