Expanding the Measure of Wealth · Indicators of Environmentally Sustainable Development

This report explores a number of indicators of environmentally sustainable development that include the links between environmental quality and economic growth and between the use of resources and the quality of the resource stock. It highlights "portfolio" indicators for tracking a country's progress toward sustainable development. These include new estimates of national wealth and genuine savings, a detailed analysis of changes in subsidies with environmental consequences, and progress on the conceptual foundations of social capital. The seven chapters that follow the introduction are presented in two parts, divided by an explicit focus on links between the macroeconomy and the environment (Part One), and evolving indicator themes (Part Two). Chapters 2 and 3 are representative of "portfolio" indicators. Subsidy reform and the potential for this reform to benefit the environment is the subject of chapter 4. Chapter 5 considers the issue of land quality indicators (LQIs). Chapters 6 and 7 consider two distinct aspects of the role of people in determining the nature and rate of economic growth. The final chapter explores a number of the different national and supranational indicator efforts and data sets.