Achieving Sustainability Through Metrics
Since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, environmental policymaking has become more data-driven, largely due to the emergence and proliferation of better metrics on sustainability. The Sustainable Development Goals, ratified in 2015, embody the world’s commitment to quantitative, measurable progress, backed by an array of science-based targets and sustainability indicators. Navigating sustainability metrics, though, poses difficulties for even well-informed decisionmakers and stakeholders. Based on over twenty years of experience in producing the Environmental Performance Index, the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy joins with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network to offer broad insights into the construction, application, and impacts of sustainability metrics.
- Understand the value of sustainability metrics as a guide to environmental policy valuation and performance assessment;
- Be familiar with metrics related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Environmental Performance Index; and
- Communicate with government officials, business leaders, and practitioners on sustainability metrics and data, environmental performance, and environmental data analytics.
- Be well versed on the fundamentals of sustainability metrics at the global and national scales,
- Be comfortable with the concepts and language of sustainability metrics, and
- Know how to stay current on the latest developments in sustainability metrics.