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United Nations

Indicators of Sustainable Development:Guidelines and MethodologiesOctober 2007Third Edition



Indicators of Sustainable Development:Guideline and Met odologie

T ird Edition

United NationsNew York, 2007



DESA

Te Department o Economic and Social A airs o the United Nations Secretariatis a vital inter ace between global policies in the economic, social and environmental

spheres and national action. Te Department works in three main interlinkedareas: (i) it compiles, generates and analyses a wide range o economic, social andenvironmental data and in ormation on which States Members o the United Nationsdraw to review common problems and to take stock o policy options; (ii) it acilitatesthe negotiations o Member States in many intergovernmental bodies on joint course o action to address ongoing or emerging global challenges; and (iii) it advises interestedGovernments on the ways and means o translating policy rameworks developed inUnited Nations con erences and summits into programmes at the country level and,through technical assistance, helps build national capacities.

Note

Te designations employed and the presentation o the material in thispublication do not imply the expression o any opinion whatsoever onthe part o the Secretariat o the United Nations concerning the legalstatus o any country or territory or o its authorities, or concerning thedelimitations o its rontiers.

Te term “country” as used in the text o the present report also re ers, asappropriate, to territories or areas.

Te designations o country groups in the text and the tables are intendedsolely or statistical or analytical convenience and do not necessarily expressa judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in thedevelopment process.

Mention o the names o rms and commercial products does not imply the endorsement o the United Nations.

Symbols o United Nations documents are composed o capital letterscombined with gures.

United Nations publicationSales No. E.08.II.A.2ISBN 978-92-1-104577-2Copyright © United Nations, 2007 All rights reservedPrinted by the United Nations, New York



iii

Contents

Foreword

I. Introduction

II. CSD Indicators o Sustainable Development 5

A. History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

B. Latest review o the CSD Indicators o Sustainable Development . . . . . . . 6

III. Overview o the revised CSD Indicators o Sustainable Development 9

A. General description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

B. Addressing thematic linkages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C. Relationship between MDG Indicators andCSD Indicators o Sustainable Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

D. CSD Indicators o Sustainable Development, Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan o Implementation . . . . . . . . . . 27

IV. Applying CSD Indicators o Sustainable Development 29

A. Indicator selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

B. Adapting CSD Indicators o Sustainable Development or national sets. . . 32

C. Indicators as tools or measuring sustainable development processes at the national level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

V. A word on indicator rameworks 39

A. Driving orce-state-response rameworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

B. Issue- or theme-based rameworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C. Capital rameworks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

D. Accounting rameworks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

E. Aggregated indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F. Other indicator approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

VI. Description o CSD Indicators o Sustainable Development 47

A. Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

B. Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C. Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

D. Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

E. Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F. Natural hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

G. Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .



iv Indicators of Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies — Third Edition

H. Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I. Oceans, seas and coasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

J. Freshwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

K. Biodiversity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

L. Economic development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

M. Global economic partnership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

N. Consumption and production patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Appendix 1. Agenda 21–Table o Contents 91

Appendix 2. Johannesburg Plan o Implementation 93



Foreword

Tis publication presents the third set o Indicators o Sustainable Developmentand provides suggestions on how to adapt them to national conditions and pri-orities. It bene ts rom the active participation o and excellent collaboration with, a wide range o governments, international organizations, academic insti-tutions, non-governmental organizations and individual experts. Te indica-tors are a ollow-up to the two earlier sets prepared under the work programmeon indicators o sustainable development approved by the Commission onSustainable Development in 1995. Tese earlier sets were published in 1996and 2001.

We hope that countries will nd the publication use ul whenever they arereviewing their existing indicators or developing new indicators to measureprogress towards nationally de ned goals or sustainable development. Teindicators o sustainable development presented here re ect the valuable expe-riences o countries and international organizations over the past teen yearssince the adoption o Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro. With this publication, wealso hope to urther the momentum at the national and international level todevelop and apply sustainable development indicators. Tis will help theunderstanding o the various dimensions o sustainable development and theircomplex interactions and the acilitation o policy decisions aimed at achiev-ing sustainable development goals.

On behal o the United Nations, I would like to thank all countries,organizations, agencies and individuals that have contributed their time ande ort to make this publication possible.

JoAnne DiSanoDirectorDivision or Sustainable Development



Indicators of Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies — Third Edition

set explicitly addresses their relation to Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan o Implementation, the outcomes o the major international con erences on sus-

tainable development in 1992 and 2002, as well as their relation to the MDGIndicators. Te publication also provides guidance on applying and adapting theCSD indicators or the development o national indicator sets. Te role o indi-cator rameworks is brie y discussed, and a succinct description o all indicatorsis included. Detailed methodology sheets or each indicator are included in anaccompanying CD-ROM. Tese methodology sheets are also available on theindicators section o the webpage o the United Nations Division or Sustainable

Development (http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/ ) and will be regularly updated.



II. CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development

A. History

Chapter 40 o Agenda 211, the action plan adopted in 1992 at the UnitedNations Con erence on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, callson countries, as well as international, governmental and non-governmentalorganizations, to develop indicators o sustainable development that can pro-vide a solid basis or decision-making at all levels. Agenda 21 also calls or theharmonization o e orts to develop such indicators.

Tis mandate was re ected in the decision o the CSD in 1995 to adopt anindicators work programme that involved several stages: consensus-building on acore list o indicators o sustainable development; development o the relatedmethodology sheets; policy discussions within a CSD publication and widespreaddissemination o this work; testing; and evaluation and revision o the indicators.

Te rst dra t set o indicators o sustainable development was developedor discussion jointly by the Division or Sustainable Development (DSD) and

the Statistics Division, both within the United Nations Department o Eco-nomic and Social A airs. Tis dra t then became the ocus o a broad consensus-building process that included a number o organizations within the UnitedNations System and other international organizations, both intergovernmentaland non-governmental, and coordinated by the DSD. Te result was a set o 134 indicators. During 1995 and 1996, the same organizations that had partici-pated in the consultations dra ted methodology sheets or each o the indicators,and these, along with the indicators, were contained in a publication known asthe ‘blue book’2 and widely disseminated.

From 1996 to 1999, 22 countries rom across the world voluntarily pilot-tested the indicator set. In order to acilitate this process, the DSDdeveloped guidelines or the implementation o the CSD indicators, initi-

1 Agenda 21, Programme o Action or Sustainable Development, adopted at the UnitedNations Con erence on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1992

2 United Nations, Indicators o Sustainable Development Framework and Methodolo-gies, United Nations Sales Publication No E 96 II A 16 (New York, August 1996)




ated a series o regional brie ng and training workshops, and encouragedthe organization o national workshops and twinning arrangements between

testing countries.From 1999 to 2000, the results o the national testing were evaluated, and

the indicator set was revised. Overall, countries considered the testing process tobe success ul, although they indicated that they had aced signi cant institu-tional challenges especially in the areas o human resources and policy coordina-tion. Integrating indicator initiatives with national development policies andtrans orming them into permanent work programmes ranked high among the

recommendations to ensure success. Most countries also ound that the initialCSD indicator set was too large to be easily managed. Consequently, the revisedset o CSD indicators was reduced to 58 indicators, embedded in a policy- oriented ramework o themes and sub-themes. Tese indicators were presentedto the CSD in 2001, and subsequently published as part o the second editiono the ‘blue book’.3

Overall, the ocus o the CSD and its secretariat on indicators provided a

very use ul and timely orum or the discussion o national-level indicators withthe involvement o governments, international organizations, and various stake-holders at a time when thoughts on the potential role o indicators in achievingsustainable development goals were at an early stage and thus still evolving.Tere ore, the proactive role o the CSD proved to be instrumental in advancing work in this area.

B. Latest review of the CSD Indicators of Sustainable DevelopmentIn 2005, the DSD started a process to review the CSD Indicators o Sustain-able Development. Tis process, which is in line with the decision made by theCSD in 2001 to keep the indicators under review, was largely carried out ortwo reasons. In the ve years that had passed since the last revision, perspectiveson indicators had evolved and experience in applying indicators o sustainabledevelopment at the country level had grown considerably. A large number o

countries had developed their own national indicator sets, o ten based on theCSD indicators. In addition, since the adoption o the United Nations Millen-nium Declaration in 2000, much attention had been given, within the UN Sys-

3 United Nations, Indicators o Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies,Second Edition, UN Sales Publication No E 01 II A 6 (New York, September 2001)



CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development

tem and by member States, to the development and use o indicators to measureprogress on achieving the MDGs.4

Te review began with research and analysis o national and global trendsin applying indicators and with a renewal o the dialogue with internationalexperts. Te DSD also proceeded to assess the coherence between CSD andMDG indicators. Tis was ollowed by two expert group meetings and supple-mented by ongoing communications. Te original partners, including experts

rom those organizations that had prepared methodology sheets, as well asexperts rom a number o member States that were developing and using the

indicators were invited. Tereby, the review bene ted rom the vast expertise o a wide-range o international agencies as well as rom the rich experience gainedby individual countries.

Te rst expert group meeting carried out a preliminary review o indicatorrameworks and options or a way orward or the CSD indicators. It agreed on

an interim revised list o indicators and proposed changes to the ramework. Atits second meeting in October 2006, the expert group completed the review and

nalized the revised list o CSD indicators.Countries are now invited to consider these revised CSD indicators when

reviewing existing or developing new national indicators o sustainable develop-ment. Collaborating agencies have agreed to incorporate these indicators in rel-evant capacity-building activities and inter-agency cooperation is to ensurecoherence o CSD indicators with other indicator sets such as the MDG Indica-tors, the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership, the Hyogo Framework or

Action on Disaster Reduction, the Global Forest Resource Assessment, and Sus-tainable ourism Indicators. Te experiences gained by countries in applyingand adapting the new indicator set will be taken into account in the continuousreview o the CSD indicators. As relevant progress is made, methodologies o indicators will be regularly updated on the website o the DSD.

4 The Millennium Development Goals were derived rom the United Nations MillenniumDeclaration, adopted by 189 nations in 2000 Most o the goals and targets were set tobe achieved by 2015 on the basis o the global situation during the 1990s The baseline

or the assessment o progress is there ore 1990 or most o the MDG targets



0 Indicators of Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies — Third Edition

Te division o indicators along the lines o our ‘pillars’ (social, economic,environmental and institutional) is no longer explicit in the newly revised set.

