Assessing Environmental Sustainability Performance at the National Level: Leading Indicators Can Help

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony S. Brewer ◽  
Robert B. Pojasek
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
National Level ◽  
Leading Indicators ◽  
Sustainability Performance

scholarly journals Financial indicators of the sustainability of pastoral farms and their relationship with environmental sustainability

1997 ◽  
pp. 199-204
Author(s):  
Nicola M. Shadbolt ◽  
Stuart D. Morriss ◽  
Terry C. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
National Level ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Financial Indicators ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Financial Measures ◽  
Preliminary Examination ◽  
Biophysical Indicators ◽  
The Relationship

Agri-environmental indicators developed in New Zealand to date have focused more on environmental and biophysical indicators than on social and financial measures. However, the latter are increasingly seen as pre-requisites to achieving long-term financial and social viability in agriculture. At present environmental costs are internalised in the financial performance of farm businesses because environmental protection in agriculture is funded almost entirely by farmers. This paper presents a preliminary examination of the perceptions of farmers on the relationship between farm financial resources and the environmental effects of farming. It aims to identify pragmatic and reliable financial indicators of sustainable agriculture at both the farm and the regional or national level. The paper will introduce a range of indicators used to measure the financial health of a business and will evaluate them for their ability to measure the economic sustainability of farm businesses over time. Farmer perceptions of the existence of links between the financial and environmental indicators will be explored through analysis of interview responses. Keywords: financial health, sustainability indicators, environmental indicators, financial indicators

Measuring environmental sustainability performance of South Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 251 ◽  
pp. 119519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huaping Sun ◽  
Muhammad Mohsin ◽  
Majed Alharthi ◽  
Qaiser Abbas
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Performance

Using the International Integrated Reporting Framework to comply with EU Directive 2014/95/EU: can we afford another reporting façade?

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 889-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Biondi ◽  
John Dumay ◽  
David Monciardini
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
National Level ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Reporting Standard ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Reporting Framework ◽  
The Eu

Purpose Motivated by claims that the International Integrated Reporting Framework (IRF) can be used to comply with Directive 2014/95/EU (the EU Directive) on non-financial and diversity disclosure, the purpose of this study is to examine whether companies can comply with corporate reporting laws using de facto standards or frameworks. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted an interpretivist approach to research along with current regulatory studies that aim to investigate business compliance with the law using private sector standards. To support the authors’ arguments, publicly available secondary data sources were used, including newsletters, press releases and websites, reports from key players within the accounting profession, public documents issued by the European Commission and data from corporatergister.com. Findings To become a de facto standard or framework, a private standard-setter requires the support of corporate regulators to mandate it in a specific national jurisdiction. The de facto standard-setter requires a powerful coalition of actors who can influence the policymakers to allow its adoption and diffusion at a national level to become mandated. Without regulatory support, it is difficult for a private and voluntary reporting standard or framework to be adopted and diffused. Moreover, the authors report that the <IRF> preferences stock market capitalism over sustainability because it privileges organisational sustainability over social and environmental sustainability, emphasises value creation over holding organisations accountable for their impact on society and the environment and privileges the entitlements of providers of financial capital over other stakeholders. Research limitations/implications The authors question the suitability of the goals of both the <IRF> and the EU Directive during and after the COVID-19 crisis. The planned changes to both need rethinking as we head into uncharted waters. Moreover, the authors believe that the people cannot afford any more reporting façades. Originality/value The authors offer a critical analysis of the link between the <IRF> and the EU Directive and how the <IRF> can be used to comply with the EU Directive. By questioning the relevance of the compliance question, the authors advance a critique about the relevance of these and other legal and de facto frameworks, particularly considering the more pressing needs that must be met to address the economic, social and environmental implications of the COVID-19 crisis.

Environmental Sustainability of Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching of Silicon Nanowires for Lithium-Ion Battery Anode

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fenfen Wang ◽  
Xianfeng Gao ◽  
Lulu Ma ◽  
Chris Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Lithium Ion Battery ◽  
Silicon Nanowires ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Ag Nanoparticles ◽  
Chemical Etching ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Process Data ◽  
Sustainability Performance ◽  
Metal Assisted Chemical Etching ◽  
Si Wafer

Abstract Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with three different average diameters of 90, 120, and 140 nm were synthesized by a metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) method. Environmental sustainability of the MACE process was studied by investigating material consumptions, gas emissions, and silver nanoparticle concentrations in nitric acid solutions for 1 g of SiNWs and 1 kW h of lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrodes. It was found that the process for 90 nm SiNWs has the best sustainability performance compared with the other two processes. Specifically, in this study for 1 g of 90 nm SiNWs, 8.845 g of Si wafer is consumed, 1.09 g of H2 and 1.04 g of NO are produced, and 54.807 mg of Ag nanoparticles are found in the HNO3 solution. Additionally, for 1 kW h of LIB electrodes, the process for 90 nm SiNWs results in 1.943 kg of Si wafer consumption, 239.455 g of H2 and 239.455 g of NO emissions, and 12.040 g of Ag nanoparticles concentrations. By quantitatively investigating the material consumptions and emissions, this study assesses the sustainability performance of the MACE process for synthesizing SiNWs for use in LIBs, and thus it provides process data for the analysis and the development of sustainable production methods for SiNWs and similar anode materials for next-generation LIBs.

Environmental sustainability of logistics service provider: an ANP-QFD approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmine Siu Lee Lam ◽  
Jing Dai
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Green Supply Chain Management ◽  
Green Supply Chain ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Performance ◽  
Logistics Service

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology with systematic metrics for logistics service providers (LSPs) to develop their environmental sustainability performance in the context of green supply chain management. Design/methodology/approach – An integrated analytical approach which combines analytical network process (ANP) with quality function deployment (QFD) is proposed to develop LSPs’ environmental sustainability performance. In the approach, QFD is used to translate customer requirements (CRs) for “green” concerns into multiple criteria for LSP’s design requirements (DRs). ANP is used to analyze the inter-relationships among the various CRs and DRs. Findings – The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by applying it to a global LSP. A case study shows how the proposed “ANP-QFD” technique can be deployed to understand customers’ expectation for environment management and develop tactics and measures with the aim to achieve the desirable outcome for LSPs’ environmental sustainability performance. Practical implications – Firms that emphasize sustainability as a competitive priority will benefit by communicating sustainability efforts to customers. Therefore, “ANP-QFD” is an integrative method which helps develop LSPs’ environmental sustainability performance by enabling logistics managers incorporate the “voice” of customers for environmental concerns into their decision-making process. The study demonstrates how to develop LSPs to be greener in order to realize the requirements of green supply chains. The proposed integrated approach can also be applied in other decision-making scenarios for effective green supply chain management. Originality/value – Various approaches that can deal with multiple and conflicting criteria have been adopted for LSP assessment in the literature. However, they fail to include the impact of business objectives and the requirements of company stakeholders (customer in this study) in the identification of performance criteria for LSP. They also did not incorporate the environmental sustainability perspective. This paper contributes to the emerging research topic of environmental sustainability in logistics and supply chains by tackling these inadequacies in the literature. The study facilitates LSPs and the supply chains they serve in achieving better economic and environmental performance, thus leading to truly sustainable outcomes.

Measuring countries׳ environmental sustainability performance – A review and case study of Iceland

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 934-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snjolfur Olafsson ◽  
David Cook ◽  
Brynhildur Davidsdottir ◽  
Lara Johannsdottir
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Performance
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