A Framework for Quantified Eco‐efficiency Analysis

Eco‐efficiency is an instrument for sustainability analysis, indicating an empirical relation in economic activities between environmental cost or value and environmental impact. This empirical relation can be matched against normative considerations as to how much environmental quality or improvement society would like to offer in exchange for economic welfare, or what the trade‐off between the economy and the environment should be if society is to realize a certain level of environmental quality. Its relevance lies in the fact that relations between economy and environment are not self‐evident, not at a micro level and not at the macro level resulting from micro‐level decisions for society as a whole. Clarifying the why and what of eco‐efficiency is a first step toward decision support on these two aspects of sustainability. With the main analytic framework established, filling in the actual economic and environmental relations requires further choices in modeling. Also, the integration of different environmental effects into a single score requires a clear definition of approach, because several partly overlapping methods exist. Some scaling problems accompany the specification of numerator and denominator, which need a solution and some standardization before eco‐efficiency analysis can become more widely used. With a method established, the final decision is how to embed it in practical decision making. In getting the details of eco‐efficiency better specified, its strengths, but also its weaknesses and limitations, need to be indicated more clearly.