No abstract

Whether globalization is sustainable is a contested issue. The quantitative literature on the Maastricht Globalization Index (MGI) and the KOF index of globalization shows that globalization contributes positively to economic and human development, environmental performance, mortality, gender equality and physical integrity rights. However, globalization also drives within-country income inequality, especially in developing countries. Evidence on the effects of globalization on the ecological environment does not provide clear patterns; various dimensions of globalization have different effects on various pollutants. This article analyzes the statistical relationship between the most recent MGI (2012 edition) and the ecological dimension of sustainable development. The latter will be operationalized by considering four variants of the Ecological Footprint. The relation between globalization and sustainable development will be controlled for GDP per capita as a proxy for affluence and report the results for Pearson's correlations and multivariate regressions for up to 171 countries. We conclude that the overall index of globalization significantly increases the Ecological Footprint of consumption, exports and imports. The decomposition of globalization into different domains reveals that apart from the political dimension, all dimensions drive human pressures and demands on the environment. Globalization needs to go into new directions if it is to make a contribution toward all aspects of sustainable development.

This paper discusses the measurement of globalization with a view to advancing the construction of globalization indices. It critically analyzes the types of indices that can contribute to knowledge and policy on globalization. Three issues are particularly highlighted: (a) the focus of measurement (i.e. on activities or policies); (b) the dimensions of measurement (i.e. cultural, ecological, economic, political, and/or social); and (c) the units of measurement (i.e. local, national, regional, and/or global). This paper argues that a workable forward strategy should not seek to identify the single best composite globalization index, but rather should work in an interdisciplinary mode towards a set of complementary globalization indices. These quantitative analyses can then be productively blended with qualitative approaches in a fuller assessment of globalization's extent and impact.

This book presents an overview of the diversity and richness of ongoing and recent sustainable development research at ICIS, the International Centre for Integrated assessment and Sustainable development at Maastricht University. In this introductory chapter, we first discuss the concept of sustainable development and its aim of harmonising the socio-economic development of societies and communities with the protection of nature and the environment. It has become increasingly clear that major changes are needed to achieve this aim, and that sustainable development is not an easy or straightforward process. Next, we discuss the emerging academic field of sustainability science, which addresses sustainable development problems in an integrative and transformative way to find solutions and pathways to sustainability. ICIS positions itself in this field with the aim of contributing to the scientific knowledge base for policy making and innovation in pursuit of sustainable development. It focuses on the local and regional levels within the context of global sustainability. An important feature of ICIS research is its contribution to sustainability assessment. Finally, we give an overview of how this book is structured according to the environmental, socioeconomic, and political-institutional dimensions of sustainable development, including a section on methods of knowledge production for sustainable development.

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