Ecological Footprint: Sustainable Development Indicator of Consumption and Production.

Current sustainable development and sustainable consumption and production (SCP) indicators do not cover all the aspects of SCP. There is an obvious and significant gap in the SCP indicator research which is already recognised by the EU Commission and other institutions. This paper argues for ecological footprint (EF), which is becoming a popular indicator of sustainable development, to become widely adopted as a key indicator of sustainable consumption and production. It is suggested that EF, as an aggregate indicator, provides a unique, global perspective on sustainability that is absent with the use of traditional sustainable development and SCP indicators. The EF is also screened through the prism of strong SCP principles and policy objectives. The debate, advances and implications of EF are investigated and compared with the specific SCP aspects provided. The paper outlines areas for further research in applying EF to SCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]