Tis change emphasizes the multi-dimensional nature o sustainable develop-ment and re ects the importance o integrating its pillars. Consequently, new cross-cutting themes such as poverty and natural hazards were introduced andexisting cross-cutting themes such as consumption and production patterns arebetter represented.

Since poverty covers a broad range o related issues, it was conceptually limiting to keep it as a sub-theme under equity. Consequently, it is now a sepa-

rate theme that includes sub-themes related to income, sanitation, drinking water, energy access and living conditions.

Natural hazards were a sub-theme o the now dissolved theme ‘institutionalcapacity’, which did not re ect the cross-cutting nature o the topic. Other new themes include global economic partnership and governance. Global economicpartnership includes a number o new indicators that capture key issues such astrade and development nancing. Te indicators or the theme ‘governance’ are

largely undeveloped; only crime related indicators are currently included. Sig-ni cant methodological work is needed to develop good, measurable and inter-nationally accepted indicators on other aspects o governance.

Table 1:CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development

Theme Sub-theme Core indicator Other indicator Poverty Income poverty Proportion o

population livingbelow national povertyline

Proportion o population below$1 a day

Income inequality Ratio o share innational income o highest to lowestquintile

Sanitation Proportion o population using animproved sanitation

acility

Drinking water Proportion o population using animproved water source



Overview of the revised CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development

Theme Sub-theme Core indicator Other indicator

Poverty

(continued)

Access to energy Share o households

without electricity orother modern energyservices

Percentage o

population usingsolid uels orcooking

Living conditions Proportion o urbanpopulation living inslums

Governance Corruption Percentage o population having paidbribes

Crime Number o intentionalhomicides per 100,000population

Health Mortality Under- vemortality rate

Li e expectancyat birth

Healthy li eexpectancy at birth

Health caredelivery

Percent o populationwith access to primaryhealth care acilities

Contraceptiveprevalence rate

Immunization againstin ectious childhood

diseasesNutritional status Nutritional status o

children

Health status andrisks

Morbidity o majordiseases such asHIV/AIDS, malaria,tuberculosis

Prevalence o tobacco use

Suicide rate

Education Education level Gross intake ratio tolast grade o primary

education

Li e long learning

Net enrolment rate inprimary education

Adult secondary(tertiary) schoolingattainment level

Literacy Adult literacy rate

Demographics Population Populationgrowth rate

Total ertility rate

Dependency ratio

Tourism Ratio o localresidents totourists in majortourist regions anddestinations





Natural

hazards

Vulnerability to

natural hazards

Percentage o

population living inhazard prone areas

Disasterpreparedness andresponse

Human andeconomic loss due tonatural disasters

Atmosphere Climate change Carbon dioxideemissions

Emissions o greenhouse gases

Ozone layerdepletion

Consumption o ozonedepleting substances

Air quality Ambient concentrationo air pollutants inurban areas

Land Land use and status Land use change

Land degradation

Deserti cation Land a ected bydeserti cation

Agriculture Arable and permanentcropland area

Fertilizer usee ciency

Use o agriculturalpesticides

Area under organicarming

Forests Proportion o land areacovered by orests

Percent o oresttrees damaged byde oliation

Area o orest undersustainable orestmanagement

Oceans,seasandcoasts

Coastal zone Percentage o totalpopulation living incoastal areas

Bathing waterquality

Fisheries Proportion o shstocks within sa ebiological limits

Marine environment Proportion o marinearea protected

Marine trophic index

Area o coral ree ecosystems andpercentage livecover





Freshwater Water quantity Proportion o total

water resources used

Water use intensity byeconomic activity

Water quality Presence o aecalcoli orms in reshwater

Biochemical oxygendemand in waterbodies

Wastewatertreatment

Biodiversity Ecosystem Proportion o terrestrialarea protected, totaland by ecologicalregion

Managemente ectiveness o protected areas

Area o selected keyecosystems

Fragmentation o habitats

Species Change in threat statuso species

Abundance o selected key species

Abundance o

invasive alien speciesEconomicdevelopment

Macroeconomicper ormance

Gross domesticproduct (GDP) percapita

Gross saving

Investment share inGDP

Adjusted net savingsas percentageo gross nationalincome (GNI)

Infation rate

Sustainable

public nance

Debt to GNI ratio

Employment Employment-population ratio

Vulnerableemployment

Labor productivity andunit labor costs

Share o women inwage employment inthe non-agriculturalsector

In ormation and

communicationtechnologies

Internet users

per 100 population

Fixed telephone

lines per 100population

Mobile cellulartelephonesubscribersper 100 population





Economic

development(continued)

Research and

development

Gross domestic

expenditure on R&Das a percent o GDP

Tourism Tourism contributionto GDP

Globaleconomicpartnership

Trade Current account de citas percentage o GDP

Share o importsrom developing

countries and romLDCs

Average tari barriers imposedon exports romdeveloping countriesand LDCs

External nancing Net O cialDevelopmentAssistance (ODA)given or received as apercentage o GNI

Foreign directinvestment (FDI)net infows andnet outfows aspercentage o GDP

Remittances aspercentage o GNI

Consumption

and productionpatterns

Material consumption Material intensity o

the economy

Domestic material

consumption

Energy use Annual energyconsumption, total andby main user category

Share o renewableenergy sources intotal energy use

Intensity o energy use,total and by economicactivity

Waste generationand management

Generation o hazardous waste

Generation o waste

Waste treatment anddisposal

Management o radioactive waste

Transportation Modal splito passengertransportation

Modal split o reight transport

Energy intensity o transport

B. Addressing thematic linkagesSustainable development indicators attempt to measure sustainable develop-ment in its entirety, taking into account the multi-dimensional and integratednature o sustainable development. Whereas single-valued indices are integra-tive but mask di erences in progress across and within dimensions, indicator




sets such as the CSD indicators track progress but may require some additionalin ormation to make their integrative nature more explicit.

As noted, ceasing to categorize indicators into the pillars o sustainabledevelopment already strengthens the emphasis on the multi-dimensional char-acter o sustainable development as does rethinking themes and sub-themes. oillustrate how the CSD indicators address inter-thematic linkages, able 2presents an overview o their potential to measure progress towards sustainabledevelopment across various themes.

Te themes to which the indicators primarily apply are shaded in able 2.

Note that an indicator may apply to more than one theme, as or example with“proportion o population with access to sa e drinking water,” which has pri-mary links to poverty and health. Light grey shading indicates a clear but possi-bly secondary link. In the drinking water example, the indicator is also use ul ormeasuring the impact o regulating and governing water utilities and, there ore,the governance theme is shaded light grey. Moreover, as domestic resh water isthe major source o drinking water or most countries, the indicator provides

in ormation on availability and use o water resources and or the availability o in rastructure in utilities. Consequently, the theme o economic development isalso shaded in light grey.

Table 2:CSD indicators and thematic linkages

P o v e r t y

G o v e r n a n c e

H e a l t h

E d u c a t i o n

D e m o g r a p h i c s

N a t u r a l h a z a r d s

A t m o s p h e r e

L a n d O c e a n s , S e a s a n d C o a s t s

F r e s h W a t e r

B i o d i v e r s i t y

E c o n o m i c D e v e l o p m e n t

G l o b a l e c o n o m i c p a r t n e r s h i p

C o n s . a n d P r o d u c t . P a t t e r n s

Percent o population living

below national poverty lineProportion o populationbelow international poverty line

Ratio o share in national incomeo highest to lowest quintile

Proportion o population usingimproved sanitation acilities




P o v e r t y

G o v e r n a n c e

H e a l t h

E d u c a t i o n



A t m o s p h e r e


F r e s h W a t e r


E c o n o m i c D e v e l o p m

e n t



Proportion o populationusing an improved water source

Share o households withoutelectricity or other modern

energy servicesPercentage o population usingsolid uels or cooking

Proportion o urban populationliving in slums

Percentage o populationhaving paid bribes

Number o intentional homicidesper 100,000 population

Mortality rate under 5 years old

Li e expectancy at Birth

Healthy li e years expectancy

Percent o population with accessto primary health care acilities

Immunization against in ectiouschildhood diseases

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Nutritional status o children

Prevalence o tobacco use

Suicide rate

Morbidity o major diseases suchas HIV/AIDS, malaria, tubercolosis

Gross intake into last yearo primary education, by sex

Net enrolment rate in primaryeducation

Adult secondary (tertiary)schooling attainment level, by sex

Li e long learning

Adult literacy rate, by sex




P o v e r t y

G o v e r n a n c e

H e a l t h

E d u c a t i o n



A t m o s p h e r e


F r e s h W a t e r



e n t



Population growth rate

Total ertility rate

Dependency ratio

Ratio o local residents totourists in major tourist regions

Percentage o population livingin hazard prone areas

Human and economic loss dueto natural disasters

Emissions o greenhouse gases

Carbon dioxide emissions


Ambient concentration o air pollutants in urban areas

Land use change

Land degradation

Land a ected by deserti cation

Arable and permanentcropland area

Fertilizer use e ciency

Use o agricultural pesticides

Area under organic arming

Proportion o land areacovered by orests

Percent o orests damagedby de oliation

Area under sustainable orestmanagement

Percentage o total populationliving in coastal areas

Bathing water quality

Proportion o sh stocks withinsa e biological limits




P o v e r t y

G o v e r n a n c e

H e a l t h

E d u c a t i o n



A t m o s p h e r e


F r e s h W a t e r



e n t



Proportion o marine areaprotected

Marine trophic index

Area o coral ree ecosystemsand percentage live cover

Proportion o totalwater resources used

Water use intensity byeconomic activity

Biochemical oxygen demandin water bodies

Presence o aecal coli ormin reshwater

Wastewater treatment

Proportion o terrestrial areaprotected, total and byecological region

Management e ectivenesso protected areas

Area o selected key ecosystems

Fragmentation o habitat

Abundance o selected keyspecies

Change in threat status o species

Abundance o invasive alienspecies

Gross domestic product (GDP)per capita

Investment share in GDP

Gross savings

Adjusted net savings

Infation

Debt to GNI ratio

Labor productivity andunit labor costs




P o v e r t y

G o v e r n a n c e

H e a l t h

E d u c a t i o n



A t m o s p h e r e


F r e s h W a t e r



e n t



Employment-population ratio,by sex

Vulnerable employment

Share o women in wageemployment in the non-agricultural sector

Number o internet usersper 100 population

Fixed telephone linesper 100 population

Mobile cellular telephonesubscribers per 100 population

Gross domestic expenditure

on R&D as a percent o GDP

Tourism contribution to GDP

Current account de cit aspercentage o GDP

Share o imports rom developingcountries and rom LDCs

Average tari barriers imposedon exports rom developingcountries and LDCs

Net O cial DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) given orreceived as a percentage o GNI

