The sustainability gap: a practical indicator of sustainability in the framework of the national accounts
by Paul Ekins, Sandrine Simon
International Journal of Sustainable Development (IJSD), Vol. 2, No. 1, 1999

Abstract: The concept of sustainable development needs to be based on a clear definition of sustainability and how it is to be measured. This paper defines environmental sustainability as the maintenance of important environmental functions, and identifies seven sustainability principles that relate this requirement to current environmental issues. From these principles, the paper derives physical indicators of sustainability, organised according to the framework of the national accounts, which enables a ''sustainability gap'' to be estimated, comprising the difference between the current level and the environmentally sustainable level of the indicator in question. This physical ''sustainability gap'' can be given a monetary value according to the expenditure that would be necessary on abatement or restoration technologies to close the gap. Although the monetary ''sustainability gap'' cannot appropriately be used to adjust the national accounting aggregates, its value, and its ratio to GNP, provide useful information both to decision-makers and to the general public about the economic effort that would be required to achieve an environmentally sustainable economy.

Online publication date: Mon, 10-May-2004

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Sustainable Development (IJSD):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com