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Spatial Sustainability, Trade and Indicators

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  • Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Harmen Verbruggen

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

The search for frameworks and indicators of sustainable development has taken a prominent place in this journal. However, some specific aspects have received little or no attention, notably the spatial dimension and the role of international trade in indicator development. Moreover, many sustainable development indicators comprise implicit valuations, weighting schemes and policy objectives, which are insufficiently recognised as such. This contribution tries to highlight these issues by means of a review of a recently proposed indicator for ecological–economic analysis, namely the ecological footprint, that has been developed by Wackernagel and Rees. Its concept and calculation procedure are criticised on a number of points, and it is concluded that the Ecological Footprint is not the comprehensive and transparent planning tool as is often assumed. In explaining our position we will argue that spatial sustainability and regional sustainable development have not been precisely discussed so far, neither in the literature on trade and environment, nor in that on sustainable development. We will defend the view that trade can contribute positively and negatively to environmental unsustainability. Consequently, indicators and models are needed that allow for analysing interactions and trade-offs between such opposite effects. This discussion paper has resulted in a publication in Ecological Economics , 1999, 29(1), 61-72.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh & Harmen Verbruggen, 1998. "Spatial Sustainability, Trade and Indicators," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 98-105/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:19980105
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    Cited by:

    1. Rodrigues, João & Domingos, Tiago & Conceição, Pedro & Belbute, José, 2005. "Constraints on dematerialisation and allocation of natural capital along a sustainable growth path," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 382-396, September.
    2. Robert U. Ayres & Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh & John M. Gowdy, 1998. "Viewpoint: Weak versus Strong Sustainability," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 98-103/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    3. Imreh-Tóth, Mónika, 2014. "How We Forgot Natural Capital And How It Has Been Foregrounded Again By Analysing Through Ecological Footprint," Journal of Central European Green Innovation, Karoly Robert University College, vol. 2(1), pages 1-13.
    4. Muradian, Roldan & O'Connor, Martin & Martinez-Alier, Joan, 2002. "Embodied pollution in trade: estimating the 'environmental load displacement' of industrialised countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 51-67, April.
    5. Verchère, Alban, 2011. "Le développement durable en question : analyses économiques autour d’un improbable compromis entre acceptions optimiste et pessimiste du rapport de l’Homme à la Nature," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 87(3), pages 337-403, septembre.
    6. Grazi, Fabio & van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M. & Rietveld, Piet, 2006. "Modeling Spatial Sustainability: Spatial Welfare Economics versus Ecological Footprint," Sustainability Indicators and Environmental Valuation Working Papers 12212, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    7. Yue, Dongxia & Xu, Xiaofeng & Li, Zizhen & Hui, Cang & Li, Wenlong & Yang, Hequn & Ge, Jianping, 2006. "Spatiotemporal analysis of ecological footprint and biological capacity of Gansu, China 1991-2015: Down from the environmental cliff," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 393-406, June.
    8. 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.
    9. Hezri, Adnan A. & Dovers, Stephen R., 2006. "Sustainability indicators, policy and governance: Issues for ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 86-99, November.
    10. Haberl, Helmut & Erb, Karl-Heinz & Krausmann, Fridolin, 2001. "How to calculate and interpret ecological footprints for long periods of time: the case of Austria 1926-1995," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 25-45, July.
    11. Andrea Collins & Andrew Flynn, 2008. "Measuring the Environmental Sustainability of a Major Sporting Event: A Case Study of the FA Cup Final," Tourism Economics, , vol. 14(4), pages 751-768, December.
    12. Wurtenberger, Laura & Koellner, Thomas & Binder, Claudia R., 2006. "Virtual land use and agricultural trade: Estimating environmental and socio-economic impacts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 679-697, June.
    13. Nijkamp, P. & Verbruggen, H., 2002. "Global trends and climate change policies," Serie Research Memoranda 0004, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    14. Camilo Martínez-Iglesias & Alevgül H. Sorman & Mario Giampietro & Jesus Ramos-Martin, 2014. "Assessing biophysical limits to the economic development of remote islands: the case of Isabela in the Galapagos Archipelago," Documentos de Trabajo CEPROEC 2014_01, Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales, Centro de Prospectiva Estratégica.
    15. Jenerette, G. Darrel & Wu, Wanli & Goldsmith, Susan & Marussich, Wendy A. & John Roach, W., 2006. "Contrasting water footprints of cities in China and the United States," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 346-358, May.
    16. Kopp, Thomas & Dorn, Franziska, 2018. "Social equity and ecological sustainability: Can the two be achieved together?," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 357, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    17. Hoekstra, A.Y., 2009. "Human appropriation of natural capital: A comparison of ecological footprint and water footprint analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1963-1974, May.

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