How to Quantify Research on Sustainability?

How to best quantify the impact of sustainability research?

Research on sustainability and SDGs is thriving, but not all of it is relevant for real world action. Andrew Jack assesses in a Financial Time article how to quantify the impact of research on their field of work.

Classic approaches of assessing this relevance include ranking schools and papers based on textual analysis of their abstracts for SDG keywords, but it has several drawbacks:

• It incentivises the inclusion of buzzwords rather than meaningful research that actually addresses the SDGs.
• The papers that are being put forward make bold claims about their implications but may not actually follow through on their promises.
• This approach rewards narrow, SDG-focused research, as the most impactful articles may not even mention SDGs in the abstract, as they focus on general principles that apply to multiple goals.

Broad papers that examine topics like taxation and intangible investment have the potential to guide the industry on a wide range of externalities and investment types. Sustainability research shouldn't focus on SDG box-ticking, as practical outcomes may come from papers that may ultimately prove to be beneficial regardless of whether they fall under the ESG umbrella.