Abstract
Indicators have been used to organize, monitor and assess information in different contexts. During the last twenty years indicators have gained more importance, being used to assess sustainability performance of different activities through the implementation of standards. This chapter explores the evolution of the use of socio-economic indicators and their applicability in a relatively new production area, that of biofuels. The use of indicators has been more focused on environmental issues and compliance with voluntary schemes. Socio-economic indicators have gained more attention as a result of concerns with production of biofuels in developing countries. A set of indicators is proposed to monitor the possible impacts (both negative and positive). It is suggested that monitoring may help initiatives at national, regional and local level and may be combined with voluntary performance schemes in order to promote a sustainable production of biofuels.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Briassoulis, H. (2001). Sustainable Development and its Indicators: Through a (Planner’s)Glass Darkly. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 44(3), 409–427.
Dam van et al. (2010). From the global efforts on certification of bioenergy towards an integrated approach based on sustainable land use planning.
Diaz-Chavez, R. (2003). Sustainable Development Indicators for Peri-Urban Areas. A Case Study of Mexico City. PhD Thesis. EIA Unit IBS. University of Wales Aberystwyth: UK.
Diaz-Chavez, R. A. (2006). Measuring sustainability in peri-urban areas. In D. McGregor, D. Simon, & D Thompson (Eds.), The Peri-Urban Interface in Developing Areas: approaches to sustainable natural and human resource use (pp. 246–265). London: Earthscan.
Diaz-Chavez, R. (2007). Comparison of Draft Standards- Contribution to ECCM, 2006. Environmental Standards for Biofuels.
Diaz-Chavez, R. (2009). Report on “Good practice guidelines to project implementers”. Competence Platform on Energy Crop and Agroforestry Systems for Arid and Semi-arid Ecosystems—Africa. http://compete-bioafrica.net/.
Diaz-Chavez, R. (2010). Assessment of existing socio-economic principles, criteria and indicators for biomass production and conversion (Global-Bio-Pact. Deliverable 8.1). Imperial College. http://www.globalbiopact.eu/.
Diaz-Chavez, R. (2011). Assessing biofuels: Aiming for sustainable development or complying with the market? Energy Policy, 39 (2011) 5763–5769.
Diaz-Chavez, R., Rettenmaier, N., Rutz, D., & Janssen R. (2012). A Global-Bio-Pact set of selected socio-economic sustainability criteria and indicators. Imperial College. Report of the FP7 Global-Bio-Pact Project (Global-Bio-Pact. Deliverable 8.2). http://www.globalbiopact.eu/.
Diaz-Chavez, R., & Rosillo-Calle, F. (2009). Biofuels for Transport—Sustainability and Certification. Where are we now and where are we going. Department for Transport: UK.
GBEP. (2011). The Global Bioenergy Partnership Sustainability Indicators for Bioenergy First edn. Rome
EC. (2012). Recognised Voluntary Schemes. Biofuels sustainability schemes. http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/biofuels/sustainability_schemes_en.htm. Accessed March 2013
Hart, M. (1999). Guide to Sustainable Development Community Indicators. 2nd. U.S.A.
Hens, L. (1996). The Rio Conference and Thereafter. In B. Nath, L. Hens, & D. Devuyst (Ed.), Textbook on Sustainable Development. European Centre for Pollution Research, London/ The Free University of Brussels/UNESCO; VUBPRESS (pp. 81–109). Brussels.
OECD. (2000a). OECD Social indicators. Proposed framework and structure. In OECD (Ed.), Towards Sustainable Development. Indicators to measure progress. Rome Conference (pp. 151–172). Paris: OECD.
OECD. (2000b). Sustainable Development and its economic, social and environmental indicators. In OECD (Ed.), Towards Sustainable Development. Indicators to measure progress (pp. 137–150). Rome Conference. Paris: OECD.
OECD. (2012). Glossary of statistical terms. http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6278. Accessed Nov 2012.
Rettenmaier, N., Schorb, A., Hienz, G., & Diaz-Chavez, R. A. (2012). Report on Show Cases and linkage of environmental impacts to socio-economic impacts. Deliverable D 5.3 within the Global-Bio-Pact project ‘Global Assessment of Biomass and Bio-product Impacts on Socio-economics and Sustainability’. Download: http://www.globalbiopact.eu/images/stories/publications/d5_3_interlinkages_final.pdf.
Segnestam, L. (1999). Environmental performance indicators. A second edition note. World Bank. Environmental Economic Series. (Paper No. 71). Washington, D.C.
Siniscalo, D. (2000). Chair’s conclusions. in proceedings of OECD Rome conference towards sustainable development indicators to measure progress (pp. 13–15). Rome: OECD.
UN. (1992) Report of the United Nations conference on environment and development. United Nations UN Rio de Janeiro (p. 5).
UN. (2007). Indicators of sustainable development: Guidelines and methodologies. United Nations 3.ed. ISBN 978-92-1-104577-2. December 2007.
UN. (2012). Realizing the future we want for all. United Nations. https://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/614Post_2015_UNTTreport.pdf & embedded=true. Accessed Oct 2012
Webber, P., & Alexander, L. (1997) ISIS. Sustainability framework. Environmental Unit. Kirklees Metropolitan Council. Haddersfield.
Woods, J., & Diaz-Chavez, R. (2007). The environmental certification of biofuels. Paris: Report for the OECD.
WTO. (1996). What tourism managers need to know: A practical guide to the development and use of indicators of sustainable tourism. Spain: World Tourism Organization.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Diaz-Chavez, R. (2014). Indicators for Socio-Economic Sustainability Assessment. In: Rutz, D., Janssen, R. (eds) Socio-Economic Impacts of Bioenergy Production. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03829-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03829-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-03828-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-03829-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)