A Multicriteria Model for the Assessment of Countries’ Environmental Performance

Abstract

Countries are encouraged to integrate environmental performance metrics by covering the key value-drivers of sustainable development, such as environmental health and ecosystem vitality. The proper measurement of environmental trends provides a foundation for policymaking, which should be addressed by considering the multicriteria nature of the problem. This paper proposes a goal programming model for ranking countries according to the multidimensional nature of their environmental performance metrics by considering 10 issue categories and 24 performance indicators. The results will provide guidance to those countries that aspire to become leaders in environmental performance.