Review of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI): Methods, Constraints and Recommendations

Year 2024, Issue: 96, 59 - 73, 24.06.2024

Uğur Arcagök

https://doi.org/10.26650/imj.2024.96.1403313

Abstract

During the formation of composite index constructs, some constraints are encountered with respect to considerations such as the availability or accessibility of indicators, weights of such indicators, sub-indicators or variables to be used for reaching the indicators, data pertaining to such variables, and the determination of the most convenient method to be used for arranging the data set. In addition, it is required for the methods to be used to comply with the aim of the index to be formed. Researchers who want to develop a composite environmental index are required to consider all these considerations. This study aims to indicate and discuss the composite environmental index formation process through the examination of the EPI, which is a global composite index. One might argue that it contributes to the explanation of the composite index construction process, which has been examined, albeit limitedly, in the literature. Eventually, the methods that may be used in the index formation process by the researchers who want to form a composite index were discussed, and suggestions that may improve the methodological strength of the indices to be developed by them were presented. Our findings indicate the absence of an established theoretical methodology for composite sustainability indices. The creation of these indices has depended entirely on the expertise of the involved researchers.

JEL Classification : C30 , C38 , C82

Keywords

Composite Index, Weighting Methods, Indicators, Sustainability, Environmental Performance Index

References

• Alberti, M., & Parker, J. D. (1991). Indices of environmental quality. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 11(2), 95-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/0195-9255(91)90026-G google scholar
• Barber, M. C. (1994). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program: Indicator development strategy. In US Environmental Protection Agency (Issue January 2014). google scholar
• Barnett, V., & Lewıs, T. (1994). Outliers in statistical data (Vol. 3, No). Wiley. google scholar
• Benito, M., & Romera, R. (2011). Improving quality assessment of composite indicators in university rankings: a case study of French and German universities of excellence. Scientometrics, 89(1), 153-176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-011-0419-5 google scholar
• Bj0rn, A., & Hauschild, M. Z. (2015). Introducing carrying capacity-based normalisation in LCA: framework and development of references at midpoint level. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 20(7), 1005-1018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-015-0899-2 google scholar
• Cairns, J., & McCormick, P. V. Niederlehner, B. R. (1993). A proposed framework for developing indicators of ecosystem health. Hydrobiologia, 263, 1-44. google scholar
• Castellani, V., Benini, L., Sala, S., & Pant, R. (2016). A distance-to-target weighting method for Europe 2020. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 21(8), 1159-1169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1079-8 google scholar
• Diaz-Balteiro, L., Belavenutti, P., Ezquerro, M., Gonzalez-Pachon, J., Ribeiro Nobre, S., & Romero, C. (2018). Measuring the sustainability of a natural system by using multi-criteria distance function methods: Some critical issues. Journal of Environmental Management, 214, 197-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.03.005 google scholar
• Diaz-Balteiro, L., Gonzalez-Pachon, J., & Romero, C. (2017). Measuring systems sustainability with multi-criteria methods: A critical review. European Journal of Operational Research, 258(2), 607-616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2016.08.075 google scholar
• Dobbie, M. J., & Dail, D. (2001). Encyclopedia of Environmetrics. In A. H. El-Shaarawi & W. W. Piegorsch (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Environ-metrics. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470057339 google scholar
• Edwards, R., Hancock, T., & Labonte, R. (1999). Indicators that count! Measuring population health at the community level. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 90(1), 22-26. google scholar
• Emerson, J., Esty, D. C., Levy, M. A., Kim, C. H., de Sherbinin, A., Srebotnjak, T., Mara, V., & Jaiteh, M. (2010). 2010 Environmental Performance Index. 87. google scholar
• Emerson, J. W., Hsu, A., Levy, M. A., Sherbinin, A. de, V. Mara, D. C. E., & Jaiteh., M. (2012). 2012 Environmental Performance Index and Pilot Trend Environmental Performance Index. 99. google scholar
• Esty, D. C., Kim, C., Srebotnjak, T., Levy, M. A., Sherbinin, A. de, & Mara, V. (2008). Environmental performance. 2008 Environmental Performance Index, 82-89. https://doi.org/10.1787/862890ed-en google scholar
• Eylenbosch, W., & Noah, N. (1988). Surveillance in Health and Disease. Oxford University Press. google scholar
• Eyles, J., Cole, D., & Gibson, B. (1996). Human Health in Ecosystem Health: Issues of Meaning and Measurement. International Joint Commission (IJC ) Digital Archive, 1-62. http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ijcarchive%0Ahttp://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ijcarchive google scholar
• Eyles, J., & Furgal, C. (2002). Indicators in environmental health: Identifying and selecting common sets. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 93(SUPPL. 1). https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03405121 google scholar
