Sustainable Development Indicators Research Articles

Sustainable Socio-Economic Welfare and Agricultural Employment in ECOWAS: Is there a Non-Linear Relationship?

Agriculture is central to welfare especially in the context of developing countries which include those of ECOWAS, however among those individuals’ dependent on agriculture for their livelihood are those living in poverty and earning low incomes amongst other living standards. On the other hand, sustainable socio-economic welfare is not given much attention in the welfare literature compared to other welfare categorisations such as socio-economic welfare and economic welfare. This study explores the effect of agricultural employment on sustainable socio-economic welfare as well as the possibility of a non-linear relationship between the aforementioned variables in a balanced panel of Fifteen ECOWAS member countries. Human Sustainable Development Index (HSDI) was used as proxy for Sustainable socio-economic welfare, while the proportion of employed individuals realising a living from agriculture is the measure for agricultural employment. The results from utilising panel data fixed effects estimation show that agricultural employment adversely and significantly resulted in sustainable socio-economic welfare declining while the hypothesis of non-linear relationship between the aforementioned variables was not supported. Consequently, the study recommends that ECOWAS member country governments in raising welfare levels focus necessarily on sustainable socio-economic welfare rather than socio-economic welfare that has been the traditional focus of welfare efforts. Also ECOWAS country governments should ensure that agriculture sector interventions effectively target the poor and vulnerable households relying on agriculture for their livelihood.

URBAN SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT OF ROMANIAN CITIES

Urban sustainability focuses on the more efficient management of the resources in cities and their regions. It is a challenge to develop a framework that it easy to replicate and can be used by any city in the world. In this paper, we aimed to develop a methodological approach for assessing urban sustainability of Romanian cities. We designed an index (Urban Sustainable Development Index) based on aggregating data from 15 indicators structured on the 3 sustainability domains, with equal weights per each domain. General results present medium and low USDI scores which indicate that cities are almost unsustainable. Very few cities have high USDI scores, making them almost sustainable cities due to the environmental or social contribution. Cities used as case studies have problems related mainly to green areas, waste management, crimes, health care infrastructure and low GDP. The assessment framework used for determining urban sustainability helped us identify some problematic domains. The proposed methodological approach can be replicated by cities worldwide, being recommended especially for cities with difficult access to data. The analysis uses representative information for urban sustainability that can be easily replicated and used for monitoring by stakeholder and decision makers at local level.

Sustainable development of the economy in the conditions of the energy crisis

Purpose. To establish the factors of the impact of the energy crisis on the formation of a sustainable economy. To propose a method for forecasting the balance of energy production and consumption. To establish the level of correlation between sustainable development indicators and energy indicators. Methodology. Cognition methods were used to perform the work: analysis and synthesis to choose the topic and purpose of the study; content analysis for literature review; critical analysis to identify unsolved aspects of the problem and national characteristics of the crisis; the ascent from the abstract to the concrete to prove the relationship between the energy crisis and achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDG); system analysis to substantiate the need for energy balance and import substitution of energy resources; induction and deduction for the selection of SDGs, which are affected by the energy crisis and energy balance forecasting models, establishing the level of correlation with SDG indicators; idealization and formalization to identify factors inhibiting the formation of a sustainable economy. Findings. It is established that in addition to the global factors of the energy crisis, national economies have their own factors influencing the pace of achieving the SDG. The main reasons for the gap between energy production and consumption and trends in import substitution in the energy sector are indicated. The presence of direct and reverse effects of energy development and sustainable development is proved. It is established that the solution to the problem of sustainable economic development is to systematically ensure the dynamic balance of production and consumption of energy, and import substitution of energy resources. Originality. The reasons for reducing the level of relevance of forecasting and energy plan required to achieve the SDG are identified. There is a significant level of correlation between the Mtoe indicator and groups of SDG indicators and the fact that indicator of relative fluctuations as for average Mtoe is an integral indicator of the SDG achievement. Practical value. The MCDA method and a quantitative approach to its implementation are proposed to forecast energy consumption and to model sustainable development scenarios.

