Measuring sustainability: A time series of alternative indicators for Scotland

This paper presents results from a time-series analysis of seven alternative measures of sustainability for Scotland. The measures chosen are green Net National Product, genuine savings, ecological footprint, environmental space, net primary productivity, the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare and the Genuine Progress Indicator. These are all measures at the national, or macro, level. We note arguments in the literature that no one single measure of `sustainability' is likely to be sufficient. However, very different messages concerning the sustainability of Scotland over the period in question (1980–1993) emerge from these measures chosen. We also argue that different indicators provide different insights for policy making.

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