• Feng, C., Wang, H., Lu, N., Chen, T., He, H., Lu, Y., & Tu, X. M. (2014). Log-transformation and its implications for data analysis. Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry, 26(2), 105-109. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1002-0829.2014.02 google scholar
• Fischer, S. M., Joy, M. K., Abrahamse, W., Milfont, T. L., & Petherick, L. M. (2022). The Use and Misuse of Composite Environmental Indices. BioRxiv, 2022.03.15.484501. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.15.484501 google scholar
• Freudenberg, M. (2003). Composite indicators of country performance: a critical assessment. OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers, 16(September), 35. https://doi.org/10.1787/405566708255 google scholar
• Frischknecht, R., & Büsser Knöpfel, S. (2014). Ecological scarcity 2013—new features and its application in industry and administration—54th LCA forum, Ittigen/Berne, Switzerland, December 5, 2013. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 19(6), 1361-1366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-014-0744-z google scholar
• Gaddis, M. L., & Gaddis, G. M. (1990). Introduction to biostatistics: Part 1, basic concepts. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 19(1), 86-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0196-0644(05)82149-3 google scholar
• Garrfa-Sanchez, I.-M., Almeida, T. A. D. N., & Camara, R. P D. B. (2015). A proposal for a Composite Index of Environmental Performance (CIEP) for countries. Ecological Indicators, 48, 171-188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.08.004 google scholar
• Groeneveld, R. A., & Meeden, G. (1984). Measuring Skewness and Kurtosis. The Statistician, 33(4), 391. https://doi.org/10.2307/2987742 google scholar
• Hair, J. (2009). Multivariate data analysis. Pearson. google scholar
• Halpern, B. S., Longo, C., Hardy, D., McLeod, K. L., Samhouri, J. F., Katona, S. K., Kleisner, K., Lester, S. E., O’Leary, J., Ranelletti, M., Rosen-berg, A. A., Scarborough, C., Selig, E. R., Best, B. D., Brumbaugh, D. R., Chapin, F. S., Crowder, L. B., Daly, K. L., Doney, S. C., . . . Zeller, D. (2012). An index to assess the health and benefits of the global ocean. Nature, 488(7413), 615-620. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11397 google scholar
• Hermans, E., Van den Bossche, F., & Wets, G. (2008). Combining road safety information in a performance index. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 40(4), 1337-1344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2008.02.004 google scholar
• Hsu, A., L.A. Johnson, and A. L. (2013). Measuring Progress: A Practical Guide From the Developers of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). 80. http://epi.yale.edu/content/measuring-progress-practical-guide-developers-environmental-performance-index-epi google scholar
• Hsu, A., Emerson, J., Levy, M., Sherbinin, A. de, Johnson, L., Malik, O., Schwartz, J., & Jaiteh., M. (2014). 2014 Environmental Performance Index. Wiley StatsRef: Statistics Reference Online. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118445112.stat03789 google scholar
• Hsu, A., Lloyd, A., & Emerson, J. W. (2013). What progress have we made since Rio? Results from the 2012 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and Pilot Trend EPI. Environmental Science and Policy, 33, 171-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2013.05.011 google scholar
• Ibanez-Fores, V., Bovea, M. D., & Perez-Belis, V. (2014). A holistic review of applied methodologies for assessing and se-lecting the optimal technological alternative from a sustainability perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 70, 259-281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.01.082 google scholar
• J. H. Curtiss. (1943). On Transformations Used in the Analysis of Variance. 14(2), 107-122. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2235813 google scholar
• Jennifer Anne Haley. (2001). Information To Users. Dissertation, 274. google scholar
• Kondyli, J. (2010). Measurement and evaluation of sustainable development. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 30(6), 347-356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2009.08.006 google scholar
• Kowalski, J., & Tu, X. M. (2008). Modern applied U-statistics. John Wiley & Sons. google scholar
• Kwatra, S., Kumar, A., & Sharma, P. (2020). A critical review of studies related to construction and computation of Sustainable Development Indices. Ecological Indicators, 112(January), 106061. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.106061 google scholar
• Lankoski, J., & Lankoski, L. (2023). Environmental sustainability in agriculture: Identification of bottlenecks. Ecological Economics, 204(PA), 107656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107656 google scholar
• Li, X., Su, S., Shi, J., & Zhang, Z. (2015). An environmental impact assessment framework and index system for the pre-use phase of buildings based on distance-to-target approach. Building and Environment, 85, 173-181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2014.11.035 google scholar
• Lin, M., Zhang, S., & Chen, Y. (2005). Distance-to-Target Weighting in Life Cycle Impact Assessment Based on Chinese Environmental Policy for the Period 1995-2005 (6 pp). The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 10(6), 393-398. https://doi.org/10.1065/lca2004.10.185 google scholar
• Mendola, D., & Volo, S. (2017). Building composite indicators in tourism studies: Measurements and applications in tourism destination competitiveness. Tourism Management, 59, 541-553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2016.08.011 google scholar