Social spending and its impact on the human development index for the period (2004-2020) Singapore as a model

The concepts of social spending and sustainable development are among the important concepts that will be addressed, then show the impact of social spending on important social sectors that directly affect the life of the individual, and of those sectors of importance (education and health), which will be addressed as independent variables that directly affect the sustainable development index in Study country (Singapore) during the study period (2004- 2020) , As for the dependent variable, which will have the effect of the independent variables, the Human Development Index (HDI) will be adopted as a dependent variable as an important and basic indicator of sustainable development. the ARDL method, after measuring the regression of the variables of the study and testing the limits of joint integration, it was found that there is a relationship of joint integration of the estimated model, so the analysis was done according to the short and long terms. The study concluded that there is a positive impact of social spending on the education and health sectors on the sustainable development index, in the short and long term , Then the study reached a set of recommendations, the most important of which was that the government in Singapore should continue spending on the education and health sectors in the same percentage or increase it, in order to maintain the momentum of the achieved success and its sustainability at the global level, as well as increase support for the various economic sectors, especially the sectors that are considered The nerve and engine of the economy such as industry, agriculture and trade, with the need to urge foreign companies to contribute to the transfer of modern technology, as well as increase investment in capital- intensive technology, being more competitive in global markets.

A bibliometric analysis and review of water resources carrying capacity using rené descartes’s discourse theory

Water Resources Carrying Capacity is an important indicator of water sustainable and economic development, yet few studies investigated a bibliometric analysis of Water Resources Carrying Capacity research. In this research, we proposed a four-staged bibliometric analysis method for Water Resources Carrying Capacity studies following the René Descartes’s Discourse on the Method guidelines which makes the bibliometric analysis process more systematic. Our four-staged bibliometric analysis method contains a refined screening process of the records, which can successfully delete poorly correlated data from tens of thousands of data within a short period of time and determined the subject-related data. The screening results shortlisted 271 records from an initial 16,769. We further conducted a complete bibliometric, statistical and meta-analysis of the 271 records. The results showed that China is the major country that conducts research on Water Resources Carrying Capacity. Modeling in various forms and system dynamics are the mainstream methods of Water Resources Carrying Capacity research. Water Resources Carrying Capacity is intrinsically linked to population carrying capacity, groundwater resources, urbanization and water shortage. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the research of Water Resources Carrying Capacity, we divided the research progress into five stages lastly. The method proposed in this research can provide reference for future bibliometric studies.

The Influence of Governmental Agricultural R&D Expenditure on Farmers’ Income—Disparities between EU Member States

This article investigates how governmental agricultural R&D expenditure affect economic prosperity and sustainable development, attempting to verify the hypothesis that agricultural research and development expenditures are among the key factors influencing the farmers’ income, as one of the sustainable development indicators. Statistical data were retrieved from European international databases for the period of 2004–2020 and were analyzed using the regression model. The results of the study indicate positive effects for most of the EU member states. The countries where the results validate the hypothesis are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Croatia, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom, as a former member state of the EU. Further, the model confirms that a significant portion of farmers’ income growth is explained by the governmental R&D expenditure. These findings may change the methods and directions regarding the agricultural R&D expenditure, underpinning the macroeconomic policy and agriculture in rural areas along the pathway to achieving the sustainable development goals.

Emergy-Based Sustainability Evaluation of the Mulberry-Dyke and Fish-Pond System on the South Bank of Taihu Lake, China