FDI infows and outfows aspercentage o GNI

Remittances as percentage o GNI

Material intensity o the economy

Domestic material consumption

Annual energy consumption percapita, total and by main usercategory

Share o renewable energysources in total energy use




P o v e r t y

G o v e r n a n c e

H e a l t h

E d u c a t i o n



A t m o s p h e r e


F r e s h W a t e r



e n t



Intensity o energy use, total andby sector

Generation o waste

Generation o hazardous waste

Management o radioactive waste

Waste treatment and disposal

Modal split o passengertransportation

Modal split o reight transport

Energy intensity o transport

able 2 only reveals direct relationships between indicators and themes.o illustrate this point, consider the indicator on educational attainment. As

educational attainment is a measure o human capital, which in turn is a majorelement o economic growth, the theme o economic development is shadedin light gray. At the same time, economic growth is a major determinant o consumption patterns in the areas o energy, waste, transport or material con-sumption. Tere ore, educational attainment would be a valid indirect meas-ure or elements o consumption and production. However, given that thislink is indirect, the consumption theme is not shaded. Education certainly hasimportant direct linkages to consumption patterns, as evidenced or examplein the declaration o the United Nations Decade o Education or SustainableDevelopment.5 However, the CSD indicator on education does not directly serve as a measure or the impact o education on sustainable consumptionpatterns.

5 For details, see UNESCO website at http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27234&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html



Overview of the revised CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development 2

C. Relationship between MDG Indicators andCSD Indicators of Sustainable Development

Te Millennium Development Goals Indicators currently consist o 48 indi-cators linked to the eight goals derived rom the United Nations MillenniumDeclaration. However, the revised MDG monitoring ramework presented by the Secretary-General o the United Nations in 2007 contains 58 indicators, as

our new targets have been included to re ect commitments made at the 2005 World Summit.6 Like the CSD Indicators o Sustainable Development, theMDG Indicators were developed through a collaborative process involving vari-

ous Departments within the United Nations Secretariat, a number o specializedagencies rom within the United Nations system as well as external internationalorganizations, various government agencies and national statisticians. Also likethe CSD indicators, the MDG Indicators are driven by policy relevance, rootedin major inter-governmental development summits and requently appliedat the national level. Because o these similarities, there may have been somecon usion on the part o policy-makers and practitioners on the relationship

between the two sets and on the need o having two indicator sets.

Millennium Development Goals

1 Eradicate extreme poverty

2 Achieve universal primary education

3 Promote gender equality and empower women

4 Reduce child mortality

5 Improve maternal health

6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

7 Ensure environmental sustainability

8 Develop a global partnership

In act, while many o the indicators overlap, the overall purpose o the twosets is di erent: the CSD indicators are intended solely to provide a re erence, or

sample set, or use by countries to track progress toward nationally-de nedgoals, in particular, and sustainable development, in general. Te MDG Indica-

6 For the revised MDG monitoring ramework, see United Nations, Report o the Secretary-General on the work o the Organization, (New York, 2006) For in ormation on the MDGIndicators, see the o cial United Nations website at http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/ De ault.aspx




tors, on the other hand, were developed or the global monitoring o progresstoward meeting internationally established goals.

In addition, the CSD indicators cover a broad range o issues intrinsic to allpillars o sustainable development—economic development, social develop-ment and environmental protection. Te MDG Indicators, on the other hand,are speci c to the eight MDGs. As the MDGs constitute an important subset o the sustainable development agenda, the MDG indicator necessarily have amore limited coverage, with a strong ocus on issues related to the poverty-health nexus. Sustainable development issues that are not covered by the MDG

Indicators include demographics, natural hazards, governance and macroeco-nomics. Te area o consumption and production patterns, one o the threeoverarching objectives and essential requirements o sustainable development, iscovered by one single MDG indicator (energy intensity), which incidentally willbe dropped rom the MDG Indicators ramework this year.

Te ocus o the MDG Indicators on global monitoring also imposes someselection criteria that are less relevant or nationally oriented sets. For example,

since the MDG Indicators need to allow or meaning ul regional and globalaggregation, they require data that are available and internationally comparable.Moreover, the use o single-value indicators predominates since this allows oreasier presentation across time and countries or country groups. National-ori-ented sets, such as the CSD indicators, may easily include multiple dimensions,such as population groups, gender and sectoral breakdowns. Te CSD indica-tors can also include indicators which lack accepted adjustment methods or

cross-country comparisons or indicators or which countries have no time-seriesdata dating back to the 1990s.

Te review o the CSD indicators has identi ed a number o inconsisten-cies between previous de nitions o CSD and MDG indicators, which havebeen corrected in this new edition. Te concurrent review o the MDG Indica-tors lead to the inclusion o selected CSD indicators into the revised MDG

ramework, especially in the areas o natural resources, biodiversity and

employment.able 3 shows the similarities between CSD and MDG Indicators. Te

MDG indicator numbers are those assigned on the ofcial list o MDG Indi-cators, which has been e ective since September 2003. Indicators ormally recommended or inclusion to the MDG indicators in 2007 are listed as




‘New’, as the numbering o indicators in the revised MDG monitoring ramework has not been completed. Indicators that are contained in the original list

o MDG Indicators, but are no longer part o the revised ramework aremarked as ‘dropped’ in parenthesis to their original number. Indicators thatare not ofcial MDG Indicators, but contained in the ofcial MDG databaseare marked as ‘Additional’. Indicators that are similar to CSD indicators butnot identical are marked with an asterisk. In most cases, di erences relate tothe act the CSD indicators have a di erent coverage in terms o countries orde nition covered. For example, the CSD indicator on ODA re ers to all

countries that provide or receive development assistance, whereas the MDGramework contains speci c indicators or donors on the OECD/DAC list,and recipients rom least developed countries, landlocked developing coun-tries and small island developing States.7 Te CSD indicator on childhoodnutrition re ers to underweight, stunting and overweight, whereas the corre-sponding MDG indicator covers underweight only.

Table 3:CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development,

MDG Indicators, Agenda 21 and JPOI

CSD Indicator oSustainable Development

MDGIndicator

Agenda 21chapter

JPOIchapter

Proportion o population living belownational poverty line

Additional 3 (3 4 a) II (7a)

Proportion o populationbelow $ 1 a day

# 1 3 (3 4 a) II (7a)

Ratio o share in national incomeo highest to lowest quintile

3 V (47)

Proportion o population usingan improved sanitation acility

# 30 6 (6 12 e) II (8); IV (25)

Proportion o population usingimproved water source

# 31 6 (6 12 e) II (8); IV (25)

Share o households without electricityor other modern energy services

7 (7 40) II (9 a)

Percentage o population usingsolid uels or cooking # 29(dropped) 6 (6 41 b); 11(11 21 b) VI (56 d)

7 It should be noted, though, that data or receipts o ODA in all developing countries areprovided on the MDG database





MDGIndicator

Agenda 21chapter

JPOIchapter

Proportion o urban populationliving in slums

# 32 * 7 (7 8) II (11 a)

Percentage o populationhaving paid bribes

2 (2 32) I (4)

Number o intentional homicidesper 100,000 population

I (4)

Under- ve mortality rate # 13 6 (6 24) VI (54 )

Li e expectancy at birth 6

Healthy li e expectancy at birth 6

Percent o population with accessto primary health care acilities

6 (6 4) VI (54 b)

Immunization against in ectiouschildhood diseases

# 15 * 6(6 12; 6 27)

VI (54 )

Contraceptive prevalence rate # 19 c 5 (5 50);6 (6 12)

VI (54 j)

Nutritional status o children # 4 c 6 (6 27) VI (54 n)

Prevalence o tobacco use 6 VI (54 o)

Suicide rate 6 VI (54 o)Morbidity o major diseases suchas HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis

# 18 *; #21 *;# 23 *

6 (6 12) VI (55)

Gross intake into last year o primary education

Additional 36 (36 4) II (7 g)X (116)

Net enrolment rate in primaryeducation

# 6 36 (36 4) II (7 g)X (116)

Adult secondary (tertiary)schooling attainment level

36 II (7 g)X (120)

Li e long learning 36 X (123)

Adult literacy rate # 8 * 36 (36 4) X (123)

Population growth rate 5 (5 17)

Total ertility rate New * 5 (5 17)

Dependency ratio 5 (5 17)

Ratio o local residents to tourists inmajor tourist regions and destinations

7 (7 20) IV (43)

Percentage o populationliving in hazard prone areas 7 (7 58) IV (37)

Human and economic lossdue to natural disasters

7 (7 58) IV (37)

Emissions o greenhouse gases 9 (9 11, 9 149 17, 9 20)

IV (38)





MDGIndicator

Agenda 21chapter

JPOIchapter

Carbon dioxide emissions # 28 a * 9 (9 11) IV (38)


# 28 b 9 (9 23) IV (39)

Ambient concentration o air pollutants in urban areas

9 (9 11, 9 149 17)

IV (39);VI (56)

Land use change 10 (10 5)

Land degradation 14 (14 45) IV (41)

Land a ected by deserti cation 12 IV (41)

Arable and permanent cropland area14 IV (40)

Fertilizer use e ciency 14 (14 85) IV (40)

Use o agricultural pesticides 14 (14 75) IV (40)

Area under organic arming 14 IV (40)

Proportion o land areacovered by orests

# 25 11 (11 12) IV (45)

Percent o orest treesdamaged by de oliation

11 IV (45)

Area o orest undersustainable orest management

11 (11 12) IV (45)

