It is best to ask: Designing a stakeholder-centric approach to selecting sustainable energy development indicators

Abstract

Sustainable energy development is a complex and multi-dimensional concept that is integral to sustainable development. This paper offers an approach to selecting comprehensive and robust indicators to monitor progress towards this international policy objective. Numerous weaknesses in current indicator sets for sustainable energy development have been identified, e.g., lack of transparency, imbalanced representation of the pillars of sustainable development, and the absence of stakeholder engagement during development. Currently, no standardized approach to indicator selection exists. In this paper, an iterative process to indicator selection for sustainable energy development is presented. This process is rooted in stakeholder engagement to ensure a representative indicator set and reduce the potential for bias in indicator selection. A diverse and balanced group of stakeholders should be engaged through interviews, focus groups, and a Delphi survey to capture stakeholders' views of sustainable energy development within a particular setting. Based on stakeholder input, the main themes of sustainable energy development are identified, which corresponds to a thematic conceptual framework for indicator development. These results are connected to established indicators to produce a preliminary set of indicators. Subsequently, a set of indicator assessment criteria are applied to assess the quality of indicators and eliminate overly correlated indicators. In the end, a comprehensive and robust set of indicators for sustainable energy development is produced that reflects the context in question. To ensure the usefulness of the indicator set to decision-makers and stakeholders, information such as the necessary formulas and data sources should be provided.