The Taihu Lake drainage basin is the birthplace of the Mulberry-dyke and Fish-pond System (MFS), a traditional eco-agricultural system. In 2017, the largest and best-preserved “Zhejiang Huzhou Mulberry-dyke and Fish-pond System” located by the South Bank of Taihu Lake, China was recognized as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and its value has been appreciated. As a dynamic heritage, the sustainable development of MFS is a fundamental requirement of the conservation of GIAHS. In this regard, it is necessary to figure out an approach to evaluating the status of its sustainable development. This paper analyzes and contrasts the emergy embodied in the three patterns of MFS over different periods, then constructs an index system of sustainability evaluation involving the production and consumption processes based on that. Finally, it provides the evaluation and analysis. The three patterns of MFS differ in the system structure. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties (abbreviated as Ming-Qing pattern), MFS was an integrated system compromised of mulberry cultivation, silkworm breeding, fish breeding, and sheep breeding, while other patterns exclude sheep breeding, but increase the input of fertilizer, and add the production of mulberry-leaf tea and other local specialties. The results show that the MFS in the Ming-Qing pattern has the highest integrated evaluation index of sustainable development, followed by the traditional MFS pattern and the new MFS pattern employed nowadays. This indicates that the current capability of sustainable development has decreased compared to that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The integrated evaluation index regarding the consumption process of the new MFS pattern is higher than the traditional one, suggesting that it needs to promote sustainability in the production process, especially via the utilization rates of renewable resources and wastes.

Convergence between Indicators for Measuring Sustainable Development and M&A Performance in the Energy Sector

The energy sector is experiencing various transformations. Simultaneously, merger and acquisition (M&A) activities in the sector are surging globally. Extensive research has focused on and analyzed M&As from the perspective of acquirer- and target-level financial performance. In comparison, a significantly lower number of studies have analyzed the macroeconomic impact of M&A activities. The field of and interests in sustainability have also been expanding in recent decades. Sustainable development goal 7 (SDG7), which calls for “affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” by 2030, is among other sustainable development goals that were established by the UN (United Nations). However, the synthesis of indicators for measuring sustainable development and M&A performance remains a relatively vaguely explored field. Here, we perform SALSA (search, appraisal, synthesis, and analysis) and analyze which M&A and sustainable development performance indicators may be used when analyzing M&A within the energy sector. The employment of an eligible set of indicators measuring sustainable development and M&A performance may be used by practitioners, governments, and scholars for the purpose of monitoring, tracking, and the communication of the progress. The results imply that most popular sustainability measurements are indicators for sustainable energy development (ISED). There is a growing number of studies focusing on and applying country-specific methodologies. The measurement of M&A and sustainability performance faces difficulties in practice implementation due to a lack of availability of data, information, and databases, etc.

On the sustainability of growth from energy consumption: Empirical evidence from a dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulation

Energy is among the key drivers of economic growth. As the attainment of sustainable development becomes the major goal of modern economies, energy resources must, however, be appraised not only based on their capacity to fuel growth but also on their ability to sustain the same. This paper adds to the growing research on the growth-energy nexus by incorporating the dynamics of sustainability alongside the traditional growth factors of capital and labor using France’s yearly series from 1980 to 2019. The newly developed dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) simulation was adopted to explore the nature of the long-run dynamics among the variables. The empirical findings support the notion that energy consumption significantly impacts gross domestic product (GDP) positively whereas, in the case of the adjusted net savings (ANS) which is an index of sustainable development, its long-run impact is positive but insignificant. The results also show that the counterfactual effects of shocks to energy usage are smaller on economic growth than sustainable development. France is recommended to promote green growth by boosting the contribution of renewables in the energy mix to fully optimize and sustain growth from energy resources.

Analysis of the Sustainable Development Index in the Communes of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship: A Polish Case Study

Intense global urbanization, including spatial planning development, is an essential area that determines sustainable development. It is known that urban development is typically tied to an increase in socioeconomic productivity while also creating considerable inequalities. Despite mounting evidence of intense urban area development, little is known about its consequences on the sustainable development of territories adjacent to said areas. Despite the positive and negative consequences of urbanization and their impact on sustainable development often being highlighted, there is little understanding of and a dearth of analyses on sustainability processes that include spatial planning development. To fill this gap, it must be assessed where sustainable development is actually taking place. Such analyses should not only be confined to the four essential areas: economic development, social development, environmental development, and institutional development, that are tied to sustainable development index calculations. They should also determine the transformations experienced by the areas and factor in a fifth analysis area: spatial planning development. In this paper, detailed data sourced from the Statistics Poland were used to formulate sustainable development indices for urban, rural–urban, and rural communes of the Podkarpackie region of Poland. The data concerned the five areas listed above. Using data standardization and the averaged index method, sustainable development index values were quantified to demonstrate that they displayed various levels of inequalities for the two reference periods of 2015 and 2020. These statistics indicate the key role of spatial planning development in assessing sustainability indices. The findings show that it is not only possible to enhance standard calculation methods to include other data and use them in time and space to create a simple and general quantitative rating of sustainable development, but urbanization can also be factored in that includes spatial planning development. The findings show that a modified computation approach is a reliable and relatively complete index of sustainable development that compensates for the deficiencies of current metrics.

