Methodological analysis of environmental degradation and sustainability

https://doi.org/10.33110/cimexus210101

Resumen

The climate crisis represents one of the most significant challenges of our era and is increasingly linked to human activities. The objective of this work is to study the main methodologies researchers used to measure environmental degradation and sustainability in economic related studies. To this end, we conducted a bibliometric analysis to understand the current state of the main indicators of environmental degradation and sustainability used in economic research during the last 20 years. In addition, we conduct a historical review of how these concepts have evolved on the international agenda as reference for interpreting the biosphere integrity in international policy. Our results indicate that the most frequently used indicators are greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide emissions, Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity. Additionally, our findings suggest a lack of a comprehensive methodology, which highlights the need to develop robust frameworks to guide public policy.