• Moldan, B., Janouskova, S., & Hak, T. (2012). How to understand and measure environmental sustainability: Indicators and targets. Ecological Indicators, 17, 4-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.04.033 google scholar
• Munda, G., & Saisana, M. (2011). Methodological Considerations on Regional Sustainability Assessment Based on Multicriteria and Sensitivity Analysis. Regional Studies, 45(2), 261-276. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343401003713316 google scholar
• Olsen, G. W., Church, T. R., Miller, J. P., Burris, J. M., Hansen, K. J., Lundberg, J. K., Armitage, J. B., Herron, R. M., Medhdizadehkashi, Z., Nobiletti, J. B., O’Neil, E. M., Mandel, J. H., & Zobel, L. R. (2003). Perfluorooctanesulfonate and other fluorochemicals in the serum of American Red Cross adult blood donors. Environmental Health Perspectives, 111(16), 1892-1901. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.6316 google scholar
• Papadimitriou, E., Neves, A. R., & Saisana, M. (2020). JRC statistical audit of the 2020 environmental performance index. https://doi.org/10.2760/849820 google scholar
• Pollesch, N. L., & Dale, V. H. (2016). Normalization in sustainability assessment: Methods and implications. Ecological Economics, 130, 195-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.06.018 google scholar
• Quaddus, M. A., & Siddique, M. A. B. (2001). Modelling sustainable development planning: A multicriteria decision conferencing approach. Environment International, 27(2–3), 89–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-4120(01)00066-6 google scholar
• Reisi, M., Aye, L., Rajabifard, A., & Ngo, T. (2014). Transport sustainability index: Melbourne case study. Ecological Indicators, 43, 288-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.03.004 google scholar
• Ruiz, F., El Gibari, S., Cabello, J. M., & Gomez, T. (2020). MRP-WSCI: Multiple reference point based weak and strong composite indicators. Omega (United Kingdom), 95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2019.04.003 google scholar
• Saaty, T. L. (1977). A scaling method for priorities in hierarchical structures. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 15(3), 234-281. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-2496(77)90033-5 google scholar
• Saaty, T. L. (1988). What is the Analytic Hierarchy Process? In Mathematical Models for Decision Support (pp. 109-121). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-83555-1_5 google scholar
• Saisana, M., Saltelli, A., & Tarantola, S. (2005). Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis Techniques as Tools for the Quality Assessment of Composite Indicators. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society, 168(2), 307-323. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-985X.2005.00350.x google scholar
• Saisana, M., & Tarantola, S. (2002). State-of-the-art report on current methodologies and practices for composite indicator development Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen State-of-the-art Report on Current Methodologies and Practices for Composite Indicator Development. Eu, July, 1-72. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.1505.1762 google scholar
• Schober, P., Schwarte, L. A., & Boer, C. (2018). Correlation coefficients: Appropriate use and interpretation. Anesthesia and Analgesia, 126(5), 1763-1768. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000002864 google scholar
• Singh, R. K., Murty, H. R., Gupta, S. K., & Dikshit, A. K. (2009). An overview of sustainability assessment methodologies. Ecological Indicators, 9(2), 189-212. https://doi.Org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2008.05.011 google scholar
• Smallenbroek, O., Caperna, O., & Papadimitriou, G. (2023). JRC audit of the Environmental Performance Index 2022. https://doi.org/10.2760/381247 google scholar
• Srebotnjak, T. (2007). The role of environmental statisticians in environmental policy: the case of performance measurement. Environmental Science and Policy, 10(5), 405-418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2007.02.002 google scholar
• Valipour, M., Ziatabar Ahmadi, M., Raeini-Sarjaz, M., Gholami Sefidkouhi, M. A., Shahnazari, A., Fazlola, R., & Darzi-Naftchali, A. (2015). Agricultural water management in the world during past half century. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 61(5), 657-678. https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2014.944903 google scholar
• Von Schirnding Y.E.R. (1997). Indicators for Policy and Decision-making in Environmental Health. Draft report prepared for the Office of Global and Integrated Environmental Health. World Health Organization. google scholar
• Wang, H., Hou, P., Zhang, H., & Weng, D. (2011). Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Management. In M. Finkbeiner (Ed.), Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Management (Issue July 2011). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1899-9 google scholar
• WEF. (2002). Pilot Environment Performance Index. World Economic Forum: Annual Meeting, An Initiative of the Global Leaders of Tomorrow Environment Task Force. google scholar
• Wendling, Z. A., Emerson, J. W., de Sherbinin, A., & Esty, D. C. (2020). Environmental Performance Index 2020: Country Profile Egypt. 2-4. google scholar
• Wendling, Z. A., Emerson, J. W., Esty, D. C., Levy, M. A., & de Sherbinin, A. (2018). 2018 Environmental Performance Index. google scholar
• Wolf, M. J., Emerson, J. W., Esty, D. C., Sherbinin, A., & Wendling, Z. A. (2022). Environmental Performance Index 2022: Ranking country performance on sustainability issues Summary for Policymakers. In Report: Summary for Policymakers. epi.yale.edu google scholar