The Convergence in the Sustainability of the Economies of the European Union Countries between 2006 and 2016

On the background of the exponential growth of the world’s population, doubled by the decrease of natural resources and the continuous, accentuated degradation of the quality of the environment, with global warming as its main effect, ensuring the sustainability of economic and social processes is becoming a growing concern. At the European Union level, it is important that all member countries adhere to and implement common measures on sustainable development, which involve, inter alia, ensuring the convergence of policies and their effects at EU level. The EU through detailed SDGs presents the structure of a system of indicators structured on 17 objectives, indicators taken over, implemented, and calculated by EUROSTAT. The study proposes, based on a Composite Index of Sustainable Development of EU Countries’ Economies (ISDE-EU), the analysis of the convergence of the sustainability of EU states’ economies, not so much at individual level, but at cluster level, each cluster containing EU countries with similar/close ISDE-EU levels and dynamics. The results of the analysis confirm the partial existence of the beta and sigma convergence of the sustainability of EU countries’ economies. Please note that, at the time when we processed data, the UK was an EU state, which is why it was included in the analysis.

Toward a multidimensional indicator of resident-oriented sustainable development: The case of slum areas in Mumbai

This paper proposes a framework for weighting priority for the multidimensional domains of slum development from the viewpoint of residents. The weights estimated by our framework can be interpreted as marginal utility, and multiplying satisfaction scores in each domain of development by these weights yields residents' utility from slum development. The proposed approach is carried out by accessing residents' needs for slum development in Mumbai, India, where more than 5.2 million residents live in slum areas. Using the dataset obtained from a questionnaire survey that we conducted with slum residents in March 2019, we estimate marginal utilities for 23 domains of slum development. The results show that (1) slum residents most wish to improve development projects about human capital (health and education), electricity, and drinking water, even if they have already been highly satisfied, (2) they feel the least satisfaction with public toilets and place high priority on projects involving public toilets, (3) the sewage system has low priority with low satisfaction, but this priority increases as slum residents become better off, (4) the projects on social development and protection are highly satisfied and generally ranked low in terms of marginal utilities, and (5) air pollution and working conditions are also concerns of slum residents, especially as these residents become better off. It is expected that the framework used in this paper can be used to extract the problems of urban development and to track the progress of development plans from the viewpoint of residents.

Towards sustainable smart cities: Maturity assessment and development pattern recognition in China

Rapid population growth and urban sprawl create pressure on environmental resources along with a growing demand for physical resources in cities. The concept of a smart sustainable city proposes a framework to ensure citizens a better life and protect the environment to maintain sustainability through information and communication technologies. This paper constructed a sustainable smart city development indicator system using the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) maturity model and assessed the maturity level of 35 cities in China. Spectral clustering was adopted to recognize development patterns on three dimensions and 53 indicators. The results indicated four development patterns. Completing developing elements converged in comprehensive-development cities. Environmental-friendly cities enhanced environmental quality under government guidance supported by information and communications technology. Welfare cities showed good social welfare via the government's highly focused strategy but lacked economic support. Innovation, trade, capital investment, mental poverty, and poor living conditions characterized undeveloped cities. Practical implications are recommended for each type according to development differences to build a better smart sustainable city.

