SUSIndex

SUSIndex is a composite indicator designed to quantify the long-term sustainability performance of a system, such as a city, region, or organization, by aggregating data across multiple dimensions. It combines environmental, economic, social, and governance indicators into a single score on a standardized scale, typically 0 to 100, where higher values indicate greater sustainability.

Development and scope: The concept emerged in the late 2010s as policymakers and researchers sought a standardized tool for cross-jurisdiction comparison. Variants of SUSIndex exist, with domain weightings and indicator sets tailored to urban planning, national policy, or corporate sustainability programs. Common practice uses a mix of official statistics, surveys, asset inventories, and remotely sensed data.

Methodology: SUSIndex relies on data normalization, selection of core indicators, weighting schemes, and aggregation rules. Uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analyses are often performed to assess robustness. Some implementations allow user-defined weights to reflect local priorities, while others adhere to a predefined framework for comparability.

Applications: Governments and organizations use SUSIndex to benchmark performance, track progress over time, inform investment decisions, and communicate sustainability outcomes to stakeholders. Cross-border comparisons and public dashboards are among common use cases.

Criticism and limitations: Critics point to data gaps, the subjectivity of indicator selection and weighting, and the risk that a single composite score obscures distributional differences. Proponents emphasize transparency, open data, and regular methodological reviews to mitigate these concerns.