The sustainability evaluation using SDG indicators under a geometric integrated threshold score framework

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Policy Analysis
• Sustainable Development

Background:

• National sustainability evaluation demands comprehensive frameworks integrating diverse indicators.
• Traditional compensatory methods risk masking critical weaknesses with strong performance in other areas, potentially distorting policy interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Geometric Integrated Threshold Score (GITS), a novel non-compensatory framework for national sustainability assessment.
• To address limitations of compensatory methods by incorporating threshold-based veto logic for enhanced interpretability and policy relevance.

Main Methods:

• Developed the Geometric Integrated Threshold Score (GITS) framework, combining multiplicative aggregation of geometric distances with threshold-based veto logic.
• Applied GITS and its soft-veto extension (GITS-S) to longitudinal data (2019-2023) for six core SDG indicators across 25 countries.
• Compared GITS/GITS-S performance against benchmark models: Sustainability Composite Score (SCS), ELECTRE III, and Fuzzy ELECTRE III.

Main Results:

• Under strict hard-veto logic, only 7 of 25 countries met all baseline thresholds, with 18 countries receiving nullified scores.
• The GITS-S (soft-veto) extension successfully differentiated rankings among near-compliant countries, resolving the issue of nullified scores.
• GITS demonstrated clear systematic distinctions from both compensatory and outranking approaches in sustainability assessment.

Conclusions:

• GITS provides a unified, interpretable, and threshold-sensitive framework for national sustainability evaluation.
• The non-compensatory nature of GITS enhances policy prioritization by preventing the masking of critical underperformance.
• GITS and its soft-veto extension offer a robust alternative for sustainability planning and policy development.