Ecometrics

Abstract

Indicators which reflect environmental, economic, health and safety issues, have been categorized as microecometrics and macroecometrics. The former, generally flow based measures, have been developed for local, firm-wide or product based assessments. Microecometrics include materials intensity, energy consumption and emissions data, often from life cycle perspectives. They are, generally, intensive and are scaled with respect to unit of production, GDP or per capita, though other normalization factors have been proposed. In contrast macroecometrics tend to be extensive and represent global conditions such as temperatures and environmental concentrations. Ecometrics are subjective and reflect the dominant value of the individual, family unit, stakeholder group or firm. As such overaggregating or reducing the number of ecometrics for given applications, such as the rating of investments or access to credit, presents potential conflicts. Furthermore, while eco-indicators used for internal corporate reporting should not, necessarily, be validated, those microecometrics which involve external reporting, or multiple stakeholders, are arbitrary if not derived from, or based on, comprehensive life cycle approaches. This paper summarizes ECOMETRICS'98, a workshop held in Lausanne, Switzerland in January 19-20, 1998. It discusses ecometric needs of various users including consumers, designers, private sector decision makers as well as politicians and policy makers. A discussion regarding appropriate microecometrics for industrial sectors including chemical, pharmaceutical, insurance, finance, electronics, manufacturing and consumer products is also summarized.

The environmental creditworthiness assessment methodology

“…According to Biswas et al (1998), ecometrics are indicators that reflect either environmental attributes, such as a concentration or temperature, or an effect anticipated to have an environmental consequence, such as a discharge, the selection of a given material, or the use of a product. Economic, technical, and societal factors are often embedded into these measures.…”

“…Economic, technical, and societal factors are often embedded into these measures. Ecometrics have been proposed for applications in areas as diverse as ecolabeling, new product design, marketing, internal and external corporate reporting, and credit screening (Biswas et al, 1998). Specific indicators for given decision makers, industrial sectors, products, and services are required.…”

“…Micrometrics are oriented to a given product and industry and might indicate consumption through the lifecycle as measured by material and energy intensity or waste and toxic release emissions. Eco-indicators are a subset of microecometrics and can be used to evaluate firms according to environmental criteria (Biswas et al, 1998).…”

“…Almost two decades ago, Munda (1995) pointed out that sustainability assessment must be based on multicriteria analysis. Based on the performed investigation, it can be concluded that ECA must be based on multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) 4 as well.…”

“…In order to measure more effectively the shift in the price signals needed to encourage greater investment in the more efficient use of resources, an additional indicator might be needed, such as the effective tax rate on environmental pollution or resource use. 4 MCDM describes the set of approaches that can help individuals or groups research important, complex problems. They should be used when intuitive decision making is not enough for several reasons, such as conflicting criteria or disagreement between decision makers about which criteria are relevant or more important and what alternatives and preferences are acceptable.…”