The Coherence Index (Indico) measures, evaluates, and compares countries’ commitment to sustainable, fair and equitable human development. It was conceived as an alternative to the hegemonic and limited view of the indicators typically used to measure progress such as gross domestic product (GDP) and the human development index. This way of understanding and measuring development used in recent decades has proven flawed insofar as it is unable to offer viable alternatives to an unsustainable self-destructive model.

New tools are needed to transform the way we see and understand the world; tools that unveil the consequences and impact that human actions and policies have on people’s lives locally and in different parts of the world. These proposals are designed to guide policies that are coherent with human rights and the sustainability of life. This, in a nutshell, is what the Coherency Index does.

This system, like others, is not neutral. It sanctions or awards countries’ behaviour from an approach that both embraces sustainable human development, and espouses a human rights-based, deeply cosmopolitan, feminist, and ecological approach.

Hence, Indico is a novel tool, essential in recognizing coherency flaws in sustainable development policy and offering analysis and ideas for the development of policies that respect human rights and the planet.