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The Appeal of Environmental Master Metrics

  • Ville Lähde ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: July 6, 2022

Abstract

Environmental problems are a legion, and of radically differing kinds. Yet the notion of a unified environmental crisis persists. Such unification has a solid basis, firstly because all areas of the world are interwoven into a global system of extraction, production, trade and consumption. Secondly, diverse environmental problems interact in many ways. However, too often this slips into problematic totalization, ignoring the important local socio-ecological specificities. The search for environmental master metrics, the attempt to find common units of measurement for diverse environmental impacts, is a consequential example of this. A path must be found between problematic master metrics that lack contextual understanding and can lead to perverse outcomes, and addressing environmental problems in a piecemeal fashion that overlooks a systemic view. One set of tools can never suffice when we are dealing with the complex and multifarious field of environmental issues.


Corresponding author: Ville Lähde, BIOS Research Unit, Meritullintori 6 A 14, Helsinki, 00170, Finland, E-mail:

Funding source: Kone Foundation

Funding source: Academy of Finland

Award Identifier / Grant number: 312623/312663

Acknowledgments

My heartfelt gratitude to my dear friends and colleagues Yrjö Haila and Tere Vadén.

  1. Research funding: This work was supported by Kone Foundation and the Academy of Finland [312623/312663].

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Published Online: 2022-07-06
Published in Print: 2022-07-26

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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