Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 9.4
State of the future index 2007: where humanity is winning and losing
Sweden
1
Belgium
9
Austria
2
UK
10
France
3
Spain
11
Germany
4
Greece
12
Denmark
5
Luxembourg
13
Netherlands
6
Ireland
14
Finland
7
Portugal
15
Italy
8
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
Figure 9.7
State of the future index
women). The shortage of fresh water is acute in some regions. The incidence of
AIDS in Africa is levelling off. Computer power is increasing, as is climate change
awareness. And the list goes on.
With so much data available, it is extremely difficult to know whether the general
state of the future is improving or not, but the 2007 report helpfully offers a revised
state of the future index (SOFI), including twenty-nine variables, attempting to give
a general indication of how we are likely to do.
The conclusion: the SOFI is improving, but not as rapidly as it did in the previous
twenty years. However, as the renowned Cambridge economist Partha Dasgupta
(2001) notes, different indicators indicate different things, and very few offer a holistic
and informed understanding of sustainable development.