Percentage o total populationliving in coastal areas

17 IV (32)

Bathing water quality 17 IV( 33)

Proportion o sh stockswithin sa e biological limits

New 17 (17 46,17 75)

IV (31)

Proportion o marinearea protected

# 26 * 15 (15 5 g),17

IV (32 a)

Marine trophic index 17 (17 46,17 75)

IV (32 a)

Area o coral ree ecosystemsand percentage live cover

15 (15 5 g),17

IV (32 d)

Proportion o total water resources used New 18 IV( 25 e, 26)

Water use intensity by economic activity 18 IV( 26)

Biochemical oxygen demandin water bodies

18 (18 39) IV( 25 d)

Presence o aecal coli orms inreshwater

18 (18 39 c) IV( 25 d)

Wastewater treatment 18 (18 39) IV( 25 d)

Proportion o terrestrial area protected,total and by ecological region

# 26 * 15 (15 5 g) IV (44)





MDGIndicator

Agenda 21chapter

JPOIchapter

Management e ectivenesso protected areas

15 (15 5 g) IV (44)

Area o selected key ecosystems 15 (15 5 g) IV (44)

Fragmentation o habitats 15 IV (44)

Abundance o selected key species 15 (15 5 g) IV (44)

Change in threat status o species New * 15 (15 5 h) IV (44)

Abundance o invasive alien species 15 IV (44)

GDP per capita 2 (2 34) X (83)

Investment share in GDP 2 (2 34) X (83)

Savings rate 2 (2 34) X (83)

Adjusted net savingsas percentage o GNI

2 (2 34) X (83)

Infation rate 2 (2 34) X (83)

Debt to GNI ratio 2 (2 34),33 (33 14 e)

X (83, 89)

Employment-population ratio New 7, 14, 24 II (10 b)

Vulnerable employment New* 7, 14, 24 II (10 b)

Labor productivity and unit labor costs New * 14 II (10 a)

Share o women in wage employmentin the non-agricultural sector

# 11 24 II (7 d)

Number o internet usersper 100 population

# 48 40 V (52)

Fixed telephone linesper 100 population

# 47 a 40 V (52)

Mobile cellular telephonesubscribers per 100 population

# 47 b 40 V (52)

Gross domestic expenditureon R&D as a percent o GDP

35 X (113)

Tourism contribution to GDP 11(11 21), 13(13 15)

IV (43)

Current account de citas percentage o GDP

2 (2 9, 2 34) X (83, 92)

Share o imports rom developingcountries and rom LDCs

2 (2 9) V (47), X (92)

Average tari barriers imposedon exports rom developingcountries and LDCs

# 39 * 2 (2 9) V (47), X (92,93)

Net O cial DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) given orreceived as a percentage o GNI

# 33 *; # 36 *;# 37 *

33 (3 13) X (85)





MDGIndicator

Agenda 21chapter

JPOIchapter

Foreign direct investment (FDI)net infows and net outfows aspercentage o GDP

33 (33 15) X (84)

Remittances as percentage o GNI 33 X (83)

Material intensity o the economy 4 (4 18) III (15)

Domestic material consumption 4 III (15)

Annual energy consumption,total and by main user category

4 III (20)

Share o renewable energy

sources in total energy use

4 III (20 c, d, e)

Intensity o energy use, totaland by economic activity

# 27 *(dropped)

4 (4 18) III (20 h)

Generation o waste 21 (21 8) III (22)

Generation o hazardous waste 20 (20 11) III (23)

Waste treatment and disposal 21 (21 17) III (22)

Management o radioactive waste 22 (22 3) III (35)

Modal split o passenger transportation 4 III (21)

Modal split o reight transport 4 III (21)

Energy intensity o transport 4 III (21)

D. CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development, Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation

Te CSD indicators are deeply rooted in Agenda 21 where their developmentis mandated. Even though later editions o the CSD indicators do not ollow the structure o Agenda 21 as the rst edition did, the indicators are still very closely related to it. able 3 re erences all the chapters o Agenda 21 as they relate to each CSD indicator. I a CSD indicator speci cally addresses objec-tives or activities described in Agenda 21, the paragraph is additionally listed inbrackets. able 3 also correlates the CSD indicators to the Johannesburg Plano Implementation (JPOI), adopted in 2002 at the World Summit o Sustain-able Development in Johannesburg. Due to the integrative nature o sustainabledevelopment, both major con erence outcome documents list certain objectivesand activities in multiple places (see appendices 1 and 2 or a comprehensive listo their chapters). For simplicity reasons, able 3 only lists key re erences. It isnot meant to be a complete re erence.




Since almost all CSD indicators directly or indirectly correlate to Agenda 21 and the JPOI, using the CSD indicators as basis or national indi-

cators o sustainable development can assist countries in monitoring nationalimplementation o their international commitments too. In this regard, theCSD indicators are use ul or measuring the outcome o policies towardsachieving sustainable development goals. However, they are not suited ormeasuring the implementation o speci c actions contained in these majoragreements on sustainable development.



IV. Applying CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development

Tis chapter o ers some guidance on how the CSD indicators can be uti-lized by countries or the development or revision o national indicator sets. As deviations rom the previous set o CSD indicators are modest, countries with national indicator sets in place may wish to consider the new set duringa regular review o their indicators rather than on an ad-hoc basis. Te chapterstarts with an overview o selection criteria that should be taken into account. Itthen presents a simple tool that can help countries to adapt CSD indicators tonational conditions. Finally, the chapter o ers an example o the application o CSD indicators to national development strategies.

A. Indicator selection

Te selection o indicators is to a large extent determined by the purpose o theindicator set. From their inception, the overarching purpose o the CSD indica-tors has been to in orm policy at the national level. In addition to using indica-tors to assess overall progress towards sustainable development, many countriessuccess ully use them to measure success within the ramework o their nationalsustainable development strategy (NSDS).

Aside rom their purpose, there are other important criteria or selectingindicators or sustainable development. From the beginning, the CSD indicatorguidelines and methodologies have recommended that indicators or sustainabledevelopment are:8

primarily national in scope;

relevant to assessing sustainable development progress;

limited in number, but remaining open-endedand adaptable to uture needs;

broad in coverage o Agenda 21 and all aspectso sustainable development;

8 United Nations, Indicators o Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies,Second Edition, UN Sales Publication No E 01 II A 6 (New York, September 2001)

1.

2.

3.

4.

2




understandable, clear and unambiguous;

conceptually sound;

representative o an international consensus to the extent possible;

within the capabilities o national governments to develop; and

dependent on cost e ective data o known quality.

Te rst criterion emphasizes the importance o using the indicators ornational level assessment. Criteria two through our, taken together, pose a chal-lenge. Te indicators should be both limited and sufciently comprehensive tocapture the multidimensional nature o sustainable development. I too many indicators are used, the results become unwieldly and difcult to interpret. Asdiscussed earlier, the CSD indicator set began with 134 indicators, but testingby countries led to a drastic reduction. Te introduction o smaller core sets within the larger set makes sustainable development indicators more managea-ble. Size will also be in uenced by purpose: in general, as the purpose o theindicators narrows, their number decreases.

Indicators need to be clear and unambiguous. Clarity o purpose and audi-ence will instruct indicator clarity. Ambiguity is relative to context. For example,in a country with low ood security, an increase in arable and permanent crop-land may be seen as positive, whereas in a country with agricultural overproduc-tion due to subsidization it could be negative. Te existence o voluntary targets

or indicators at the national level, or example within the context o an NSDSor other strategy processes, will help to avoid such ambiguity. In many cases,

linkages among thematic issues easily lead to potential con icts. For example,high GDP growth is generally considered a positive sign o economic develop-ment, but it is o ten associated with higher energy consumption, exploitation o natural resources and negative impacts on environmental resources. In many cases, it has also positive impacts on poverty alleviation. Tese potential con ictsshould not be seen as sign o ambiguity. Rather, such cases rein orce the need tointerpret results in a balanced and integrated manner.

Indicators should always be conceptually sound. However, especially innew areas o interest, the demand or an indicator may precede its develop-ment. In such cases, it may be advisable to bookmark the indicator with ageneric description and increase e orts to develop its conceptual underpin-nings. In the meantime, a proxy indicator may be used as long as there is suf-

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.



Applying CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development

cient evidence that it is able to capture relevant phenomena that do not skew the results.

Te CSD indicators were developed through a collaborative approach thatinvolved Member States, United Nations system organizations, other intergov-ernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. Tere ore, they are based on a broad and in ormal consensus among international organiza-tions. A major advantage or countries in adopting CSD indicators appropriateto their national conditions is the opportunity to learn rom the expertise, expe-rience and perspective o a broad range o actors. For indicators that are used to

measure international commitments such as the MDGs, international compa-rability is essential. In the years since the CSD pioneered the work on sustainabledevelopment indicators, many countries have applied the CSD indicators andadapted them to their speci c needs. o assist in this process, the methodology sheets o the CSD indicators available on the accompanying CD and on theDSD homepage contain in many cases alternative indicators that may be moreapplicable to a particular national context.

National capability may re er to the institutional capacity not only to mon-itor and collect data but also to interpret and synthesize it into in ormation use-

ul or decision-making. Over the past decade, the increased emphasis on in or-mation-based decision making has led to improved e orts to build capacity inthis regard especially in developing countries.9 Te continuation and accelera-tion o these e orts will urther enhance the applicability o indicators o sus-tainable development.

Despite major advances over the last decade, data availability and reliabil-ity continue to be a problem in many countries. o increase cost e ectiveness,the CSD indicators o ten require data that are routinely collected either by national statistical services or through international processes, or examplethrough the routine work o United Nations specialized agencies or in theMDG context. Many indicators rely on data contained in national accounts,and progress made in the adoption o the system o national accounts (SNA)

will also improve data availability. Implementation o the system o environ-mental-economic accounting (SEEA) will not only urther increase availabil-ity o data and indicators, but also massively improve the possibility or urther

9 For a very use ul and ree-o -charge tool to manage development data that has beendeveloped in cooperation with the United Nations system, see http://www.devin o.org




integrated analysis o the indicators, which is necessary or developing appro-priate policy interventions.

