| United Nations System-Wide Earthwatch |
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| UNEP/UNSTAT
CONSULTATIVE EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
INDICATORS (Geneva, 6-8 December 1993) REPORT OF THE MEETING 1. The meeting was opened by Mr Arthur Dahl, Deputy Co-ordinator of Earthwatch (UNEP) and Mr Peter Bartelmus, Chief of Environment and Energy Statistics Branch of the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSTAT), who welcomed the participants. Mr Bedrich Moldan of Charles University in the Czech Republic chaired the meeting. The draft agenda was adopted by the meeting. The agenda, list of documents and list of participants are attached to this report as Annex I, Annex II and Annex III respectively. 2. The main objectives of the meeting were to determine whether agreement could be reached on a process leading to: (a) a common framework for
a set of indicators The meeting would serve as a consultative expert group meeting on indicators as well as a Core Group of the Task Force on Environment Statistics of which UNSTAT is the convener. 3. Agenda item 2 (The need for indicators of sustainable development) and agenda item 3 (Key indicators and indexes of sustainable development) were discussed simultaneously and various organizations presented papers. The World Resources Institute (WRI) and UNSTAT presented papers as framework for discussion based on past experience. 4. WRI presented a summary of their Workshop on Global Environment Indicators held last year. The main conclusions of their workshop stressed the importance of focusing on: - the needs of policy-makers
5. The representative of UNSTAT proposed a draft Framework on Indicators of Sustainable Development (FISD) which was described as a cross-reference between the internationally endorsed Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES) which represents the producer side of indicators, and the clusters of Agenda 21 of UNCED which reflects a key international use aspect. The time frame for developing indicators to monitor the progress made in the implementation of Agenda 21 in accordance with the multi-year thematic programme of the Commission on Sustainable Development which will result in the complete review of Agenda 21 in 1997 was pointed out. 6. The pressure-state-response approach towards the development of a core set of indicators for performance evaluation was described and supported. It is similar to that of the FDES developed by UNSTAT. 7. The indicators should reflect the interface between social, economic and environmental issues. More attention needed to be given to the symbiosis between statistics and models. Statistics alone are not enough for decision-making and must be supplemented by textual and geographically referenced information. 8. It was stressed that the indicators should not be regarded as an isolated phenomenon but should be seen as part of reporting, policy-making and decision making and that the concept of sustainability can serve as a useful bridge for putting these issues together. 9. The role of indicators as signals for action was stressed. The usefulness of models for indicator development, interpretation, for exploration of future implications and as a means for estimating missing data was noted. 10. During the general discussion the following points were widely supported by the participants : - a need for basic data, its long-term stability, improved spatial coverage, quality assurance and control was stressed; - local level indicators using "basic data" are of great importance as they empower the community to take action for sustainable development; - the special needs of developing countries to build sustainability information management systems, including monitoring, assessment and reporting, to support decision-making was noted as was the need to support these goals through capacity building and long-term planning, implementation and funding; - there is a danger of over-simplicity and over-aggregation and sole reliance on "magic numbers"; - there was a value in grouping or clustering indicators in response to policy issues. The difficulties of attaching proper weights to reflect the relative importance of the elements of composite indicators was stressed; - since it was acknowledged that indicators should match specific uses and that there are many users a multitude of different approaches should continue to be encouraged through further testing and review; - the need for policy-oriented indicators to be responsive to the different stages of policy development and implementation calls for greater flexibility than underlying statistical data where long-term stability was considered important; - expanding data collection and indicator calculation will require international standard definitions and classifications to obtain globally comparable data. Efforts to test the applicability of ECE classifications in other parts of the world should continue. 11. In view of the need to interact or draw upon the academic and scientific community a proposal was made to launch an international project on sustainable development indicators by SCOPE (ICSU's Scientific Committee on Problems of Environment). 12. The meeting emphasized the need for more documentation on the sources of data, methods of data collection and data validity in compendia on environmental information and statistics, and methods to do so should be further developed. International agencies should develop methods to exchange information among themselves to avoid overburdening data sources, possibly through improved global data services. 