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Interim Report on Testing UN-Indicators of Sustainable Development in Germany
Germany's Participation in the Testing Phase of CSD Sustainability Indicators
Introduction
In the wake of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro a new concept emerged as paradigm for environment and development policy: sustainable development. This concept is characterised by the interaction between ecological, economic and social dimensions of development, with each dimension weighed equally in political and economic decision-making.
Indicator systems are important tools for operationalizing sustainability. Chapter 40 of AGENDA 21 therefore calls for the development of sustainability indicators that help to audit national and international development processes with respect to sustainability objectives. These sustainability indicators are quantitative assessment criteria supposed to describe national development trends in priority areas of concern. Thus, they are an instrument for putting the concept of sustainability into practical terms and for setting priorities as well as improving information for and communication with the public. Conventional information systems are no longer able to convey the complexity of the interactions between social, economic and ecological processes. By pragmatically selecting a limited but representative number of data, sustainability indicator systems shall help to reduce this complexity.
This selection process is a complex task in itself. Good indicator systems must be able to convey the specific issues of a country or a region but nevertheless should be harmonised internationally as much as possible. Within the last years many international institutions have become involved in the development of indicators, e.g. OECD, UNEP, WRI, the World Bank, SCOPE, to name just a few. However, the majority of these systems do not cover the entire spectrum of sustainable development issues. The OECD, for example, has carried out important work in the field of environmental indicators which is used in a number of countries as guidelines for national environmental indicator systems.
CSD Work Programme on Indicators for Sustainable Development
In 1995 the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), whose task is to monitor the implementation and further development of AGENDA 21, adopted a Work Programme for sustainability indicators which is to last until the year 2000 and will be administered by the CSD secretariat. A key element of this CSD Work Programme is a "working list of indicators", with 134 indicators classified according to the chapters of AGENDA 21 and divided into four categories: "economic", "social", "environment" and "institutional".
The aim is to further develop and improve this list by the year 2000. To this end, the CSD indicators will be tested in several pilot countries until the end of 1999. To support the testing process and to ensure that comparability of the testing phase results is a high as possible, the CSD secretariat has produced both "guidelines for the testing" and "methodology sheets" (providing the methodology for compiling data and assessing the significance of every indicator on the working list).
Germany has volunteered to participate in the CSD testing phase. Other voluntary pilot countries are Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Finland, France, the United Kingdom, Kenya, Morocco, the Philippines, the Czech Republic, South Africa and Venezuela (as of April 1997). During the testing phase the pilot countries will regularly report to the CSD, with the first interim report being due at the end of 1997.
Objectives of the German Testing Phase
In participating in the testing phase, Germany is pursuing a range of objectives. First of all the German Government wants to actively support this important CSD initiative. Despite many methodological issues which remain to be settled, a pragmatic procedure is crucial for both the CSD and the testing countries to get the process off the ground. Thus the following objectives are of prime concern:
- analysis of the indicators proposed in the CSD list concerning their practical national implementation (above all data availability over a certain time span) and their political relevance and utility for Germany;
- further development and improvement of the CSD concept via the process of trial and error and international co-operation during the pilot phase;
- promotion of a national debate on sustainable development and its assessment via indicators; indirectly within and outside the Federal Government, the concept of sustainable development is also being put in practical terms;
- promotion of the dialogue with all actors (scientific community, major groups) and their active integration in the CSD testing phase;
- forming the basis of national indicator systems.
What is of special importance for German participation is that the entire CSD concept has to be evaluated against the background of Germany's specific situation, thereby taking the chance to introduce the testing experiences of an industrialised country. With regard to the further development of the CSD concept missing indicators in the CSD list have to be identified, and methodological questions investigated further. For example, the question of interlinkages between the dimensions of sustainable development or the question of aggregation and identification of so called key indicators in order to reduce the number of indicators.
Defining sustainable development and assessing the national situation is a dynamic process, and this must be reflected in the sustainability indicators. An indicator system is never a final product and must therefore remain open to changes with regard to the range of relevant issues and indicators as well as methodological evolution. In this respect it is very important for the indicator system to be flexible. At the same time, the adjustment process has to remain transparent in order to maintain its credibility; that is, records must be kept of which indicators are replaced or altered over time. This is even more important for the testing phase of the CSD indicators; following a pragmatic approach demands an open process. Both flexibility and transparency are to be ensured via regular consultations of all groups and institutions participating in the test. For that the Federal Environmental Agency has set up an Internet page with information and communication resources for both the German institutions involved and other testing countries, at the following address:
http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/uba-info-daten-e/daten-e/csd.htm.
National Co-ordination Mechanism
The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety is in charge of the entire political co-ordination of the testing of CSD indicators. It also functions as the "National Focal Point". The overall organisation of the testing phase in Germany rests on several institutional pillars:
1. Co-ordination within the Federal Government
An Interministerial Working Group (IMA), consisting of respresentatives from all German Federal Ministries, has been set up for the testing, under the auspices of the Federal Environment Ministry. This IMA is very significant in view of the challenge presented by sustainable development in comprising not only environmental but also economic and social aspects. The IMA is responsible for the Federal Government's interim report on the testing phase to the CSD by the end of 1997.
The Federal Environmental Agency and the Federal Statistical Office provide support concerning organisational co-ordination, data collection and processing as well as methodological questions. A co-ordination team with representatives from the Federal Environment Ministry, the Federal Environmental Agency and the Federal Statistical Office meets for regular discussions on conceptual and organisational procedure.
