To provide information on the status of country participation in international environmental agreements.

To provide a comparative index of national-level environmental sustainability based on lessons learned from the year 2000 pilot effort.

To provide data that address the key issues of sustainability by combining indicators of human wellbeing with those of environmental sustainability to generate a more comprehensive picture of the state of the world.

To test the feasibility of creating a comparative index of national-level environmental sustainability.

To provide information on the medium and long term plans for China's national economic and social development.