Enter the Environmental Systems sub-score, Socioeconomic Sustainability sub-score, Technological Capacity sub-score, Vulnerability to Environmental Threats sub-score, and Human Health Impact sub-score into the calculator to determine the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) as a simple, unweighted average (as defined on this page).

Environmental Sustainability Index Calculator

Enter any 5 values to calculate the missing value (leave exactly 1 field empty)

Environmental Sustainability Index Formula

The following formula is used in this calculator to compute a simple, unweighted Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) from five user-provided sub-scores.

ESI = (E + S + T + V + H) / 5

Variables:

  • ESI is the Environmental Sustainability Index
  • E is the Environmental Systems score
  • S is the Socioeconomic Sustainability score
  • T is the Technological Capacity score
  • V is the Vulnerability to Environmental Threats score
  • H is the Human Health Impact score

To calculate the Environmental Sustainability Index for this simplified approach, add the scores for Environmental Systems, Socioeconomic Sustainability, Technological Capacity, Vulnerability to Environmental Threats, and Human Health Impact. Then, divide the total by 5 to get the average score. This average is the ESI value produced by this calculator.

What is an Environmental Sustainability Index?

The term “Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI)” has been used to describe composite indicators intended to summarize environmental sustainability or environmental stewardship using multiple underlying measures. A well-known example was the Environmental Sustainability Index published in the early 2000s by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy in collaboration with CIESIN (Columbia University) and other partners; that project combined many indicators using a defined normalization and aggregation methodology and was later succeeded by the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). This page’s calculator does not reproduce that official methodology; it computes a simplified ESI as the unweighted average of five sub-scores that you define and score consistently (for example, on a 0–100 scale where higher scores mean better sustainability).

How to Calculate Environmental Sustainability Index?

The following steps outline how to calculate the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) using the given formula:

  1. First, determine the Environmental Systems sub-score (E) on your chosen scale.
  2. Next, determine the Socioeconomic Sustainability sub-score (S) on the same scale.
  3. Next, determine the Technological Capacity sub-score (T) on the same scale.
  4. Next, determine the Vulnerability to Environmental Threats sub-score (V) on the same scale.
  5. Next, determine the Human Health Impact sub-score (H) on the same scale.
  6. Finally, calculate the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) using the formula: ESI = (E + S + T + V + H) / 5.
  7. After inserting the values for each variable and calculating the result, check your answer with the calculator above.

Example Problem:

Use the following variables as an example problem to test your knowledge:

Environmental Systems score (E) = 80

Socioeconomic Sustainability score (S) = 70

Technological Capacity score (T) = 90

Vulnerability to Environmental Threats score (V) = 75

Human Health Impact score (H) = 85

ESI = (80 + 70 + 90 + 75 + 85) / 5 = 400 / 5 = 80