IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v221y2024ics0921800924000867.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How close are European countries to the doughnut-shaped safe and just space? Evidence from 26 EU countries

Author

Listed:
  • Gómez-Alvarez Díaz, M. Rosario
  • Pérez León, Víctor Ernesto
  • Fuentes Saguar, Patricia

Abstract

This study aims to measure how far 26 EU countries are from the safe and just space (SJS) defined in the Doughnut Economics framework by calculating the distance for all social and environmental dimensions and using two synthetic indices for safe space and just space. The distance was measured as a percentage of the threshold to be reached. Therefore, all indicators were interpreted in the same way. Cluster analysis was used to identify countries that displayed similar behaviours. The results showed that none of the countries analysed fall within this space. The environmental and social dimensions that most transgress were identified: CO2 emissions, biochemical flows, and social equality. The groups with the worst results were made up of countries from Southeast and East Europe, and Ireland and Luxembourg, while the best results were from Western Europe, Nordic countries and Slovenia. In conclusion, environmental transgressions and social deprivations exist in all European countries, but prosperity can be achieved through different socioeconomic models, and a high GDP does not correspond to greater sustainability. This information is valuable for the design of public policies aimed at ensuring that European society lives in the Safe and Just Space.

Suggested Citation

  • Gómez-Alvarez Díaz, M. Rosario & Pérez León, Víctor Ernesto & Fuentes Saguar, Patricia, 2024. "How close are European countries to the doughnut-shaped safe and just space? Evidence from 26 EU countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:221:y:2024:i:c:s0921800924000867
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108189
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800924000867
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108189?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dietz, Simon & Neumayer, Eric, 2007. "Weak and strong sustainability in the SEEA: Concepts and measurement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 617-626, March.
    2. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2022. "Tasks, Automation, and the Rise in U.S. Wage Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(5), pages 1973-2016, September.
    3. Michela Nardo & Michaela Saisana & Andrea Saltelli & Stefano Tarantola & Anders Hoffman & Enrico Giovannini, 2005. "Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators: Methodology and User Guide," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2005/3, OECD Publishing.
    4. Andrew L. Fanning & Daniel W. O’Neill & Jason Hickel & Nicolas Roux, 2022. "The social shortfall and ecological overshoot of nations," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 26-36, January.
    5. Alkire, Sabina, 2002. "Dimensions of Human Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 181-205, February.
    6. Sabina Alkire & James Foster, 2011. "Understandings and misunderstandings of multidimensional poverty measurement," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 9(2), pages 289-314, June.
    7. John B. Davis & Thomas R. Wells, 2016. "Transformation Without Paternalism," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 360-376, July.
    8. Salvatore Greco & Alessio Ishizaka & Menelaos Tasiou & Gianpiero Torrisi, 2019. "On the Methodological Framework of Composite Indices: A Review of the Issues of Weighting, Aggregation, and Robustness," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(1), pages 61-94, January.
    9. Manfred Lenzen & Daniel Moran & Keiichiro Kanemoto & Arne Geschke, 2013. "Building Eora: A Global Multi-Region Input-Output Database At High Country And Sector Resolution," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 20-49, March.
    10. Suárez-Eiroa, Brais & Fernández, Emilio & Soto-Oñate, David & Ovejero-Campos, Aida & Urbieta, Pablo & Méndez, Gonzalo, 2022. "A framework to allocate responsibilities of the global environmental concerns: A case study in Spain involving regions, municipalities, productive sectors, industrial parks, and companies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    11. Daniel W. O’Neill & Andrew L. Fanning & William F. Lamb & Julia K. Steinberger, 2018. "A good life for all within planetary boundaries," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(2), pages 88-95, February.
    12. David Griggs & Mark Stafford-Smith & Owen Gaffney & Johan Rockström & Marcus C. Öhman & Priya Shyamsundar & Will Steffen & Gisbert Glaser & Norichika Kanie & Ian Noble, 2013. "Sustainable development goals for people and planet," Nature, Nature, vol. 495(7441), pages 305-307, March.
    13. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    14. Konstantin Stadler & Richard Wood & Tatyana Bulavskaya & Carl†Johan Södersten & Moana Simas & Sarah Schmidt & Arkaitz Usubiaga & José Acosta†Fernández & Jeroen Kuenen & Martin Bruckner & Stefan, 2018. "EXIOBASE 3: Developing a Time Series of Detailed Environmentally Extended Multi†Regional Input†Output Tables," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(3), pages 502-515, June.
