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Choice of Index Determines the Relationship between Corruption and Environmental Sustainability

Robert M Ewers, Institute of Zoology
Robert J Smith, Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology

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Abstract

The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) was recently used to investigate links between sustainability and corruption. Here, we show that the ESI contradicts another widely used index of environmental sustainability, the Ecological Footprint (EF), with the result that the most sustainable nations under the ESI are the least sustainable under the EF. Consequently, opposite conclusions can be drawn from investigations into the causes of environmental sustainability, depending on which index is used.

Key words

corruption perception index; ecological footprint; environmental sustainability index; ESI; GDP; gross domestic product

Ecology and Society. ISSN: 1708-3087