A proposal for a Composite Index of Environmental Performance (CIEP) for countries

• Published in: Ecological indicators Vol. 48; pp. 171 - 188
• Main Authors: García-Sánchez, Isabel-María, Almeida, Thiago Alexandre das Neves, Camara, Renata Paes de Barros
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2015
• Subjects: CIEP; Density; DPSEEA; Environmental impact; Environmental performance; Environmental quality; Health; Human; Indicators; Performance indices; Searching; DPSEEA; Environmental performance; CIEP
• ISSN: 1470-160X; 1872-7034
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.08.004

•This paper proposes the Composite Index of Environmental Performance, the CIEP model.•It is based on a set of reliable, measurable, and politically relevant environmental indicators.•It shows the environmental performance trends over time and monitors political integration.•It facilitates effective international country comparisons and is easy to interpret.•It has great analytical strength, being well designed from the technical and scientific point of view.
The need to determine the environmental impact caused by economic and human activities has induced a constant search for robust and effective tools that provide useful information for the design of public policies aiming to improve citizens’ quality of life. This paper develops a Composite Index of Environmental Performance (CIEP) from the Driving Force–Pressure–State–Exposure–Effect–Action (DPSEEA) methodology proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The CIEP allows us to determine the negative impacts that the driving forces have on the environment and the supposed pressure effect on the natural state of the available resources, which cause harmful effects on human health. In addition, we observe that actions and socio-environmental policies reduce the environmental impact and the mortality rate, while increasing the life expectancy. In relation to the selected indicators, it is realized that richer countries tend to have a better environmental quality and the population growth and density are factors that increase the driving force, which reduces the environmental quality of the countries.