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Redefining Progress

http://www.rprogress.org/

Site Reviewed 12/06

Objectives of Site

Redefining Progress is a non-profit working to track the state of the global economy, environment, and social justice with tools like the Genuine Progress Indicator and Ecological Footprint. They also design policies, like environmental tax reform, that shift behavior towards sustainability in three domains; economy, environment, and equity. One downloadable dataset is the Ecological Footprint.

Data and Maps

There are two thematic areas that produce datasets and analysis; the Ecological Footprint, and Genuine Progress Indicator.

-Ecological Footprint

This “measures the amount of renewable and non-renewable ecologically productive land area required to support the resource demands and absorb the wastes of a given population or specific activities.” This was created in 2002, and is yearly updated using data primarily from the UN database and from the International Panel for Climate Change. It is extremely interactive.

http://www.rprogress.org/footprint/ecolFoot.shtml

-Genuine Progress Indicator

This was created in 1995. It is a supplement to the GDP indicator. “It starts with the same accounting framework as the GDP, but then makes some crucial distinctions: It adds in the economic contributions of household and volunteer work, but subtracts factors such as crime, pollution, and family breakdown.” (Figure 1) The site includes downloadable reports of the conclusions from the GPI.

http://www.rprogress.org/newprograms/sustIndi/gpi/index.shtml

Gross Production vs. Genuine Progress, 1950 to 2002

Per Capita ($2000)