B. Adapting CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development for national sets

Te CSD indicators meet the criteria described. Nonetheless, countries may wish to tailor the indicators to respond to national needs and circumstances.Tis section presents a tool that could be use ul or such adaptation. It is asimple matrix, with data availability and relevance as the two dimensions in

which countries can place the CSD indicators in order to check their suitability and their need or adjustment. It should be stressed that other indicator setsthat could be used as a basis or national sustainable development indicatorsshould be adapted as well. Tere ore, this tool could, or example, also be use uli MDG indicators, sustainable development indicators used by other coun-tries, or national indicator sets used or other purposes are used as additionalre erence.

As discussed in the previous section, data availability is a critical issue. Ingeneral, data required or the CSD indicators are available at the national level

rom a variety o institutions that collect and manage the data, but there may besome gaps. National statistical ofces are the major data source in most coun-tries. In general, this holds or national and satellite account data, census data as well as data derived rom major surveys. Other ministries and government agen-cies are also major data sources, especially or data rom surveys or administra-

tive records. Regional and international organization also collect and managedata rom various national sources, and could be consulted directly in cases where the data are not readily available at the national level. National reports tointergovernmental processes, including multilateral environmental agreements,are o ten another data source, in some cases only weakly linked to regularnational statistical procedures. Te methodology sheets o the CSD indicatorson the accompanying CD contain generic in ormation on both national and

international data sources that should acilitate the assessment o CSD indica-tors with regard to availability at the national level.

In adapting CSD indicators to national sets, it may be use ul to classi y each indicator in one o our categories o data availability: ully available; poten-tially available; related data available; and not available.




Te rst category is obviously the pre erred one. Te second one, indicators with potentially available data, contains those cases where data could be made

available within a reasonable time rame and with reasonable costs. Existingregular surveys can o ten be extended to include a ew additional questions.Moreover, this category would encompass indicators or which there are plans toincrease capacity or data collection, storage and management. Te third cate-gory contains those indicators where important data are missing, but there aredata that could be used to compute related indicators. For example, in theabsence o data on the use o vehicles (such as kilometres traveled), administra-

tive data on car registrations could be used to construct an indicator (e.g., regis-tered cars by 100,000 inhabitants). Investment in data collection, includingcapacity-building, will result in more data being available. Tis cost will need tobe weighed against the potential loss in planning and decision-making capacity brought about by using a related, but less accurate indicator.

Relevance is the second dimension o the adaptation matrix. Again, theintroduction o our di erent categories in which CSD indicators can be placed

could be use ul: relevant; related indicator relevant; relevant but missing;irrelevant.

Most indicators should be relevant and all into the rst category. Te sec-ond category covers indicators that are not themselves directly relevant or thepurpose, but are closely related to relevant indicators. It may also containnational indicators that address the same issue as CSD indicators but measure itdi erently. For example, the CSD indicators contain a number o indicators

measuring objective dimensions o the health status (disease prevalence, nutri-tional status, immunization), but some countries use instead a subjective indica-tor on people’s satis action with the health status, based on survey data. Teremay also be CSD indicators where the underlying issue is closely related, but notidentical to a national issue. For example, countries whose strategies includeregional trade integration may want to monitor the share o trade with regionalpartners rather than share o trade with developing countries.

Te third category encompasses relevant issues that are not covered by theCSD indicators either because they are relevant and available to a ew countriesonly or because o the desire to keep the CSD set relatively small. Examplesinclude ood sa ety, participation in public decision-making processes or linguis-tic diversity. Indicators or these issues would have to be taken rom other avail-




able indicator sets. Alternatively, underlying issues rather than concrete indica-tors may be inserted. In general, though, this third category is expected to have

ew entries.Te last category—irrelevant indicator—would contain indicators cover-

ing issues that are not meaning ul in context, or example the indicator o coastalpopulation would be irrelevant or landlocked countries.

Figure 1 shows how the two dimensions, data availability and relevance, canbe combined in a simple matrix in which the CSD indicators can be placed.

Figure 1:Matrix for adapting CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development

Relevance

D a t a a v a

i l a b i l i t y

Relevant

Relatedindicatorrelevant

Relevantbut missing Irrelevant

Available

Potentiallyavailable

Related dataavailable

Not available

Legend To be used To beidenti ed

To bemodi ed

To beremoved

Te black boxes contain those CSD indicators that can be incorporated without any changes to national indicators. Te dark grey boxes are or thoseCSD indicators that have to be modi ed or a given country, either because

there exist related and more relevant or speci c indicators or because data or theoriginal indicator cannot be made available. Te light grey boxes contain thoseindicators important or a country but not included in the CSD set. Te task o identi ying appropriate indicators could then include assessing the availability o data. As indicated above, the number o indicators in those boxes should be




quite small. Te remaining blank boxes would include any CSD indicators thata country does not consider use ul.

Adapting the CSD indicators to national conditions may also requireadapting the ramework. Te thematic ramework o the CSD indicators is very

exible in this regard. Sub-themes, or even themes, can easily be merged or splitas needed. Aligning the indicator ramework with the ramework chosen or anational sustainable development strategy is also easible in most cases.

C. Indicators as tools for measuring sustainable development

processes at the national level

National strategies are important mechanisms to translate national goals o sustainable development into concrete policies and actions. Teir central rolehas already been recognized by virtually all countries in Agenda 21 and coun-tries agreed on time-bound targets to develop and implement national sustain-able development strategies (NSDS) at the Special Session o the UN General Assembly on the review o Agenda 21 in 199710 and in the Johannesburg Plan

o Implementation.11,12

An NSDS can be de ned as “a coordinated, participatory and iterativeprocess o thoughts and actions to achieve economic, environmental and socialobjectives in a balanced and integrative manner.”13 Whereas no ‘blueprint’ or astrategy is easible or desirable, there is agreement on the ve principles that dis-tinguish an NSDS: (1) country ownership and commitment; (2) integrated eco-nomic, social and environmental policy across sectors, territories and genera-

tions; (3) broad participation and e ective partnerships; (4) development o thenecessary capacity and enabling environment; and (5) ocus on outcomes andmeans o implementation.

Because NSDS are de ned by their process and principles, the actual nameo the strategy is not important. It may be a national development strategy, a

10 Programme o Action or the Further Implementation o Agenda 21, paragraph 2411 JPOI, Chapter XI, para 162 (b)12 Updated in ormation on progress made in ul lling the commitment to make progress

in the ormulation, elaboration and implementation o such strategies by 2005 can beound at http://www un org/esa/sustdev/natlin o/nsds/nsdsMap htm

13 UN DESA (2002), Guidance in Preparing a National Sustainable Development Strategy:Managing Sustainable Development in a new Millennium, DESA/DSD/PC2/BP13




poverty reduction strategy, a MDG-based strategy or any similar comprehensiveand multi-sectoral strategy, as long as it con orms to the criteria o an NSDS.

Te Johannesburg Plan o Implementation explicitly recognizes this; countriesin general are encouraged not to run parallel strategy processes: it is waste ul o resources and con using in outcome.

Indicators, in general, play a major role in various stages o an NSDS: Assessment, monitoring, reporting and evaluation. Moreover, taking indicatorsinto account during the ormulation stage also helps ensuring that the NSDS isconcrete and measurable. Te CSD indicators, in particular, are valuable tools

in all these stages o an NSDS.Given their broad coverage o sustainable development issues, their national

orientation, and detailed methodological description, CSD indicators can easily be adapted to national conditions, and as such, become valuable tools or assess-ing national sustainable development goals.

Monitoring is necessary or the e ective implementation o a strategy, andit helps prevent the strategy rom becoming a mere list o intentions. Monitor-ing acilitates the adjustment o policy interventions to changing conditionsduring implementation. It promotes a culture o learning, providing a basis orimproved strategies in subsequent iterations, and it enhances the per ormance o key actors in implementation by allowing or better accountability. Moreover,together with appropriate reporting procedures, monitoring promotes publicinterest and in ormation on sustainable development.

One can distinguish three broad areas o an NSDS that require monitor-ing: (1) actions and activities included in the NSDS; (2) impact o the NSDS;and (3) overall progress towards sustainable development. Indicators or moni-toring task (1) are outside the scope o this publication. Tey could be seen asmanagement indicators and will typically closely ollow the ormulation o thestrategy and action plans. Ensuring accountability o actors and stakeholders isa main purpose o actively using such indicators. Indicators or monitoring tasks(2) and (3) are closely related, because the objective o the NSDS is to make

development more sustainable. Tey di er especially with regard to coverage. Asan NSDS typically identi es priorities and targets, not all issues relevant or sus-tainable development will be included in a ocused strategy. Monitoring o issuesoutside the strategy, however, is still warranted as it can assist the adjustment o an NSDS during the implementation cycle.




Te CSD indicators, adapted to national situations, can play a mayor rolein monitoring tasks (1) and (2). However, in adapting the indicators or moni-

toring the impact o the strategy, additional selection criteria should be consid-ered. Indicators should also be responsive to policies and actions included in thestrategy. In many cases, a urther breakdown o CSD indicators by target groupincreases the responsiveness. Moreover, monitoring indicators should be timely.Tere ore, indicators relying on large surveys and censuses that are conductedin requently and that require long processing times require special attention inthis regard. In these cases, simple surveys, concentrating on main target groups

only, may o er timely indicators or monitoring the strategy impact. Appropriate reporting mechanisms or disseminating monitoring results

are critical or generating eedback rom stakeholders that leads to improvedstrategies and their implementation. In this regard, it is important that reportingis adapted to the varying needs o the di erent target audiences, including thepublic-at-large, stakeholder organizations, parliaments, political decision-mak-ers, and, in many developing countries, external donors. Di erent but coherent

reporting ormats may be used to address these audiences e ectively.Monitoring results can be integrated into broader NSDS progress reports.

Main ndings are usually contained in executive summaries intended to addresspolicy-makers. Most reports go beyond the values o the chosen indicators andinclude analytical in ormation, o ten o direct policy relevance. Extent, methodsand ormat o the analysis di er according to the audience. It may be advisableto include a basic analysis in the standard NSDS reports, but to conduct more

detailed analysis with less requency. Short brochures using indicators to dem-onstrate strategy implementation are an e ective and user- riendly means o addressing the public-at-large. Simple symbols, such as arrows or trafc-lights,indicating progress or regress by indicator can be used to communicate progresson sustainable development in a country. In many countries, the internet can bean e ective means o reporting on updated indicator values. For many develop-ing countries, the existence o multiple project-speci c reporting requirementsattached to di erent externally unded development projects o ten poses addi-tional organizational and institutional challenges.

