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How environmentally focused is the German sustainability strategy? A critical discussion of the indicators used to measure sustainable development in Germany

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Abstract

There are hardly any critical discussions of sustainable development indicator sets designed for use at the national level. This article aims at rectifying this omission in critical academic research by contributing to the discourse on environmental sustainability with an assessment of the indicator set used for the measurement of sustainable development in Germany. It will evaluate to what extent the sustainable development concept is reflected in the structure of the strategy and analyse in how far fundamental environmental issues are covered by the indicator set. The discussion will show that the environmental dimension of the sustainability concept is not sufficiently integrated in the German National Sustainable Development Strategy. Although the strategy’s indicator set contains a range of environmental indicators, gaps in the German indicator set become apparent when contrasted with important issues of sustainability. It will be concluded that the environmental dimension of the sustainable development concept is not the recurrent theme in either the strategy or the indicator set. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

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  • Falko Leukhardt & Simon Allen, 2013. "How environmentally focused is the German sustainability strategy? A critical discussion of the indicators used to measure sustainable development in Germany," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 149-166, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:15:y:2013:i:1:p:149-166
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-012-9380-6
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    1. Bohringer, Christoph & Jochem, Patrick E.P., 2007. "Measuring the immeasurable -- A survey of sustainability indices," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 1-8, June.
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    2. Kajsa Borgnäs, 2017. "Indicators as ‘circular argumentation constructs’? An input–output analysis of the variable structure of five environmental sustainability country rankings," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 769-790, June.
    3. Jari Lyytimäki & Kirsi-Marja Lonkila & Eeva Furman & Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki & Satu Lähteenoja, 2021. "Untangling the interactions of sustainability targets: synergies and trade-offs in the Northern European context," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 3458-3473, March.
    4. Chenyu Lu & Jiaqi Yang & Hengji Li & Shulei Jin & Min Pang & Chengpeng Lu, 2019. "Research on the Spatial–Temporal Synthetic Measurement of the Coordinated Development of Population-Economy-Society-Resource-Environment (PESRE) Systems in China Based on Geographic Information System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-18, May.
    5. Bahar Celikkol Erbas & Ebru Guven Solakoglu, 2017. "In the Presence of Climate Change, the Use of Fertilizers and the Effect of Income on Agricultural Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-17, October.

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