Of course, but it is only one part of sustainability. Sustainable development is defined as “a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Meeting needs does not only refer to a clean environment, but also to food, housing, education and so on. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approved by the UN in 2017 cover a broad spectrum of environmental, social, economic, and institutional goals.

A way to assess sustainability is by combining the  Ecological  Footprint  (EF – relates to the impact of human activities measured in terms of the area of biologically productive land and water required to produce the goods consumed and to assimilate the wastes generated)  for the ecological concerns, with the Human Development Index (HDI – measures life expectancy, years of schooling, and gross domestic product per capita) for the social concerns. The main sustainability challenges are: (1) for countries with low EF and low HDI (such as India and Indonesia): creating a high level of human development without depleting the planet’s or a region’s ecological resource base, and (2) for countries with high EF and high HDI (such as the USA): creating a lower ecological footprint while retaining high human development.

Source:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333000745_Four_misunderstandings_about_sustainability_and_transitions

LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) is a comprehensive tool that allows organizations to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product, process, or service throughout its entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal.

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