Evaluation is a critical part o an NSDS as it assesses whether the strategy was e ective in meeting its goals and targets; whether it was implemented ef-ciently; and whether it is likely to have long-lasting impact. Unlike monitoring,




which is a continuous e ort, evaluation is conducted only periodically. Majorrevisions or expiration o the NSDS will typically involve an evaluation, but

intermediate evaluations are also advisable, depending on the time rame o theNSDS, changes in external conditions, uncertainty over linkages between poli-cies and sustainable development outcomes and resources available. As an NSDSo ten includes a list o activities or projects whose unding requires speci c eval-uations, it is important that overall evaluation o the strategy makes ull use o these project-speci c evaluations. However, these do not substitute or an overallstrategy evaluation, as only the latter can incorporate policy linkages and address

the question whether priority areas are set appropriately.Te indicators used or monitoring the NSDS evidently play an important

role in the evaluation, as they allow establishing whether the strategy has achievedits targets. However, in order to answer the question o e ectiveness, evaluationalso has to validate, and o ten to quanti y, the assumed linkages between NSDSactions and development outcomes and impacts. Given the complexity and thecontinuing limits o understanding sustainable development, this particular

challenge is unlikely to provide de nite answers.For assessing the e ectiveness o the NSDS, the evaluation has, in princi-

ple, to include an assessment o alternative policy interventions. Tere ore,multiple methods such as comparisons with non-target groups, cross-country comparisons, or econometric modeling are likely to be employed.



V. A word on indicator frameworks

Indicators o sustainable development at the national level are o ten developedthrough dynamic interactive processes and dialogues among a wide range o stakeholders, including government representatives, technical experts and civilsociety representatives. Te process allows participants to de ne sustainability

rom their own perspectives, taking locally relevant aspects as well as their ownvalue systems into account.

Conceptual rameworks or indicators help to ocus and clari y what tomeasure, what to expect rom measurement and what kinds o indicators to use.Diversity o core values, indicator processes and sustainable development theo-ries have resulted in the development and application o di erent rameworks.Te main di erences among them are the ways in which they conceptualize thekey dimensions o sustainable development, the inter-linkages among thesedimensions, the way they group the issues to be measured, and the concepts by which they justi y the selection and aggregation o indicators.

A. Driving force-state-response frameworks

Te initial set o 134 CSD indicators, published in 1996, was organized in adriving orce, state and response (DSR) ramework, a variation o the pressure-state-response ramework. Each indicator in the DSR ramework is classi ed asa driving orce, state, or response. Driving orce indicators describe processesor activities that have a positive or a negative impact on sustainable develop-ment ( or example pollution or school enrolment). State indicators describe thecurrent situation ( or example nutritional status o children or land covered by

orests), whereas response indicators re ect societal actions aimed at movingtowards sustainable development. Te rst CSD indicators were additionally grouped according to the dimensions o sustainable development—social, eco-nomic, environmental as well as institutional, and matched to the relevant chap-ters o Agenda 21.

Whereas variations o the pressure-state-response ramework continue tobe used in more environmentally oriented indicator sets, the revision o theCSD indicators in 2001 discontinued the DSR ramework mainly because it




was not suited to addressing the complex interlinkages among issues; the classi-cation o indictors into driving orce, state or response was o ten ambiguous;

there were uncertainties over causal linkages; and it did not adequately high-light the relationship between the indicators and policy issues. Consequently,the second CSD indicators, which were still organized along the our dimen-sions o sustainable development, were embedded in a more exible theme/sub-theme ramework.

B. Issue- or theme-based frameworks

Issue- or theme-based rameworks are the most widely used type o rameworks,especially in ofcial national indicator sets. In these rameworks, indicators aregrouped into various di erent issues relating to sustainable development. Teissues or themes are typically determined on the basis o policy relevance. Mostcountries in all regions o the world that have developed national sustainabledevelopment indicators have based them on a thematic ramework. Tis isalso true o regional strategies and indicator programmes, such as the indica-

tors used in the Baltic 21 Action Programme, the Mediterranean SustainableDevelopment Strategy and the Sustainable Development Indicators or theEuropean Union.

A main reason or the prominence o thematic rameworks is their ability to link indicators to policy processes and targets. Tis provides a clear and directmessage to decision-makers and acilitates both communicating with and rais-ing the awareness o the public. A thematic ramework or indicators is also well

suited to monitor progress in attaining the objectives and goals stipulated innational sustainable development strategies. It is exible enough to adjust tonew priorities and policy targets over time.

C. Capital frameworks

Tere are other approaches to measuring sustainable development. Amongthem, the capital approach has ound a lot o attention. It attempts to calculate

national wealth as a unction o the sum o and interaction among di erentkinds o capital, including not only nancial capital and produced capital goods,but also natural, human, social and institutional capital. Tis requires that all

orms o capital be expressed in common terms, usually in monetary terms.




Te rameworks or sustainable development indicators based on thisapproach vary, but, in general, they all try to identi y rst what development is,

and, second, how development can be made sustainable. Tis draws attention“to what resources we have at our disposal today, and towards the issue whether we manage these in ways that make it possible to maintain and urther developthe resource base over time.”14

Explicit in the capital approach is the notion o substitutability betweendi erent types o capital, which is indeed a complex issue. Tere are clear exam-ples o substitutability—machines or human labor, renewable or non-renewa-

ble sources o energy, synthetics or some natural resources. And uture techno-logical innovation and human ingenuity may greatly expand the scope. However,there may also be assets that are undamental and or which no substitution ispossible. Tis could include, or example, a reasonably stable climate or biologi-cal diversity.

Tere remain many challenges to using a capital ramework. Among themare disagreement about how to express all orms o capital in monetary terms;

problems o data availability; questions about substitution; and the integrationo intra-generational equity concerns within and across countries. Nonetheless,the concept o using capital as a way to track sustainable development could bea power ul tool or decision-making, and work in this area should beencouraged.

D. Accounting frameworks

Indicator systems based on accounting rameworks draw all indicators rom asingle database allowing or sectoral aggregation and using consistent classi ca-tions and de nitions. Te most prominent example in this regard is the Systemo Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) pioneered by the United Nations Statistical Commission with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Commission and OECD. Te SEEA extends national accounting to environmental aspects through a satellite system

o accounts. It is, thus, clearly linked to the standard system o national accounts

14 Knut H Al sen, and Thorvald Moe, “An International Framework or Constructing Na-tional Indicators or Policies to Enhance Sustainable Development Background paperprepared or the UN Expert Group meeting on Indicators o Sustainable Development,13-15 December 2005, p 7




(SNA). Te SEEA includes accounts expressed in monetary terms as well asaccounts in physical terms. It allows or the construction o a common database

rom which some o the most common sustainable development indicators inthe economic and environmental spheres can be derived in a consistent manner.Several countries are using the SEEA, and it is in the process o being proposedas an international statistical standard.15

Integrated national account rameworks such as the SEEA were not set upspeci cally to address sustainable development and there ore do not, at least notyet, take into account two o the our pillars o sustainable development—the

social and institutional pillars Nevertheless, some o these concerns are beingaddressed through e orts both to expand the system by incorporating humancapital and to explore the possibility o linking the rameworks with socialaccounting matrices (SAM) which have been developed in consistency with thenational accounts.16

Implementation o the SEEA would improve systems o sustainable devel-opment indicators embedded in capital rameworks as well as those based on

thematic rameworks. In case o capital rameworks, the SEEA acilitates mov-ing rom modeled and estimated data towards directly obtained capital meas-ures. For thematic rameworks, the SEEA is especially use ul i the indicators areused or monitoring and evaluation o development strategies. By basing indica-tors in a consistent database allowing or meaning ul sectoral and spatial disag-gregation, progress towards speci c targets included in a strategy as well as cross-sectoral impacts can be consistently assessed.

In this new edition, the CSD indicators urther strengthen the relationship with the SEEA by increasingly adopting de nitions and classi cations containedin the SEEA and in many cases by introducing sectoral breakdowns based onstandard classi cations.

15 See United Nations et al (2003), SEEA Handbook, or the details on the SEEA and UnitedNations Statistical Commission (2006), report E/2006/24 and especially document E/CN 3/2006/9 or procedural aspects

16 Laszlo Pinter, Peter Hardi and Peter Bartelmus, “Indicators o Sustainable Development:Proposals or a Way Forward Discussion Paper prepared under a consultant agreementon behal o the UN Division or Sustainable Development Expert Group Meeting onIndicators o Sustainable Development, 13-15 December 2005 (New York) DocumentNo UNDSD/EGM/ISD/2005/CRP 2




E. Aggregated indicators

Tere have been several e orts to develop aggregated indicators to capture ele-

ments o sustainable development. Most aggregate indicators are primarily usedor raising public awareness and receive notable attention in the media. Rather

than o ering a comprehensive view o sustainable development, many o theseindicators are speci cally ocussed on the environmental dimension o sustain-able development and resource management.

