A comparative assessment of Composite Environmental Sustainability Index for emerging economies: a multidimensional approach

PurposeThe present study aims to construct and compare Composite Environmental Sustainability Index (CESI) for 20 emerging countries for the period 1990-2020.Design/methodology/approachThe study constructs CESI using the principal component analysis (PCA). Furthermore, for the preparation of index weights, varimax rotation is used to get component loadings.FindingsThe study finds that the overall CESI values lies between 2 and 4.8 for the 20 emerging countries considered in the study. This study depicts a diverse picture of environmental sustainability among emerging countries. The study also shows the trend of CESI values from 1990 to 2020. The bottom three countries whose CESI is very low compared to others are Iran, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. However, Brazil, Columbia and Chile are top three highest scorers in 2020.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the literature by constructing a composite index comprising of three sub-indices to measure the environmental sustainability of an economy. These sub-indices include seven indicators that are more inclusive and comprehensive. To the authors' knowledge, this is a pioneering attempt in the construction of the index for emerging countries.