Drivers of the European Union’s Environmental Performance

The interactions between nature and humankind produce a series of ecological, social, economic, institutional, technological, and other types of restrictions, which can alter the development of the future society and Earth. Exploring the influencing factors of environmental performance can create better solutions and it can emphasize the gaps from past and current policies. Also, they can contribute to achieve sustainable development. In this regard, more indices are developing for assessing a specific theme that targets sustainability, such as carbon footprint, Environmental Performance Index, or sustainable development index. Thus, this study aims to analyze the influencing factors of Environmental Performance Index (EPI) at an EU level by collecting data between 2010 and 2020, once in 2 years and by using a panel data model. The results were estimated using the Period SUR effect within the generalized least square method and using the White period matrix within the correlation matrix. The results indicate positive relationships between EPI and area under organic farming, circular material use rate, eco-innovation index, energy productivity, ratio of female-to-male labor force participation rate, forest area, Human Development Index, Internet users, livestock production index, new business density, patent applications-residents, tertiary school enrollment, the share of renewable energy consumption in gross final energy consumption, and the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments. In addition, higher inequality between individuals, natural resources rents, trade volume index, and environmental taxes in total tax revenues seem to constrain the EU’s environmental performance. The results are important both for academicians and policymakers.

A’WOT analysis for sustaınability of biodiversity and tourism in Shahdagh Natıonal Park, Azerbaijan


 
 
 Shahdag National Park is the largest protected area in Azerbaijan, as well as in the South Caucasus. The article examines the sustainable development of tourism and biodiversity in the national park and surrounding areas. For this purpose, SWOT analysis was conducted using multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) tools to implement planning. The study identified internal and external environmental factors influencing the national park and presented specific strategies for sustainability. Interviews and surveys were conducted with the management of the national park, as well as visitors, to identify the factors affecting the development of the park. During the analysis of the survey results, factors affecting biodiversity and tourism were taken into account, such as ecological sustainability, economic efficiency, and social responsibility, which are key indicators of sustainable development. Thus, the initial SWOT analysis identified the strengths and weaknesses of the park as internal factors, as well as the opportunities and challenges related to external factors. For each category, 5 factors were selected according to their importance and evaluated in terms of effectiveness by establishing a hierarchy. Based on the assessment, local and global weights of factors were calculated. Mountain ecosystems and the biodiversity of the national park received the highest rating value as an internal factor. Among the external factors, reducing the impact on ecosystems and opportunities to increase tourism revenues received a high score for its effectiveness. For the sustainable development of the research area, factors covering various aspects of society and the environment were comprehensively analyzed, and strategies were proposed that incorporate more scientifically effective and systematic attributes. The results showed that the main condition is to increase the protection regime of ecosystems identified as a priority in the national park and to raise public awareness of environmental issues. In addition, the use of the park’s tourism potential by local communities and the creation of stimulating business opportunities for entrepreneurs can make a positive contribution to sustainable development at the regional level.
 
 

The potential of transdisciplinary research for sustainable development

Sustainability science can produce different theories in different sub-sectors, but the overall scientific goal is to combine such theories within a general scientific coordinate system. Scientific and methodological approaches to determining the effectiveness of using the transdisciplinary research results have been developed. A system of criteria for assessing the transdisciplinary research results has been built in the form of a hierarchical structure. Qualitative scales of criteria ranking have been developed. The developed scientific and methodological approaches can be used in the formation of a system of sustainable development indicators.

Social Capital Typologies and Sustainable Development: Spatial Patterns in the Central and Southern Regions of Malawi

Bonding, bridging and linking social capital can be a useful mechanism to promote sustainable development in low-income countries. Social capital typologies vary spatially, with the rural poor having a specific combination. Similarly, bonding, bridging and linking social capital’s association with sustainable development is also likely to differ spatially across a country, but there is limited research in low-income countries. This study aims to improve understanding of the spatial variation of bonding, bridging and linking social capital in low-income countries using Malawi as a case study. Using secondary data and spatial statistics, including kriging and geographically weighted regression, we explore the spatial variation of social capital typologies and their spatial associations with various sustainable development indicators. There were three key combinations of bonding, bridging and linking social capital, which differ from the standard model of social capital typologies for the rural poor. We also found social capital’s association with sustainable development indicators depends on the social capital typology, study area and the sustainable development indicator in question. With this in mind, development practitioners, researchers and policymakers should aim to understand the specific social capital context prior to sustainable development research or project implementation.

