2001 Environmental Sustainability Index for 122 Countries

122 countries are measured on overall progress towards environmental sustainability in this 2001 composite index. The index was developed by the World Economic Forum, Yale, and Columbia University, evaluating national environmental systems, pressures, human vulnerability, response capacity, and global stewardship.

Use Cases

• Analyze the relationship between a nation's environmental systems status and its human vulnerability to environmental change.
• Compare national capacity to respond to environmental pressures across 122 countries.
• Benchmark contributions to global environmental stewardship using the composite index methodology.

Strengths

• Covers 122 countries, providing a broad international comparison.
• Composite index methodology is based on a refined framework from a prior pilot study.
• Developed through collaboration between the World Economic Forum and leading academic institutions (Yale, Columbia).

Limitations

• Data is from 2001 and is temporally stale for contemporary analysis.
• Primary file formats are JPEG and HTML, which are not ideal for structured data analysis.
• Specific indicators, raw data values, and the aggregation scheme details are not provided in the available metadata.

Provenance

Source

World Economic Forum, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network

Collection Method

Composite index constructed from multiple indicators measuring environmental systems, pressures, vulnerability, capacity, and stewardship.

Time Range

2001

Freshness

null

Geography

122 countries