13. The main programmatic conclusions of the meeting were the following: - indicators of sustainable development were seen as an important effort in monitoring the implementation of Agenda 21; - the Consultative Expert Group should play a leading role in facilitating the process of indicator development; - information exchange should be facilitated by the use of electronic means; further meetings could be convened whenever necessary; - given the need for monitoring the implementation of Agenda 21 by suitable indicators, the Consultative Expert Group might play a continuing role in assisting the Commission on Sustainable Development and its Secretariat in this effort as appropriate; - a synthesis of all papers presented to this meeting will be produced by UNSTAT and circulated to all participants; - the Consultative Expert Group should include a broad spectrum of both data producers and users of the indicators. 14. To facilitate follow-up in implementing the meeting's objectives, participants agreed to collaborate on an informal basis in the following areas: Regarding a common framework for a set of indicators: - Frameworks for indicator
development With regard to a set or sets of indicators: - Harmonization of indicators
With regard to the elements of a work plan on environmental indicators and indicators of sustainable development: - Indicators for international reporting for users such as: -- Commission on Sustainable
Development - National indicators (for use in national policy formulation/management) - Sub-national/local indicators - Georeferencing/GIS - spatial treatment of indicators - Modelling - Forward projections, scenarios, early warning (Earthwatch, Development Watch) - Data services development (collection and supply) - Development of data including environmental statistics and accounting 15. The meeting reviewed and approved this report. A separate report was approved in its role as Core Group on Environmental Indicators of the Task Force on Environment Statistics (Annex IV). |
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| ANNEX I | |||
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UNEP/UNSTAT
CONSULTATIVE EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
INDICATORS AGENDA 1. OPENING OF THE MEETING
2. THE NEED FOR INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 stresses the need to develop sustainable development indicators to provide solid bases for decision-making at all levels and to contribute to a self-regulating sustainability of integrated environment and development systems. It calls for relevant organs and organizations of the United Nations system, in cooperation with other international governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to use a suitable set of sustainable development indicators. In this regard UNSTAT was specifically requested to pursue the development of such indicators, just as UNEP was mandated by its Governing Council to pursue environmental indicators. The first session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (June 1993) adopted a decision stating: "In the light of future progress in the elaboration of realistic, usable and easily understandable indicators that would provide a basis for a meaningful assessment of progress towards sustainable development, the Commission will consider the possibility of the integration of such indicators in the [reporting] process...". Specific issues include:
Agreement should be reached on the concepts of environmental indicators and indicators of sustainable development, and on the use of frameworks and systems for indicator development, reflecting the data needs of particular users and uses. 3. KEY INDICATORS AND INDICES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Environmental indicators and development indicators have been developed separately to chart and track issues which are of concern for sustainable development. Are existing indicators adequate to assess sustainable development? To what extent do Agenda 21, the UNSTAT Framework for the Development of Environmental Statistics (FDES), the recently developed System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) or other frameworks and statistical systems provide an appropriate framework for future international work on indicators? Can composite indices, such as UNDP's Human Development Index, meet the needs of policy makers? What set of indicators would be suitable for national policy making in industrialized and developing countries, including newly industrialized and least developed countries and economies in transition? Specific issues include:
Agreement should be reached on sets of indicators for particular purposes and/or the need to develop such sets according to the needs specified under agenda item 2. 4. TOWARDS AN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME OF INDICATOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMPILATION A number of organizations inside and outside the United Nations have been mandated to develop indicators of relevance to sustainable development. The UN system-wide Earthwatch is the subject of an in-depth study so that it can be focused and strengthened. The development of a complementary Development Watch has been recommended in Agenda 21. UNCED also called for the harmonized development of indicators at national, regional and global levels, and identified UNSTAT as a key participant in this work. UNEP's 17th Governing Council requested UNEP to continue to cooperate in this field with UNSTAT and other specialized agencies, bearing in mind the role of the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Statistical Commission and the Task Force on Environment Statistics. These and other mandates and activities should be reviewed briefly as the basis for defining complementary and coordinated roles for the principal organizations involved. Mechanisms for continuing inter-agency coordination and cooperation need to be considered. Specific issues include:
5. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT
OF THE MEETING 6. CLOSING OF THE MEETING |
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| ANNEX II | |||
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UNEP/UNSTAT
CONSULTATIVE EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
INDICATORS LIST OF PAPERS Agenda item 1: Opening of the meeting UNEP/UNSTAT: Proposed (annotated) Agenda Agenda item 2: The need for indicators of sustainable development FAO: G.E. Shuh and S. Archibald, 1993. A framework for the integration of environmental and sustainable development issues into agricultural planning and policy analysis (Draft) FAO: M. Carley, 1993. Policy management systems and methods of analysis for sustainable agriculture and rural development (Draft) International Development Research Centre: R.A. Hodge. 1993. Reporting on Sustainable and Equitable Development. Project Paper No. 1, Conceptual Approach (Draft) National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection (RIVM): H.J.M. de Vries. Sustainable Development Indicators UNSTAT: (P. Bartelmus) Concepts and Frameworks of Indicators of Sustainable Development Agenda item 3: Key indicators and indices of sustainable development Charles University Centre for Environmental Scholarship: B. Moldan. Discussion Paper: Indicators of Sustainable Development EUROSTAT: Environmental Indicators and Accounting: 1. Green accounting and indicators: statistical concepts for a rational environmental policy. 2. Environmental problem lists: a methodology proposal. FAO: J.B. Tschirley. Indicators for sustainable agriculture and rural development National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection (RIVM): G.J. van den Born, J.A. Bakkes, J.C. Helder, R.J. Swart, C.W. Hope and J.D.E. Parker. An Overview of Environmental Indicators: State of the Art and Perspectives [Draft] and excerpt UNCHS (Habitat): Brief remarks on discussion papers submitted; Habitat's activities in the area of environmental and sustainable development indicators UN ECA: Development of Environment Statistics in the ECA region UNEP: A. Dahl. Environmental and Sustainable Development Indicators - Some Points for Discussion UNSTAT: (P. Bartelmus and R. Shah) Indicators of Sustainable Development WHO: Third Monitoring of Progress: Common Framework. WHO/HST/GSP/93.3 World Bank: (J. O'Connor) Towards environmentally sustainable development: indicators for monitoring progress World Resources Institute: (A. Hammond) Global Environmental Indicators Agenda item 4: Towards an international programme of indicators development and compilation UNSTAT: (R. Shah and P. Bartelmus) Draft Report of the Task Force on Environment Statistics Agenda item 5: Adoption of the report of the meeting Report of the meeting |
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| ANNEX III | |||
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UNEP/UNSTAT
CONSULTATIVE EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
INDICATORS LIST OF PARTICIPANTS DPCSD UNCHS UNDP ECE ECE WHO Dr Carlos Corvalan FAO WMO OECD World Bank CES IDRC Mr Tony Hodge IMF Eurostat RIVM Mr Bert de Vries World Resources Institute
IUCN Earth Council UNITAR UNSTAT Ms Reena Shah UNEP Ms Ann Willcocks |
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Task Force on Environment Statistics: Report of the Core Group on Environmental Indicators 1. The representative of UNSTAT, who chaired the session on the Task Force, explained the dual function of the UNEP/UNSTAT Consultative Expert Group Meeting on Environmental and Sustainable Development Indicators as (a) an expert group on environmental indicators and indicators of sustainable development and (b) as a core group on indicators of the Task Force on Environment Statistics. Relevant parts of the results of the discussion of the UNEP/UNSTAT Consultative Expert Group Meeting will be incorporated in the Report of the Task Force to the Special Session of the Statistical Commission in April 1994. 2. The Chairman provided an overview of the past work of the Task Force and referred to the request of the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination (at its sixteenth session) to clarify the mandates, priorities and terms of reference for future work of the Task Force. 3. The Consultative Expert Group agreed to continue its work, which would enable it to respond to requests of inter-governmental bodies such as the Statistical Commission. The Core Group of the Task Force on Environment Statistics therefore suggested that issues of environment statistics, indicators and accounting could be usefully addressed by the informal sub-groups of the Consultative Expert Group, notably those on the development of data and on Earthwatch/Development Watch. Electronic networking and other means of communication should be used as much as possible to avoid the costs of actual meetings. |
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