Monika Luxem
Birgitte Bryld
The need for indicators of sustainable development (ISD) was already apparent on the eve of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, and this need found expression in Chapters 8 and 40 of Agenda 21- a Programme of Action leading to sustainable development worldwide which was adopted in Rio. The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), at its third session in 1995, adopted a five year programme of work on indicators of sustainable development. This was the first time a common UN approach and commitment was made to make indicators available to decision-makers at the national level by identifying a set of indicators, defining a framework for their organization, elaborating the required methodologies, testing the indicators in the national context, and providing training and other capacity building efforts. Considerable progress has been made in the implementation of the UN programme which aims to have an agreed and workable set of indicators available by the year 2000.
INFORMATION FOR DECISION-MAKING
Sustainable development may be regarded as the progressive and balanced achievement of sustained economic development, improved social equity and environmental sustainability. Accordingly, Agenda 21 stresses the importance of integrated policy development, citizen participation in decision-making, including full participation of women, institutional capacity-building and global partnerships involving many stakeholders. To understand how well we are navigating the road to sustainable development, indicators provide signposts along this road.
To move towards the goal of sustainable development, decision-makers at all levels (locally, nationally, regionally and internationally) need information. Given the amount and complexity of information available, there is an urgent need to improve the content, format and accessibility of information. The primary aim of Chapter 40 is to help decision-makers at the national level gain access to information. Chapter 8 of Agenda 21 stresses the integration of socio-economic and environmental concerns in the decision-making process coupled with broad public participation.
Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 acknowledges that 'commonly used indicators such as GNP and measurement of individual source or pollution flows do not provide adequate indications of sustainability' (paragraph 40.4). The problem with trying to monitor and evaluate progress towards sustainable development (paragraph 8.6) is not the lack of potential indicators, but their multiplicity and their interdependence. Given the divergent views on indicators, the challenge following Rio was 'to develop a concept of indicators of sustainable development in order to identify such indicators' (paragraph 40.6); and to reach consensus on a suitable set of indicators that can adequately reflect the wide range of concerns encompassed by sustainable development, as promoted in Agenda 21, and that can be broadly used and incorporated 'in common, regularly updated, and widely accessible reports and databases, for use at the international level, subject to national sovereignty considerations' (paragraph 40.7).
THE UN APPROACH: CONSENSUS-BUILDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The consensus-building approach adopted by the CSD, which aims to develop a framework, and a core set of indicators and related methodology sheets, consists of three essential elements. First, from the very beginning, efforts were focused on the development and use of indicators at the national level. Secondly, there was the need to build on the existing national and international indicator work being carried out by several organizations and countries. Thirdly, there was a high degree of cooperation and collaboration among more than 30 organizations of the UN system, other international organizations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and major group partners acting as lead agencies for particular indicators and with additional valuable input from approximately fifty experts from national governments.
The third session of the CSD in 1995, recognized the wide range of existing national and international indicator work and the different status of knowledge and skill in countries concerning indicators. It was acknowledged that while countries are often the source of raw data, international organizations are frequently the repositories of compiled data. An urgent need for global action was identified to combine national and international information efforts while at the same time promoting comparability, accessibility and quality.
THE CSD WORK PROGRAMME ON INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
The CSD indicator process started with a joint Task Force of DPCSD and DESIPA which has met regularly since 1994 to coordinate all related indicator initiatives within the Secretariat. Consultations with the various actors involved led to the formation of the Expert Group on Indicators of Sustainable Development to prepare and subsequently support implementation of a CSD approach. More than 30 UN-system organizations, as well as other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations are represented in this group which has met at regular intervals since the beginning of 1995. Their support contributed to the preparation of a Roster of Experts, a draft CSD Work Programme on indicators, an Implementation Plan for the Work Programme and the Draft Guidelines for National Testing of indicators.
The CSD at its third session in 1995 adopted a five-year Work Programme on Indicators of Sustainable Development. The overall objective of the Work Programme is to make indicators of sustainable development available to decision makers at the national level. Indicators, as used in national policies, may also be used in the national reports to the Commission and other intergovernmental bodies. Through a process of development, use, assessment, evaluation and revision of indicators, the Work Programme seeks to arrive at a workable and agreed set of indicators by the year 2000.
Elements of the Work Programme on Indicators of Sustainable Development:
(a) Enhancement of information exchange among interested actors;
(b) Development of methodology sheets to be made available to governments;
(c) Training and capacity building at the regional and national levels;
(d) Monitoring experience in a few selected countries;
(e) Evaluation of the indicators, and adjustment, as necessary;
(f) Identification and assessment of linkages among the economic, social, institutional
and environmental aspects of sustainable development;
(g) Development of highly aggregated indicators;
(h) Further development of the conceptual framework for ISD, involving experts
from the areas of economics, the social sciences, the physical sciences and
policy makers, as well as incorporating nongovernmental organization and indigenous
views.
THE PRELIMINARY CORE SET OF INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE METHODOLOGY SHEETS
Building on existing work, a cooperative, consultative, and collaborative approach has been used to produce the methodology sheets. It is estimated that over l00 people representing more than 30 agencies and individuals contributed ideas, information, and expertise to this approach. A set of draft methodology sheets was discussed at the 'Expert Workshop on Methodologies for Indicators of Sustainable Development,' which was sponsored by the Government of Japan in Glen Cove (Long Island, New York) in February 1996. The methodology sheets were first published as a Background Document at the occasion of the fourth session of the CSD in April 1996 and partly revised and published in October 1996.