Examples o such indicators include the Ecological Footprint, the Environ-mental Sustainability Index (ESI) and the Environmental Per ormance Index

(EPI). Te Ecological Footprint, originally developed by Wackernagel and Rees(1996)17, translates human resource consumption and waste generation in acountry or any other entity into a measure o biological productive land and water and relates it to a measure o biological capacity. Both ESI and EPI havebeen developed by the Center or Environmental Law and Policy at Yale Univer-sity and the Center o International Earth Science In ormation Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic

Forum and others. Te ESI, integrates 76 data sets—tracking natural resourceendowments, past and present pollution levels, environmental managemente orts and the capacity o a society to improve its environmental per orm-ance—into 21 indicators and nally into a single index.18 Te EPI aggregates16 indicators related to resource depletion, pollution, environmental impactand energy efciency into an index aimed at measuring policy impact.19

More comprehensive aggregated indicators on sustainable development

include the Adjusted Net Saving and the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). Adjusted Net Saving was developed by the World Bank. It is calculated by sub-tracting monetary values or resource depletion and damage caused by air pollu-tion rom traditional net savings derived rom national accounts, and addingexpenditures on education.20 Tis indicator is also included in the set o CSDindicators in the economic development theme. Te GPI, developed and main-

17 Wackernagel, M and W Rees (1996), Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing HumanImpact on the Earth, New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island See also http://www

ootprintnetwork org18 See http://www.yale.edu/esi/ or details19 See http://www.yale.edu/epi/ or details20 Methodologies, publication an data on this indicator are available on the website o the

World Bank, see http://go.worldbank.org/3AWKN2ZOY0




tained by Rede ning Progress, modi es GDP by adding economic contribu-tions o household and volunteer work, but subtracting actors such as crime,

pollution, and amily breakdown in order to arrive at a measure o well-being.21

It is related to the Index o Sustainable Economic Wel are (ISEW) developed by Daly and Cobb (1989).22

All these indicators ace signi cant challenges to aggregation related to dataavailability, methodologies, selection o variables and, in case o indexes, weigh-ing o the variables. Nonetheless, this ongoing work represents importantattempts to aggregate a broad range o variables in order to convey a message

that is easy or both decision-makers and civil society to understand.

F. Other indicator approaches

Tere are other approaches to using indicators or sustainable developmentoutside o ormal rameworks. For example, there is a trend to construct issue-speci c sets o sustainable development indicators. At the national level, theseare most likely to be used by ministries or NGOs to track policy implemen-

tation and to in orm the public. At the international level, prominent exam-ples include biodiversity indicators developed to measure progress towards theinternationally agreed target o signi cantly reducing the loss o biodiversity by 201023, the energy indicators o sustainable development24, or the sustainabletourism indicators25.

Tere is also increasing use o headline indicators by both countries andorganizations. Tese tend to be small core sets o indicators closely linked to

policy priorities that provide quick and visible signals to policy-makers and tothe general public. Headline indicators usually co-exist with larger sets o indica-tors or more comprehensive policy-making and monitoring. A potential prob-

21 See http://www.rede ningprogress.org/newprograms/sustIndi/gpi/index.shtml 22 Daly, H and J B Cobb (1989), For the common good: Redirecting the economy toward

the community, the environment and a sustainable uture, Beacon Press, Boston23

See Convention on Biological Diversity (2002) and World Summit o Sustainable De-velopment (2002) or the exact text Work on the indicators is coordinated by the 2010Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (www twentyten net)

24 See IAEA et al (2005), Energy Indicators or Sustainable Development: Guidelines andMethodologies

25 See United Nations World Tourism Organization (2004), Indicators o Sustainable Devel-opment or Tourism Destinations: A Guidebook




lem with headline indicators in that they could be used or politics, rather thanpolicy; that is, their choice could re ect current political priorities rather than

signi cant issues in uencing uture sustainability. Used correctly, however,headline indicators are excellent means o attracting media attention, raisingpublic awareness and supplementing pedagogical materials or primary and sec-ondary education.



VI. Description of CSD Indicatorsof Sustainable Development

Tis chapter contains a short description o all CSD indicators. Detailed in or-mation is available in the methodology sheets contained in the accompanyingCD-Rom as well as on the internet athttp://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlin o/ indicators/isd.htm

A. Poverty

PROPORTION OF POPULATION LIVING BELOW NATIONALPOVERTY LINE

Sub-theme: Income poverty Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te proportion o the population with a standard o liv-ing below the poverty line as de ned by the national government. Nationalestimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates derived romhousehold surveys.

Description: Te indicator (also known as national poverty rate) is a stand-ard measure o poverty, especially income poverty. It provides in ormation onprogress towards poverty alleviation, a central objective and requirement o sustainable development. Te national poverty rate is one o the core meas-

ures o living standards and it draws attention exclusively towards the poor.

PROPORTION OF POPULATION BELOW $ 1 PER DAY

Sub-theme: Income poverty

Brie defnition: Te proportion o the population having per capita con-sumption o less than $1.08 a day, measured at 1993 international prices.

Description: Te population below $1 a day provides a uni orm meas-

ure o absolute poverty or the developing world, using data rom nationally representative household surveys. Progress against absolute poverty is now a widely accepted yardstick or assessing the overall per ormance o developingeconomies.




RATIO OF shARE IN NATIONAL INcOME OF hIGhEsT TOLOWEsT qUINTILE

Sub-theme: Income inequality Brie defnition: Te ratio o the share in national income (or consump-tion) accruing to the highest 20 percent o the population to the share accru-ing to the lowest 20 percent.

Description: Te indicator shows the extent o inequality in income dis-tribution within a country. Inequality in outcomes such as income or con-sumption and inequality in opportunities hinder human development and

are detrimental to long-term economic growth. Poor people generally haveless voice, less income, and less access to services than wealthier people. Whensocieties become more equitable in ways that lead to greater opportunities

or all, the poor stand to bene t rom a “double dividend.” Empirical studiessuggest that the impact o growth on poverty reduction is greater when initialincome inequality is lower.

PROPORTION OF POPULATION UsING AN IMPROVEDsANITATION FAcILITY

Sub-theme: Sanitation Core indicator

Brie defnition: Proportion o population with access to a private sani-tary acility or human excreta disposal in the dwelling or immediate vicinity.Improved sanitary acilities range rom simple but protected pit latrines to

ush toilets with sewerage.

Description: Te provision o adequate sanitation is necessary or poverty alleviation and to protect human health and the environment. Te indicatormonitors progress in the accessibility o the population to sanitation acilities,a basic and essential social service. Accessibility to adequate excreta disposal

acilities is undamental to decrease the aecal risk and requency o associateddiseases. When broken down by geographic (such as rural/urban zones) orsocial or economic criteria, it also provides tangible evidence o inequities.

PROPORTION OF POPULATION UsING AN IMPROVED WATER sOURcE

Sub-theme: Drinking water Core indicator

Brie defnition: Proportion o population with access to an improveddrinking water source in a dwelling or located within a convenient distance



Description of CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development

rom the user’s dwelling. Improved drinking water sources include bottled water; rainwater; protected boreholes springs and wells; public stand-pipes

and piped connections to houses.Description: Te provision o adequate sanitation is necessary or poverty alleviation and to protect human health and the environment. Te indicatormonitors progress in the accessibility o the population to improved watersources. Accessibility to improved water sources is undamental to decreasethe aecal risk and requency o associated diseases. It is also a universal humandevelopment indicator. When broken down by geographic (such as rural/

urban zones) or social or economic criteria, it also provides tangible evidenceo inequities.

shARE OF hOUsEhOLDs WIThOUT ELEcTRIcITY OR OThER MODERNENERGY sERVIcEs

Sub-theme: Access to energy Core indicator

Brie defnition: Share o households without access to electricity, and

share o households using ‘traditional’ non-commercial energy options, suchas uelwood, crop wastes and dung, as primary uel or cooking and heating.

Description: Te indicator monitors progress in accessibility and a ord-ability o modern energy services including electricity. Electricity and othermodern energy services are an essential component o providing basic socialservices. Lack o access to modern energy services contributes to poverty and deprivation and limits economic development. Furthermore, adequate,

a ordable and reliable energy services are necessary to guarantee sustainableeconomic and human development.

PERcENTAGE OF POPULATION UsING sOLID FUELs FOR cOOKING

Sub-theme: Access to energy

Brie defnition: Percentage o population using solid uels as source orcooking. Solid uels include biomass uels, such as wood, charcoal, crops or

other agricultural waste, dung, shrubs and straw, and coal.

Description: Te indicator covers multiple sustainable developmentissues. Most importantly, the use o solid uels in households is a proxy

or indoor air pollution, which is associated with increased mortality rom




pneumonia and other acute lower respiratory in ections among children as well as increased mortality rom chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and

lung cancer (where coal is used) among adults. High demand or biomassuels to meet household energy needs can contribute to de orestation and

subsequent land degradation. Te indicator also measures access to modernenergy services, central to poverty alleviation and sustainable developmentin general.

PROPORTION OF URBAN POPULATION LIVING IN sLUMs

Sub-theme: Living conditions Core indicatorBrie defnition: Te proportion o urban population lacking at least oneo the ollowing ve housing conditions: Access to improved water; accessto improved sanitation acilities; sufcient, not overcrowded, living area;structural quality/durability o dwellings; security o tenure.

Description: Tis is a key indicator measuring the adequacy o shelter. Over-crowding, inadequate housing, lack o water and sanitation are mani estations

o poverty. Tey deprive residents rom their human rights, are associated withcertain categories o health risks and are o ten detriments to uture develop-ment. An increase o this indicator is sign o deteriorating living conditions inurban areas. Disaggregating the indicator by type o housing conditions gives

urther in ormation on the severity o inadequate living conditions.

B. Governance

PERcENTAGE OF POPULATION hAVING PAID BRIBEs

Sub-theme: Corruption Core indicator

Brie defnition: Percentage o population having been asked or havingcomplied to expectation by government ofcials to pay a bribe or his or herservices.

Description: Te indicator measures prevalence o corruption among gov-ernment ofcials through crime surveys. A decline o this indicator is a signo progress on the corruption component o good governance. Good govern-ance is essential or sustainable development.




NUMBER OF REcORDED INTENTIONAL hOMIcIDEs PER 100,000POPULATION

Sub-theme: Crime Core indicatorBrie Defnition: Number o intentional homicides recorded in criminal(police) statistics. Countries with sufciently reliable crime statistics may wish to expand the indicator by including violent crimes, such as assault, rapeand/or robbery.

Description: Te indicator measures the development o intentional homi-cides over time. Intentional homicides, as well as violent crimes, have a very

signi cant negative impact on sustainable development. Te phenomenon o crime compromises human dignity, creates a climate o ear and erodes thequality o li e. Te indicator can also be used as a measure or the adherenceto the rule o law, a component o good governance.

C. Health

UNDER-FIVE MORTALITY RATESub-theme: Mortality Core indicator

Brie defnition: Under- ve mortality rate re ers to the probability o dying be ore age 5. It is expressed as deaths per 1,000 live births.

