Living in the ‘doughnut’: Reconsidering the boundaries via composite indicators

The concept of planetary boundaries (Rockström et al., 2009) and the need for social minima were integrated by Raworth (2012, 2017) into a ’doughnut-shaped’ framework, representing a ’safe and just space’ for humanity. Empirical assessments have revealed that no country currently falls within this ’...

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Main Authors: Gianluca Gucciardi, Tommaso Luzzati
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Ecological Indicators
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24013219
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author Gianluca Gucciardi
Tommaso Luzzati
author_facet Gianluca Gucciardi
Tommaso Luzzati
author_sort Gianluca Gucciardi
collection DOAJ
description The concept of planetary boundaries (Rockström et al., 2009) and the need for social minima were integrated by Raworth (2012, 2017) into a ’doughnut-shaped’ framework, representing a ’safe and just space’ for humanity. Empirical assessments have revealed that no country currently falls within this ’doughnut’. However, to what extent do the results depend on the methodological assumptions, and could a less stringent metric, allowing trade-offs between indicators, improve these outcomes? Preserving the core of Raworth’s theoretical framework, we address these questions by constructing two separate sets of composite indicators for the social and environmental dimensions. Following an uncertainty-based approach, we obtain the two sets by combining alternative normalisation, weighting, and aggregation techniques. This approach yields a new, easily communicable, and robust metric for the ‘safe and just space’. Our analysis strengthens previous findings, showing that even with less stringent criteria, no country currently falls within the doughnut, underscoring the substantial gap to be addressed in both social and environmental policies.
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spelling doaj-art-e1f33c2cc20a4be99f142e5de067e7f02025-08-20T01:56:46ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2024-12-0116911286410.1016/j.ecolind.2024.112864Living in the ‘doughnut’: Reconsidering the boundaries via composite indicatorsGianluca Gucciardi0Tommaso Luzzati1Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca – Department of Economics, Management and Statistics (DEMS), ItalyUniversità di Pisa: Dipartimento di Economia e Management and REMARC, Italy; Corresponding author.The concept of planetary boundaries (Rockström et al., 2009) and the need for social minima were integrated by Raworth (2012, 2017) into a ’doughnut-shaped’ framework, representing a ’safe and just space’ for humanity. Empirical assessments have revealed that no country currently falls within this ’doughnut’. However, to what extent do the results depend on the methodological assumptions, and could a less stringent metric, allowing trade-offs between indicators, improve these outcomes? Preserving the core of Raworth’s theoretical framework, we address these questions by constructing two separate sets of composite indicators for the social and environmental dimensions. Following an uncertainty-based approach, we obtain the two sets by combining alternative normalisation, weighting, and aggregation techniques. This approach yields a new, easily communicable, and robust metric for the ‘safe and just space’. Our analysis strengthens previous findings, showing that even with less stringent criteria, no country currently falls within the doughnut, underscoring the substantial gap to be addressed in both social and environmental policies.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24013219Doughnut economicsSustainable developmentComposite indicatorsRobustness
spellingShingle Gianluca Gucciardi
Tommaso Luzzati
Living in the ‘doughnut’: Reconsidering the boundaries via composite indicators
Ecological Indicators
Doughnut economics
Sustainable development
Composite indicators
Robustness
title Living in the ‘doughnut’: Reconsidering the boundaries via composite indicators
title_full Living in the ‘doughnut’: Reconsidering the boundaries via composite indicators
title_fullStr Living in the ‘doughnut’: Reconsidering the boundaries via composite indicators
title_full_unstemmed Living in the ‘doughnut’: Reconsidering the boundaries via composite indicators
title_short Living in the ‘doughnut’: Reconsidering the boundaries via composite indicators
title_sort living in the doughnut reconsidering the boundaries via composite indicators
topic Doughnut economics
Sustainable development
Composite indicators
Robustness
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24013219
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