The Environmental Performance Measurement Project aims to shift environmental decision-making to firmer analytic foundations using environmental indicators and statistics. In collaboration with the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University, and the World Economic Forum, the project produces a periodically updated Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI). The ESI is a composite index tracking a diverse set of socioeconomic, environmental, and institutional indicators that characterize and influence environmental sustainability at the national scale. An Environmental Performance Index focusing on assessing key environmental policy outcomes using trend analysis and performance targets is under development.

2005 Environmental Sustainability Index: Benchmarking National Environmental Stewardship
The Environmental Sustainability Index was formally released in Davos, Switzerland, at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum on Friday, 28 January 2005. The full report in PDF format is available for download below.

• Main Report (550KB)
• Appendix A: Methodology (106MB)
• Appendix B: Country Profiles (2.8MB)
• Appendix C: Variable Profiles and Data (1.1MB)
• Appendix D: Component and Indicator Tables (2.4MB)
• Appendix E: ESI Values in Small States (63KB)
• Appendix F: Comparing ESI with Other Sustainability Indicators (257KB)
• Appendix G: An Ideal Set of ESI Indicators (95KB)
• Appendix H: Critiques and Responses (97KB)
• Appendix I: Published Citations to the ESI (83KB)
• Data spreadsheets for 2005 ESI countries (.XLS 201KB)
• Data spreadsheets for all countries considered (.XLS 407KB)