    15. Jason Hickel, 2019. "Is it possible to achieve a good life for all within planetary boundaries?," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 18-35, January.
    16. Fang, Kai & Heijungs, Reinout & De Snoo, Geert R., 2015. "Understanding the complementary linkages between environmental footprints and planetary boundaries in a footprint–boundary environmental sustainability assessment framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 218-226.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dongni Han & Deyong Yu & Jiangxiao Qiu, 2023. "Assessing coupling interactions in a safe and just operating space for regional sustainability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Hernández, Mauricio & Chávez-Bustamante, Felipe, 2024. "Sufficiency between producers and consumers: A configurational analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    3. Shaikh, M. Abdullah & Hadjikakou, Michalis & Geyik, Ozge & Bryan, Brett A., 2024. "Assessing global agri-food system exceedance of national cropland limits for linking responsible consumption and production under SDG 12," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    4. Francesco Bandarin & Enrico Ciciotti & Marco Cremaschi & Giovanna Madera & Paolo Perulli & Diana Shendrikova, 2020. "Which Future for Cities after COVID-19 An international Survey," Reports, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, October.
    5. Martinico-Perez, Marianne Faith G. & Schandl, Heinz & Fishman, Tomer & Tanikawa, Hiroki, 2018. "The Socio-Economic Metabolism of an Emerging Economy: Monitoring Progress of Decoupling of Economic Growth and Environmental Pressures in the Philippines," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 155-166.
    6. Fernández-Amador, Octavio & Francois, Joseph F. & Oberdabernig, Doris A. & Tomberger, Patrick, 2023. "Energy footprints and the international trade network: A new dataset. Is the European Union doing it better?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    7. Ewa Roszkowska & Bartłomiej Jefmański, 2021. "Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure (I-VIFSM) Based on Hellwig’s Approach in the Analysis of Survey Data," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-17, January.
    8. Brizga, Janis & Räty, Tarmo, 2024. "Production, consumption and trade-based forest land and resource footprints in the Nordic and Baltic countries," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Alan Randall, 2022. "Driving with Eyes on the Rear-View Mirror—Why Weak Sustainability Is Not Enough," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-13, August.
    10. Simona-Roxana Ulman & Costica Mihai & Cristina Cautisanu, 2020. "Peculiarities of the Relation between Human and Environmental Wellbeing in Different Stages of National Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-26, October.
    11. Tallgauer, Maximilian & Schank, Christoph, 2024. "Challenging the growth-prosperity Nexus: Redefining undergraduate economics education for the Anthropocene," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    12. Nenci, Silvia & Fusacchia, Ilaria & Giunta, Anna & Montalbano, Pierluigi & Pietrobelli, Carlo, 2022. "Mapping global value chain participation and positioning in agriculture and food: stylised facts, empirical evidence and critical issues," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 11(2), July.
    13. Edson Kogachi & Adonias Ferreira & Carlos Cavalcante & Marcelo Embiruçu, 2021. "Development of Performance Evaluation Indicators for Table Grape Packaging Units. 2. Global Indexes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, June.
    14. Rafael Horn & Hanaa Dahy & Johannes Gantner & Olga Speck & Philip Leistner, 2018. "Bio-Inspired Sustainability Assessment for Building Product Development—Concept and Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-25, January.
    15. Ahmad Mohd Khalid & Seema Sharma & Amlendu Kumar Dubey, 2020. "Data Gap Analysis, Indicator Selection and Index Development: A Case for Developing Economies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 893-960, April.
    16. Usubiaga-Liaño, Arkaitz & Arto, Iñaki & Acosta-Fernández, José, 2021. "Double accounting in energy footprint and related assessments: How common is it and what are the consequences?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    17. Popescu, Ioana-Stefania & Gibon, Thomas & Hitaj, Claudia & Rubin, Mirco & Benetto, Enrico, 2023. "Are SRI funds financing carbon emissions? An input-output life cycle assessment of investment funds," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    18. Jingwen Huo & Peipei Chen & Klaus Hubacek & Heran Zheng & Jing Meng & Dabo Guan, 2022. "Full‐scale, near real‐time multi‐regional input–output table for the global emerging economies (EMERGING)," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1218-1232, August.
    19. Jamshed Y. Uppal & Syeda Rabab Mudakkar, 2013. "Human Development and Economic Uncertainties: Exploring Another Dimension of Development," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 18(Special E), pages 305-334, September.
    20. Shepard, Jun U. & Pratson, Lincoln F., 2020. "Hybrid input-output analysis of embodied energy security," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:221:y:2024:i:c:s0921800924000867. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.