Through an excellent collaborative effort among UN-System organizations, intergovernmental and international organizations and agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations and experts, a preliminary working list of 134 indicators of sustainable development has been developed and adopted by the CSD (see Box 2J). In total, 125 methodology sheets have been completed and are included in the UN Publication, Indicators of Sustainable Development: Framework and Methodologies. Work is still progressing to produce full methodology sheets for nine other indicators which are represented in the publication by 'bookmarks , which provides basic information for the sheet.
Format of the Methodology sheets
1. Indicator
2. Placement in the framework
3. Significance/Policy relevance
4. Methodological description and underlying definitions
5. Assessment of the availability of data
6. Agencies involved in the development of the indicator
7. Further information
The methodology sheets provide information on the indicator itself including its definition and unit of measurement (sections 1 and 2). In addition, the relevant Agenda 21 chapter and the type of indicator are listed to set the indicator in the framework. The third, fourth, and fifth sections of the methodology sheets hold the substantive information on the indicator (the usefulness of the indicator for sustainable development decision-making by focusing on policy relevance, international targets where available for the various indicators, conceptual underpinnings and methodology associated with the indicator, data quality and availability). Sections 6 and 7 indicate the agencies responsible for the preparation of the methodology sheets, contact points, further references and the international status of the methodologies.
THE NATIONAL TESTING OF INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The next step in implementing the work programme was the setting up and starting of national testing of the CSD core set of indicators for the period of 1996 to 1999.
The international workshop, 'Launching the Testing of Indicators of Sustainable Development', co-organized by the Governments of Belgium and Costa Rica in Ghent (Belgium) (Ghent II) in November 1996, brought together producers and users of indicators and potential testing countries and inaugurated the national testing phase. Ghent II reached agreement on the testing, adopted Guidelines for National Testing, and made further conclusions and recommendations to enrich their understanding.
At present, 15 countries from all geographic regions in the world have volunteered to test the CSD indicators over the next three years in relation to their own national priorities and interests. The testing may vary from country to country depending on their infrastructure, expertise and availability of information. The Guidelines developed by DPCSD and discussed with the Expert Group on ISD should help to facilitate the setting up, starting and implementing of the national testing and to assess and evaluate the results from this testing. The first substantive report on the first year of testing is required by the testing countries in November 1997 as a basis for a preliminary evaluation of the testing phase. DPCSD has developed a Reporting Format to assist the testing countries in their reporting requirements and in gaining comparable results from the testing. Furthermore, DPCSD assists as a catalyst in the testing through the provision of outreach material on ISD and the establishment of a DPCSD web site on ISD.
The Czech Republic offered to host an International Workshop in the second half of 1997 to discuss the first experiences and results encountered in the testing process.
TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING
Ghent II stressed the idea of training and capacity-building for testing and other interested countries. A series of regional workshops aimed at the provision of an in-depth briefing and training for key officials at the national level in the indicators programme, the methodology sheets and the Guidelines for National Testing are planned.
The first workshop 'Regional Consultative Meeting on Environmentally Sound and Sustainable Development Indicators', hosted by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in cooperation with DPCSD, took place in Bangkok, Thailand from 26-29 November 1996. A second workshop, 'Regional Workshop on Indicators of Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean', was hosted by the Government of Costa Rica and DPCSD from 10- 12 March 1997 in San Jose, Costa Rica. A third workshop for Africa is planned for June 1997.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The use of the Driving Force-State-Response framework should be seen as a way of categorizing indicators to fit the needs of the producers and the users. Nevertheless, as time series data are collected and analysed for these indicators, patterns and relationships may emerge that highlight connections and interactions among indicators which can lead to further revision of the indicators. More scientific work is needed to understand the inter-linkages between indicators and to integrate their economic, social, environmental and institutional dimensions in more aggregated measures. This learning process should aim at a common set of indicators that can more accurately measure progress towards sustainable development. It involves successive approximation both in terms of being able to define what constitutes sustainable development in a given context as well as developing the analytical skills needed to measure progress towards it.
While the testing phase is an ongoing learning process, further national and international initiatives and processes are underway to define additional sectoral and cross sectoral indicators, such as in forestry, land management, biodiversity and changing consumption and production patterns, that could be included among the indicators at a later stage.
Hence, further work on indicators should focus on the identification and assessment of inter-linkages among the indicators for different levels of sustainable development, the development of highly aggregated indicators and further development of the conceptual framework for indicators of sustainable development.
INTRODUCTION REFERENCES
United Nations (1993) Agenda 21 -Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. Rio de Janeiro, 3 -14 June 1992. United Nations, New York.
Federal Planning Office of Belgium (1995) Report of the Workshop on Indicators of Sustainable Development for Decision-Making, submitted to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. Ghent, Belgium, 9 - 11 January 1995.
Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) Scientific Workshop on Indicators of Sustainable Development: Report. Wuppertal, Germany, 15 - 17 November 1995.
Environment Agency of the Government of Japan (1996) Report of Expert Workshop on Methodologies for Indicators of Sustainable Development. Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, 5 - 8 February 1996.
United Nations (1996) Work Programme on Indicators of Sustainable Development of the Commission on Sustainable Development, prepared by the Division for Sustainable Development in the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, United Nations, New York.
Gouzee, Nadine, Member of the Federal Planning Office, Representative of Belgium to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (1996) Working Paper on Indicators of Sustainable Development, an Institutional Approach. Brussels.
United Nations (1996) Indicators of Sustainable Development: Framework and Methodologies. United Nations, New York.
Federal Planning Office of Belgium ( 1996) Launching the Testing of Indicators of Sustainable Development. Second International Workshop of Ghent, Belgium, 20- 22 November 1996.
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (1996) Report of the Regional Consultative Meeting on Environmentally Sound and Sustainable Development Indicators. 26 - 29 November 1996, Bangkok (Thailand).
United Nations (1997) Guidelines for National Testing, prepared by the Division for Sustainable Development, Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, United Nations, New York.