trends and future of sustainable development - TransEco

Motorization rate (number of cars/ 1000 people): this indicator was selected because of itsrelevance in describing the transportation habits of a country. As there are also two other indicatorsdealing with road transport, a weight of 2,5 was chosen.Emissions of PM from road transport (kg/capita): This indicator was considered relevant inassessing the pollution deriving from the transportation sector. As there are also two other indicatorsdealing with road transport, a weight of 3 was chosen. This indicator can be criticized on the groundsthat the average population densities of EU27 countries differ greatly.Emissions of acidifying substances (kg/capita): together with the other two indicators relativeto pollution, it assesses the air quality of the countries considered. A problem with industry emissions isthat production of consumer goods is global and an economy consuming products of industriesproducing acidifying substances might not be the same statistical geographic entity. A weight of only 1,5was chosen, as it is difficult to estimate the emissions deriving from industries established abroad(especially in Asia) by EU countries.Emissions of ozone precursors (kg/capita): the same description of the previous indicator isvalid.Domestic Material Consumption (tonne/capita): this indicator was chosen because it assessesthe amount of material used by an economy. For this indicator data was adequately available only from2000 onwards.Area under organic farming (% of utilized agricultural area): this indicator was selected in orderto give information concerning the consumers’ demand for organic produce. For this indicator data wasadequately available only from 2000 onwards.2.1.3. Economic dimension indicatorsWeight 2 3 3 2 3Ranking logicNormal Reversed Normal Reversed NormalIndicatorTotal R&Dexpenditure(%of GDP)Generalgovernmentgross debtGDP per capitain PurchasingPowerStandards(PPS) (EU-27 =100)EnergydependencyTotalemploymentrate (%)Total R&D expenditure (% of GDP): this indicator was selected for its relevancy in evaluating thewillingness of a government to invest in research and development, as well as the amount of moneyavailable for that. However, a weight of only 2 was chosen because the added sustainability largelydepends on what type of R&D activities derive from these investments.General government gross debt (% of GDP): this indicator was selected to give informationconcerning the financial health of the governments in the EU countries. As it is considered quite relevantto assess the economic prosperity, a weight equal to 3 was given.13