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Sustainability ranking and improvement of countries

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  • Phillis, Yannis A.
  • Grigoroudis, Evangelos
  • Kouikoglou, Vassilis S.

Abstract

Human society is on a collision course with nature, thus its sustainability is seriously questioned nowadays. To understand this problem better it is essential to define and measure sustainability. In this paper a model that uses fuzzy logic, called SAFE, is used to measure sustainability. The sustainability of a country is based on a multitude of basic indicators. In all 75 indicators for 128 countries are used. This work extends SAFE as follows: (a) The model is amended by an imputation procedure to fill in missing data, (b) the rule bases of SAFE are compiled algebraically, and (c) sustainability thresholds are defined so as to reflect expert opinion and international agreements and norms. Countries are ranked according to their sustainability index. Switzerland and Sweden take the first two places and Mauritania and Sudan the two last ones. A sensitivity analysis pinpoints those basic indicators that affect sustainability the most. Decision makers may focus on these indicators to improve sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Phillis, Yannis A. & Grigoroudis, Evangelos & Kouikoglou, Vassilis S., 2011. "Sustainability ranking and improvement of countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 542-553, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:70:y:2011:i:3:p:542-553
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Giuseppe Munda, 2016. "Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis and Sustainable Development," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Salvatore Greco & Matthias Ehrgott & José Rui Figueira (ed.), Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis, edition 2, chapter 0, pages 1235-1267, Springer.
    2. JosÉ Figueira & Salvatore Greco & Matthias Ehrogott, 2005. "Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis: State of the Art Surveys," International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, Springer, number 978-0-387-23081-8, December.
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    4. Phillis, Yannis A. & Andriantiatsaholiniaina, Luc A., 2001. "Sustainability: an ill-defined concept and its assessment using fuzzy logic," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 435-456, June.
    5. Giuseppe Munda, 2006. "A NAIADE based approach for sustainability benchmarking," International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(1/2), pages 65-78.
    6. Andriantiatsaholiniaina, Luc A. & Kouikoglou, Vassilis S. & Phillis, Yannis A., 2004. "Evaluating strategies for sustainable development: fuzzy logic reasoning and sensitivity analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 149-172, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Elena Escrig‐Olmedo & María Jesús Muñoz‐Torres & María Ángeles Fernández‐Izquierdo & Juana María Rivera‐Lirio, 2017. "Measuring Corporate Environmental Performance: A Methodology for Sustainable Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 142-162, February.
    2. Buchanan, Bonnie & Silvola, Hanna & Vähämaa, Emilia, 2023. "Sustainability and private investors," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 14/2023, Bank of Finland.
    3. Rebecca Patrick & Amy Shaw & Alison Freeman & Claire Henderson-Wilson & Justin Lawson & Mia Davison & Teresa Capetola & Calvin K. F. Lee, 2019. "Human Wellbeing and the Health of the Environment: Local Indicators that Balance the Scales," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 651-667, December.
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    5. Mehrbakhsh Nilashi & Fausto Cavallaro & Abbas Mardani & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Sarminah Samad & Othman Ibrahim, 2018. "Measuring Country Sustainability Performance Using Ensembles of Neuro-Fuzzy Technique," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, August.
    6. Hametner, Markus & Kostetckaia, Mariia, 2020. "Frontrunners and laggards: How fast are the EU member states progressing towards the sustainable development goals?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    7. Aiyshwariya Paulvannan Kanmani & Renee Obringer & Benjamin Rachunok & Roshanak Nateghi, 2020. "Assessing Global Environmental Sustainability Via an Unsupervised Clustering Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-12, January.
    8. Evangelos Grigoroudis & Vassilis S. Kouikoglou & Yannis A. Phillis & Fotis D. Kanellos, 2021. "Energy sustainability: a definition and assessment model," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1845-1885, September.
    9. Bert Scholtens & Riikka Sievänen, 2013. "Drivers of Socially Responsible Investing: A Case Study of Four Nordic Countries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 605-616, July.
    10. Jelena M. Andrić & Jiayuan Wang & Ruoyu Zhong, 2019. "Identifying the Critical Risks in Railway Projects Based on Fuzzy and Sensitivity Analysis: A Case Study of Belt and Road Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, March.
    11. Yannis A. Phillis & Nektarios Chairetis & Evangelos Grigoroudis & Fotis D. Kanellos & Vassilis S. Kouikoglou, 2018. "Climate security assessment of countries," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 25-43, May.
    12. Mehrbakhsh Nilashi & Shahla Asadi & Rabab Ali Abumalloh & Sarminah Samad & Fahad Ghabban & Eko Supriyanto & Reem Osman, 2021. "Sustainability Performance Assessment Using Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) and Classification and Ensembles of Regression Trees (CART)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-24, March.
    13. Phillis, Yannis A. & Kouikoglou, Vassilis S., 2012. "System-of-Systems hierarchy of biodiversity conservation problems," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 235, pages 36-48.
    14. Ionut Viorel Herghiligiu & Ioan-Bogdan Robu & Marius Pislaru & Adrian Vilcu & Anca Laura Asandului & Silvia Avasilcăi & Catalin Balan, 2019. "Sustainable Environmental Management System Integration and Business Performance: A Balance Assessment Approach Using Fuzzy Logic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-30, September.
    15. Eleftherios Sdoukopoulos & Maria Boile, 2021. "Strengthening the Collaborative Environment in Port-Hinterland Corridor Management Initiatives: A Value System Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    16. Liu, Gang, 2014. "Development of a general sustainability indicator for renewable energy systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 611-621.
    17. Cheng He & Liguo Zhou & Weichun Ma & Yuan Wang, 2019. "Spatial Assessment of Urban Climate Change Vulnerability during Different Urbanization Phases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, April.
    18. Vincent Wretling & Berit Balfors, 2021. "Are Local Authorities Building Their Capacity to Plan for Reduced Climate Impact? A Longitudinal Analysis of Swedish Comprehensive Plans," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    19. José Fernando Romero Cañizares & Purificación Vicente Galindo & Yannis Phillis & Evangelos Grigoroudis, 2022. "Graphical sustainability analysis using disjoint biplots," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 1575-1596, April.
    20. Fausto Cavallaro, 2015. "A Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Inference System for Developing a Sustainability Index of Biomass," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-13, September.
    21. Liudan Jiao & Liyin Shen & Chenyang Shuai & Bei He, 2016. "A Novel Approach for Assessing the Performance of Sustainable Urbanization Based on Structural Equation Modeling: A China Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-16, September.

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