Methodological Challenges in Assessing the Integral Sustainability of Farms and Climate Solutions

This policy brief explores the methodological challenges associated with assessing the integral sustainability of farms and climate solutions.

Based on research conducted within the ClieNFarms project, the document analyses how environmental, economic and social sustainability indicators can be combined into integrated sustainability assessments. Different categories of tools were evaluated, including comprehensive sustainability assessment frameworks, partial assessment tools and models dedicated to specific indicators.

Results show that no single tool covers all relevant sustainability dimensions. The brief highlights the need to combine multiple tools, harmonise methodologies, improve indicator standardisation and establish coherent European frameworks to ensure robust and comparable sustainability assessments across farming systems.