Sustainable development index of shale gas exploitation in China, the UK, and the US

While shale gas could complement the world's natural gas supply, its environmental tradeoffs and sustainability potential should be cautiously assessed before using it to satisfy future energy needs. Shale gas development in China is still in its infancy but has been progressing by the Central Government at a fast pace nowadays. Advanced experience from North America would greatly benefit sustainable design and decision-making for energy development in China. However, the lack of consistency concerning internal and external parameters among previous investigations does not allow an integrated impact comparison among shale gas-rich countries. Herein, we applied a meta-analysis to harmonize environmental tradeoff data through a comprehensive literature review. Greenhouse gas emission, water consumption, and energy demand were selected as environmental tradeoff indicators during shale gas production. Data harmonization suggested that environmental tradeoffs ranged from 5.6 to 37.4 g CO2-eq, 11.0–119.7 mL water, and 0.027–0.127 MJ energy to produce 1 MJ shale gas worldwide. Furthermore, sustainable development indexes (SDIs) for shale gas exploitation in China were analyzed and compared to the United States and the United Kingdom by considering environment, economy, and social demand through an analytic hierarchy process. The United States and China elicit higher SDIs than the United Kingdom, indicating higher feasibility for shale gas exploitation. Although China has relatively low scores in the environmental aspect, large reservoirs and high future market demand make Chinese shale gas favorable in the social demand aspect. Region-specific SDI characteristics identified among representative countries could improve the sustainability potential of regional development and global energy supply.

The correlation of Russian companies’ orientation towards sustainable development in the environmental, social and economic realm with trends in stock market indices

Subject. We consider interrelations between Russian companies’ orientation towards sustainable development in the environmental, social, and economic sphere with the dynamics of Russian stock market indices. Objectives. The aim is to unveil the correlation between the focus of Russian companies on sustainable development in the environmental, social, and economic realm trends in the Russian stock market indices. Methods. The study employs methods of logical, comparative, and statistical analysis, in particular, the correlation analysis of indicators, like the MRSV index, MOEX index, integrated ESG ranking of Russian companies (our own development), gross domestic product, investment in fixed assets and trade balance, international reserves of the Bank of Russia, money supply and interest rate of the Bank of Russia. Results. We confirmed two formulated hypotheses, i.e. (1) Domestic economic factors influencing the dynamics of the Russian stock market have a similar effect on the general market index and the sustainable development index; and (2) Issuing companies’ orientation to sustainable development in environmental, social, and, economic realms has a direct correlation with trends in the stock index for sustainable development). Conclusions. Monitoring the dynamics of the Russian stock market index of sustainable development, which could provide a basis for investors to make environmentally oriented decisions, is inappropriate, because the index dynamics does not reflect the company's ESG achievements and is highly dependent on the same internal economic factors as the general market index.

Biosphere‐based sustainability in local governments: Sustainable development goal interactions and indicators for policymaking

AbstractKnowledge on sustainable development goals (SDGs) interactions has a bias toward global perspectives and lacks regional or country‐specific differentiation. This paper takes a biosphere‐based sustainability approach and assesses SDG interactions in a local governmental context. We start by addressing how the SDGs promote a biosphere‐based sustainability. Here, we find a range of opinions and we settle on a set of SDGs. Second, we explore how a set of sustainability indicators are connected to the SDGs and biosphere‐based sustainability. We conduct a case study and develop an SDG interaction model, and further compare global and local level interactions. We find that the local level has some differences compared to global level findings. However, the distribution among synergies and trade‐offs was found to be quite coherent. Our SDG interaction model connects sectors both within a single government and between governmental levels and can as such facilitate policy coherence. The main contribution of this study is our unique approach of conducting a local level assessment which aligns an existing sustainability measurement system with interaction research.