How to measure sustainable development

When we talk about measuring sustainable development, we of course have to start with what sustainable development actually is. It is the “development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”, according to the most called-upon definition, from the Brundtland Commission in 1987. But here we already come to the first problem – this definition is open to interpretation. Terms such as “needs”, “satisfy” and “development” are loose concepts, defying any real resolution. Where is the line between needs and desires? What are the real needs of current and future generations? These questions must be addressed if we wish to understand the essence of sustainable development.

According to EU sustainable development strategy, sustainable development means a society with dynamic economy, with full employment and a high level of education, health protection, social and territorial cohesion and environmental protection in a peaceful and secure world, respecting cultural diversity. Plainly said, the aim of sustainable development should be to ensure people a good quality of life that would be lasting in time. To define that, we look at the three spheres of sustainable development:

(1) Natural environment – the basis of life on Earth, which sets the most fundamental boundaries to development;
(2) Economy – allowing people to increase their material well being and wealth;
(3) Structure of society – which enables people to satisfy their social needs and reach self-fulfillment..

Therefore we could say that sustainable development is not so much a progress in its conventional meaning (improvement, growth of something) but reaching a certain level and maintaining it. The question is, what is this level of quality of life, this well-being, that we want to reach and what are we able to maintain?

There are increasing opinions, however, that these three spheres aren’t actually equal. Environment is after all setting the limits that economy and society should adapt with. Therefore when measuring sustainable development we should examine the concept: how to achieve balance between biggest possible level of well-being and smallest damage to environment.

Here, comparison of 2 indexes has been brought out – ecological footprint and human development index (HDI). Ecological footprint expresses how much land and water area a human population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste under prevailing technology. Human development index measures people’s well-being with figures such as life expectancy, literacy, educational attainment and GDP per capita. A country is considered sustainable if it falls within the marginal rates of both indexes – offering biocomplete life without burdening the nature too much. A similar indicator has been created by the international organisation Friends of the Earth, known as the Happy Planet Index (HPI). This index shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered, taking into account 3 indicators: life satisfaction, life expectancy and carbon footprint. In Europe, the happiest country was found to be Iceland. The unhappiest: Estonia.

From here we could come to the basic question of human development: what makes us happy? What do we want? Some form of answer can be provided by Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef. He identified 9 basic categories of human needs that are the same to all people around the globe: subsistence, idleness (leisure), affection, freedom, protection, identity, understanding, creation and participation. These needs are fundamental and universal. Need is not to have a car, but to get from one place to another. Today’s consumer-society has its vision of our needs, yet these are not necessarily compatible with contentment and happiness. Western society has discovered that consumerism cannot lead to contentment. In fact, surveys have shown the opposite effect: as the rate of consumerism increases so too does the rate of depression and stress. We all know the sayings: the best things in life are free; life is made beautiful by small things. Also the same sustainable development strategy of the EU sets as one of its main goals to change our current unsustainable consumption and production patterns. We should shift from consumer-society to activity-based society.

Since reaching sustainable development is connected with many international agreements and national legal acts, there are also certain indicators developed to measure it. Every country bound to these commitments has the right to set its own system of indicators. The EU has defined these indicators: economic development, poverty and social inclusion, aging society, public health, climate change and energy, production and consumption patterns, management of natural resources, transport, good governance, global partnership. Some examples of concrete indicators: level of citizens’ confidence in EU institutions, healthy birth, growth rate of GDP per capita, population index of farmland birds, total greenhouse gas emissions, etc. Classically, indicators of economy, society and environment are taken as equals. But is it possible to develop them equally?

Measuring sustainable development presumes actually redefining many things, first of all analysing our own true needs, asking what kind of development we really need and want. Taking into account the worsening state of the Earth and depletion of natural resources, maybe we shouldn’t try to get what we want (or think we want) but instead learn to want what we’ve got. Therefore we are dealing foremost with psychological and philosophical problem and solutions. But as we know, the hardest thing is to change a way of thinking.