Sustainability indicators

Sustainability indicators are a widely used set of tools for assessing progress towards sustainability, and they are typically expressed as numbers (i.e., they are quantitative). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), introduced by the United Nations on the 1 January 2016, comprises a set of 17 goals to be achieved by 2030, and these are assessed using a total of 247 indicators. The SDG framework is by no means the first or only attempt to set an indicator framework for the assessment of sustainability, but it is the one that many countries are following. Perceptions are important in sustainability, especially as they help guide people’s attitudes and behaviour, and the chapter provides an example of this linked to human-induced climate change. However, the majority (85%) of the 247 SDG indicators can be classified as non-perception-based indicators. Only 4% or so of the SDG indicators can be classified as being based on perception, although there are a further 11% of the SDG indicators that rely on self-reporting of behaviour and status, and these are potentially open to perception.