Governance & Policy
Sustainability Indicator
A quantitative measure tracking sustainability performance — designed well, a compass; designed badly, a decoy.
Definition
A sustainability indicator is a measurable variable used to track environmental, social or economic sustainability performance against objectives — from tonnes of CO₂e and water per unit output to lost-time injury rates and diversity percentages. Good indicators are relevant, measurable, comparable over time, and decision-useful; frameworks such as the SDG global indicator framework (231 indicators) and GRI standards systematise them, while composite indices aggregate them (with well-documented trade-offs).
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