Doris Knoblauch and Alexander Neubauer of Ecologic Institute analyse which EU and international policies can be informed by the three Footprint Indicators (Ecological, Carbon, and Water Footprints). Furthermore, the report uses the RACER and SWOT analysis to evaluate the indicators’ robustness, their usefulness for assessing progress towards the policy objectives and the possibilities for their integration into policy making.

The report was elaborated within the OPEN:EU project and serves

• To evaluate the usefulness of the Footprint Family of indicators for policy-makers; and
• To improve integration of the indicators into policy-making processes and government reporting (EU and international).

The analysis pursues the following objectives:

• To summarise the EU and international policy objectives in the field of sustainable development and environmental policies (with a focus on resource use, water policy and climate change policy);
• To evaluate the robustness of the Footprint Indicators (i.e. regarding their methodology) and their usefulness for assessing progress towards the policy objectives (RACER analysis);
• To assess the benefits of using the Footprint Family of indicators in the decision making of the European Commission and possibilities for their integration into policy making (SWOT analysis).

The report [pdf, 1.4 MB, English] is available for download.