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Abstract: Eco-efficiency emerged in the 1990s as a measure of “the efficiency with which ecological resources are used to meet human needs.” Eco-efficiency indicators as tools for regional sustainability policy were demonstrated in a Life-Environment project, ECOREG, in the Finnish region of Kymenlaakso. A participatory approach was utilised to produce indicators that are relevant for regional decision-makers and that will actually be used. The approach established a system through which decision-makers are able to monitor changes using several economic-environmental ratio indicators, and at the same time obtain information on the social progress taking place in the region. In the future, there will be a need for an ongoing dialogue among the different actors in the region in order to ensure that the indicators are indeed used to promote sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of the study reported here was to examine whether the concept of eco-efficiency is incorporated into Finnish EMAS reports. The analysis was based on the frameworks proposed by the WBCSD (Measuring eco-efficiency. A guide to reporting company performance. Geneva: World Business Council for Sustainable Development; 2000) and Müller and Sturm (). Our empirical sample consisted of 40 EMAS statements and eight group environmental reports. The concept of eco-efficiency has clearly not become popular in corporate environmental reporting in Finland. It is often assumed that eco-efficiency would translate the concept of sustainable development into specific terms. Our findings suggest that this is not the case, at least not in Finnish environmental reporting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]