2. Dialogue with groups in society
In order for sustainability indicators to achieve broad social acceptance, it is important to include in the testing phase the interests of the various stakeholders in society. Therefore, a National Indicator Committee has been set up, with more than 20 representatives from all relevant groups: environmental and development NGOs, business associations including environmentally oriented business associations, trade unions, churches, charitable organisations, scientific advisory boards, the German Bundestag "Enquete Commission on the Protection of Humanity and the Environment", and the Federal States and local communities. This National Indicator Commission exists to ensure information from the Federal Government on the pilot phase, to foster the co-operation of the various activities on indicators, as well as to state the interests of its members. The members of the National Indicator Commission were nominated by the Federal Environment Ministry in agreement with the other government departments. To be able to ensure high-level, expert dialogue, the appointed representatives are already experienced in the development of sustainability indicators or have been involved in the sustainability debate for a long period of time.
3. Scientific Advice
An Expert Team of approximately 20 scientists from assorted disciplines has been set up, overseen by the Federal Environmental Agency, with experts already involved in indicator development of various fields. This team builds upon informal meetings of experts which the Federal Environment Ministry has been holding annually since 1994 for a continuous exchange of information. Its task during the testing phase of the CSD indicators is, on one hand, to given an opinion on the range of priority issues and indicators and, on the other hand, to be a forum for discussing conceptual and methodological development of indicators. A detailed discussion of the CSD concept is to take place in sub-working groups. In addition, the Federal Environmental Agency will carry out specific research projects on the further development of selected areas of indicator development. Through the involvement with the Expert Team the scientists have the possibility of supporting and shaping an important project of the Rio follow-up process and thus bringing research results and initiatives to international attention.
Implementation of the Testing/Assessment
A step by step decision-making process (work program) has been set up:
1. Selection of the priority topics to be tested according to the key national problem areas of sustainable development:
Issues on the CSD list which are not given priority or even irrelevant for Germany are to be neglected (e.g. the issue of desertification) and issues which are of prime national importance but are not on the list are to be added (e.g. transport).
2. Selection of individual indicators for all priority issues:
the indicators suggested in the CSD working list will be reviewed and amended. For that selection clear criteria are necessary. Germany will use selection criteria that are based on a list of ideal requirements of indicator systems. In the first and provisional selection of indicators within the CSD testing phase, some ideal requirements have been deliberately omitted (see table below) since in this first stage the procedure needs to be pragmatic and focused on the national level.
| "Ideal requirements" of indicators | Priority selection criteria for the first phase of the testing |
|---|---|
| Relevance with regards to Agenda 21/concept of sustainable development | |
| Easy to understand | |
| Provides a clear overview | |
| Sensitivity of the indicators to changes over time | |
| Availability of data and time sequences | |
| Ability to acquire data with reasonable effort | |
| International compatibility | |
| Takes into account the interactions between environment, economy and society | |
| Flexibility/openness of the conceptual frame (DSR etc.) | |
| Consistency of the various categories |
3. Review of the data basis:
The focus lies on issues about data availability (including the identification of data gaps) and data quality for the selected indicators.
4. Evaluation of indicators to be tested:
The question as to whether the chosen indicators convey effective information for monitoring progress towards sustainability in the problem area concerned is of key importance for the testing. The first interim report will include a comprehensive analysis of a few issues with regard to the interpretation of time sequences and a first review of interlinkages (based on empirical results on the German environmental accounting system).
5. Methodological further development of the CSD concept:
this process, too, has to be pursued continuously with the National Indicator Committee, the Expert Team, the Federal Environmental Agency/Federal Statistical Office and the IMA (government departments). However, results are expected only in the medium to long term. Methodological questions which remain to be solved are, for example:
- the question about the conceptual system according to which the indicators are systematised: "driving force/state/response" concept;
- the questions of interlinkages between the dimensions of sustainable development
(environmental, economic, social and institutional) or - the issues relating to aggregation, identification of key indicators, modelling.
Latest Development
On the international level the formal start for the CSD testing phase was marked by the second International Workshop on Indicators of Sustainable Development, hosted jointly by the Belgian and Costa Rican Governments in Ghent (Belgium), from 20-22 November 1996. In Germany, there have been meetings with the above-mentioned groups (IMA, National Indicator Commission, Expert Team) throughout the first half of 1997. At all of these meetings the Federal Environment Ministry presented and discussed objectives, organisational concept and procedures of the testing phase and it asked for statements and opinions on the CSD list. Taking into account the first statements from all involved, the co-ordinating team (Federal Environment Ministry/Federal Environmental Agency/Federal Statistical Office) has proposed an initial list of indicators that will be used as a basis for the first report to the CSD Secretariat. It will be submitted to the IMA for agreement.
At the end of the first stage of the testing phase in Winter 1997, the interim results will be documented in a report of the Federal Government to the CSD. This report shall include a first evaluation of the CSD working list on the capacity of the indicators to provide relevant information and their political usefulness for Germany as well as an outlook on possible improvements.
The CSD has proposed that pilot countries work together during the pilot phase in a so-called "Twinning" process. Ideally, the co-operation should take place between a country from the developed' world and a developing country. At the Ghent workshop in November 1996, the representatives of Germany and Brazil signaled interest in co-operating at a working level. Germany is interested in jointly organising an expert workshop in Brazil in 1998. However, details have not yet been specified.
For further information please contact Germany's focal point:
Ms. Christa Ratte
Deputy Head of Division
Division G I 4 (Economic Aspects of Environmental Policy)
Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
Bernkasteler Str. 8
53175 Bonn, Germany
Tel.: (49-228) 305-2453
Fax: (49-228) 305-3524
E-mail:g14-2002@wp-gate.bmu.de
Additional Reports
- Report: Jan, 1998
- Interim Report on Testing ISD
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