10 Identifying and Tracking Progress on Equity and Sustainability Transitions

We know that sustainability transitions are urgently required due to the rate at which planetary boundaries are being exceeded. As outlined in the contributions within this report, ‘sustainable development’ implies that the needs of the present generation should be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It is also noted that the different dimensions of sustainable development– economic, social, and environmental – are interrelated and of equal importance. It remains to be seen how they can be adequately addressed together to achieve a common, shared goal: an equitable, just transition for all towards an environmentally sustainable economy and society. Such a transition must be carefully managed to ensure that progress is measured, social inclusion and equity are central considerations, and to ensure livelihood options are available and accessible. However, this raises the common question: how do we measure progress towards equity and sustainability?

 SDGs

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be observed as a global consensus on sustainable development, agreed by UN member states and the international community to provide a shared global agenda for addressing economic, social, and environmental challenges. The 17 Goals contain targets and indicators to measure progress across scales. The deadline is 2030. Ideally governments, organisations, and different stakeholder groups should be held accountable for their actions towards reaching these targets, which serve as a guide for action. We can do more to utilise the roadmap provided by the SDG targets. For example, we could refer to the indicators in a more deliberate way, to showcase evidence of progress at the community level or to identify gaps where governments could and should do more.  SDG targets could also be inform and underpin advocacy efforts towards equity and sustainability transitions.

 We are in a constant process of change which involves economies, politics, alliances, institutions, groups, and individuals.  The case studies in this publication illustrate that change occurs in different ways across spatial and temporal scales, from the individual to the family unit, and from local to provincial, national and global. Measuring progress incrementally allows us to identify areas where improvements can be made to further reduce environmental degradation. At the individual level, examples of actions include monitoring personal resource consumption patterns, and making informed decisions about reducing our carbon footprint. At other levels, businesses and organisations are increasingly adopting sustainability as a part of their corporate social responsibility programmes.

LCA

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one methodology emerging which evaluates the environmental impacts of a product throughout its entire life cycle. The measurement of environmental impacts begins by examining the raw materials utilized during a product’s manufacture, transportation, use, and recycling or end-of-life disposal. In essence, LCA provides a framework for assessing, managing, and improving the use of products, offering a comprehensive approach to quantitatively assess a product’s environmental aspects and potential impacts, from raw material extraction and production to distribution, use, and disposal (Hardaker et al., 2022). LCA is becoming a prominent tool for measuring product and processual environmental impacts, enabling the identification of hotspots, strategies for improvement, and innovation that can be applied across a wide range of sectors. As outlined by Dr David Styles during the ENLIGHT Summer School, LCA comprises four main stages: (i) goal and scope definition – where the functional unit, and impact categories are decided upon; (ii) inventory analysis – where the energy, materials, and emissions associated with each life cycle stage are quantified; (iii) impact assessment – where the potential environmental impacts across different categories are identified (e.g. acidification, eutrophication, and resource depletion; and (iv) the interpretation phase – where the results are synthesised. LCA is being applied in various sectors, including manufacturing, energy, agriculture, construction, and waste management. For example, in the manufacturing industry, LCA aids in selecting raw materials, optimising production processes, and reducing waste generation. In the energy sector, LCA assesses the environmental impact of different energy sources and guides a transition towards cleaner and more renewable options. In agriculture, LCA is helping to optimise farming practices, reducing chemical inputs, and assessing the carbon footprint of our food products (Styles et al., 2022). Beyond these applications, LCA is increasingly being used in sectors and practices as broad as sustainable building design and waste management strategies.

LCA, therefore, can significantly support the development of sustainable design strategies that promote the integration of environmental considerations early in the product development process. It can also help stakeholders, particularly policymakers, to compare alternatives, facilitating informed decision-making toward more sustainable production and consumption cultures.

Measuring equity

Though the SDGs and LCA provide robust examples of measuring and tracking progress along diverse trajectories in the realm of equity and sustainability transitions, several challenges remain. These include data availability and quality, methodological applicability and consistency, and the inclusion of both social and economic aspects within assessments. It is relatively easier to measure changes in the number of cars in a city or an increase in the number of people walking, than it is to measure social cohesion, or issues related to power dynamics. Turning to the social aspects of measuring transitions towards a more sustainable lifestyle, we must consider equity and sustainability transitions based on perceptions of fairness. If it is true that what we measure gets valued more and managed better, then it is of integral importance that we measure progress as accurately as possible. This requires specific indicators that provide facts and figures to facilitate reliable judgments on progress.

Overcoming these challenges requires transdisciplinary and collaborative efforts within and across academia, industry, and policy to enhance data collection and develop standardised methodologies for measuring progress. Apart from tracking resource use, waste generation, and the overall ecological footprint of items, attempts to measure sustainability must also allow us to assess the equity aspects of the impact of human activities on the environment. Indicators that measure fairness in changes that occur, will allow us to evaluate our progress towards equity and sustainability transitions, hopefully identifying successes, and highlighting areas requiring further critical attention. With measurement, accountability should be at the forefront.  Choices about resource use is predominantly considered at the individual level, but governments and regulatory bodies are central to the structural parameters of such choices and should set standards to address and mitigate associated environmental impacts. Measuring sustainability allows organisations to ensure compliance with these regulations and to demonstrate adherence to such standards.

Similarly, we should endeavour to rigorously measure the performance of those with greatest responsibility to ensure equity within transitions. For this to occur, we must capture information that facilitates thorough analyses of change and keeps track of the status of those most affected. We can learn from work – past and present – which focuses on measuring social change. For example, methodologies designed to measure empowerment, indicators such as those coming from the World Benchmarking Alliance (2021); principles of a just transition (Just Transition Alliance, n.d.) or indicators across different policy areas to implement a just transition (ILO, 2023). Attempts to accurately and adequately measure equity and sustainability  transitions are essential for informed decision-making, environmental stewardship, social responsibility, long-term viability, and to ensure fairness.

References