Description: Tis indicator measures the risk o dying in in ancy and early childhood. In high-mortality settings, a large raction o all deaths occurs atages under 5 years. Under- ve mortality levels are in uenced by the avail-ability, accessibility and quality o health services; education, particularly o mothers; access to sa e water and sanitation; poverty and nutrition, amongother actors.

LIFE ExPEcTANcY AT BIRTh

Sub-theme: Mortality Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te average number o years that a newborn could expectto live, i he or she were to pass through li e subject to the age-speci c deathrates o a given period.

Description: Te indicator measures how many years on average a new-born is expected to live, given current age-speci c mortality risks. Li e




expectancy at birth is an indicator o mortality conditions and, by proxy, o health conditions.

hEALThY LIFE ExPEcTANcY AT BIRTh

Sub-theme: Mortality

Brie defnition: Te average equivalent number o years o ull healththat a newborn could expect to live, i he or she were to pass through li esubject to the age-speci c death rates and ill-health rates o a given period.

Description: Healthy li e expectancy (HALE) provides a summary o overall health conditions or a population, which are in turn an integral parto development. HALE captures both atal and non- atal health outcomesand provides a more complete picture o the impact o morbidity and mortal-ity on populations, than li e expectancy alone.

PERcENT OF POPULATION WITh AccEss TO PRIMARY hEALThcARE FAcILITIEs

Sub-theme: Health care delivery Core indicatorBrie defnition: Proportion o population with access to primary healthcare acilities. Primary health care is de ned as essential health care madeaccessible at a cost the country and community can a ord, with methods thatare practical, scienti cally sound and socially acceptable.

Description: Te indicator monitors progress in the access o the popula-tion to primary health care. Accessibility o health services, going beyond just physical access, and including economic, social and cultural accessibility and acceptability, is o undamental signi cance to re ect on health systemprogress, equity and sustainable development.

IMMUNIzATION AGAINsT INFEcTIOUs chILDhOOD DIsEAsEs

Sub-theme: Health care delivery Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te percent o the eligible population that have beenimmunized according to national immunization policies. Te de nitionincludes three components: (i) the proportion o children immunizedagainst diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, poliomyelitis, tuberculosisand hepatitis B be ore their rst birthday; (ii) the proportion o children




immunized against yellow ever in a ected countries o A rica; and (iii) theproportion o women o child-bearing age immunized against tetanus.

Description: Tis indicator monitors the implementation o immuniza-tion programs. Good management o immunization programmes is essentialto the reduction o morbidity and mortality rom major childhood in ectiousdiseases, and is integral to the achievement o sustainable development.

cONTRAcEPTIVE PREVALENcE RATE

Sub-theme: Health care delivery

Brie defnition: Tis indicator is generally de ned as the percentage o women o reproductive age (15-49 yrs) using any method o contraceptionat a given point in time. It is usually calculated or women married or inunion o reproductive age, but sometimes or other base population, such asall women o reproductive age at risk o pregnancy.

Description: Te measure indicates the extent o couples consciouse orts and capabilities to control their ertility. Contraceptive prevalenceis also an indicator o access to reproductive health services, an importantelement o primary health care. Reproductive health programmes, whichinclude amily planning, are among the actors that promote changes indemographic behaviour and trends, which in turn a ect sustainability anddevelopment. Te health bene ts o contraceptive use include the ability to prevent unwanted pregnancies, thereby reducing the resort to inducedabortion as well as potential complications o pregnancy and the risks o

maternal mortality.

NUTRITIONAL sTATUs OF chILDREN

Sub-theme: Nutritional status Core indicator

Brie defnition: Percentage o underweight (weight- or-age below -2standard deviation (SD) o the WHO Child Growth Standards median)among children under ve years o age; percentage o stunting (height- or-agebelow -2 SD o the WHO Child Growth Standards median) among childrenunder ve years o age; and percentage o overweight (weight- or-height above+2 SD o the WHO Child Growth Standards median) among children under

ve years o age.




Description: Te purpose o this indicator is to measure long term nutri-tional imbalance and malnutrition resulting in undernutrition (assessed by

underweight and stunting) and overweight. Anthropometric measurementsto assess growth and development, particularly in young children, are themost widely used indicators o nutritional status in a community.

MORBIDITY OF MAjOR DIsEAsEs sUch As hIV/AIDs, MALARIA,TUBERcULOsIs

Sub-theme: Health status and risks Core indicator

Brie defnition: Prevalence and/or incidence o major diseases such asHIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis. Te indicator is measured separately orrelevant major diseases, typically in cases per 100,000 people.

Description: Te indicator measures the morbidity caused by major diseases.Te goals o sustainable development can only be achieved in the absence o ahigh prevalence o debilitating diseases. HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis andother diseases are major impediments to sustainable development, especially

in many developing countries. Te indicator also provides in ormation on thesuccess o measures to ght major diseases. For that purpose, especially over alonger horizon, measuring death rates o major diseases is also important.

PREVALENcE OF TOBAccO UsE

Sub-theme: Health status and risks

Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as the percentage o the popula-

tion aged 15 years or older that daily smokes any tobacco product. It is calcu-lated rom the responses to individual or household surveys that are nationally representative.

Description: Prevalence o current daily tobacco smoking among adults isa measure use ul to determine o the economic and uture health burden o tobacco use, and provides a primary basis or evaluating the e ectiveness o tobacco control programmes over time. obacco is an undisputable health

threat causing 5.4 million deaths in 2005, and representing the second risk actor or mortality worldwide. obacco consumption is costly and con-

tributes to poverty and associated health inequalities at the individual andnational levels. Studies have shown that prevalence is higher among the poorillustrating a negative association between prevalence and household income




and/or wealth. Te cost o treatment o tobacco-caused diseases is high andalls heavily on the nances o poor households and countries. Premature

deaths rom tobacco-related diseases also lead to productivity losses.

sUIcIDE RATE

Sub-theme: Health status and risks

Brie defnition: Te number o deaths rom suicide and intentional sel -harm per 100 000 people.

Description: Te indicator is an important proxy or the prevalence o mental health disorders in a country, as mental health disorders, especially depression and substance abuse, are associated with 90% o all suicides. Men-tal health disorders are a major impediment to the well-being o populationsin developed and developing countries. People with these disorders are o tensubjected to social isolation, poor quality o li e and increased mortality. Tesedisorders are the cause o staggering economic and social costs.

D. Education

GROss INTAKE RATE INTO LAsT YEAR OF PRIMARY EDUcATION

Sub-theme: Education level Core indicator

Brie defnition: otal number o new entrants in the last grade o primary education, regardless o age, expressed as a percentage o the population o thetheoretical entrance age to the last grade o primary education. Te indicatoris also called Primary Completion Rate.

Description: Te indicator measures whether or not the entire eligibleschool age population has access to school and whether or not they completethe ull primary cycle. Universal primary education is an important goal o the international sustainable development agenda. Education is a process by which human beings and societies reach their ullest potential. It is critical orpromoting sustainable development and improving the capacity o people toaddress environment and development issues.




NET ENROLMENT RATE IN PRIMARY EDUcATION


Brie defnition: Te indictor is the ratio o the number o children o of-cial school age (as de ned by the national education system) who are enrolledin primary school to the total population o children o ofcial school age.

Description: Te indicator shows the proportion o children o primary school age who are enrolled in primary school. Net enrolment re ers only to children o ofcial primary school age, and excludes children o other agegroups enrolled in primary school age as well as children o primary school

age enrolled in other levels o education. Universal primary education is animportant goal o the international sustainable development agenda

ADULT sEcONDARY (TERTIARY) schOOLING ATTAINMENT LEVEL


Brie defnition: Adult Secondary Schooling Attainment Level is de ned asthe proportion o the population o working age (25-64 years) which has com-pleted at least (upper) secondary education. Adult ertiary Schooling Attain-ment Level is de ned as the proportion o the population o working age (25-64 years) which has completed at least the rst stage tertiary education.

Description: Tese indicators provide measures o the quality o thehuman capital stock within the adult population o approximately workingage. For instance, those who have completed upper secondary education canbe expected either to have an adequate set o skills relevant to the labour mar-ket or to have demonstrated the ability to acquire such skills.

LIFE LONG LEARNING

Sub-theme: Education level

Brie defnition: Percentage o the population aged 25 to 64 in educationor training.

Description: Te indicator measures the extent to which working-agepopulation is engaged in learning activities. Li e-long learning is essential tosustainable development. As society shi ts towards sustainable productionand consumption patterns, workers and citizens who are willing to developand adopt new technologies and organisation techniques as workers, as well




as new attitudes and behaviour as citizens and consumers will be needed. Tescale and quality o human resources are major determinants o both the crea-

tion o new knowledge and its dissemination.

ADULT LITERAcY RATEs

Sub-theme: Literacy Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te proportion o the adult population aged 15 years andover that is literate.

Description: Tis indicator provides a measure o the stock o literate per-sons within the adult population who are capable o using written words indaily li e and to continue to learn. It re ects the accumulated accomplish-ment o education in spreading literacy. Any short all in literacy would pro-vide indications o e orts required in the uture to extend literacy to theremaining adult illiterate population.

E. Demographics

POPULATION GROWTh RATE

Sub-theme: Population change Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te average annual rate o change o population size dur-ing a speci ed period. It is o ten reported separately or urban and rural areas.

Description: Te population growth rate measures how ast the size o population is changing. I reported separately or urban and rural area, it

provides a measure o urbanization. Te high growth o urban populations,caused by rates o natural increase (excess o births over deaths) in urbanareas, migration rom rural to urban areas and the trans ormation o rural set-tlements into urban places, is o concern in many countries. In settings wherethe conditions or sustainable agricultural and rural development are not inplace, high rates o rural population growth could negatively a ect the use o land, water, air, energy and other resources.

TOTAL FERTILITY RATE

Sub-theme: Population change

Brie defnition: Te average number o children (live births) a cohort o women would have at the end o their reproductive period i they were sub-




ject to the age-speci c ertility rates o a given period. Its calculation assumesthat there is no mortality. Te total ertility rate is expressed as children per

woman, and can be disaggregated into various age-speci c ertility rates.Description: Fertility is one o the variables that directly a ect populationchange. In many countries, lower ertility has improved the ability o amiliesand governments to make a better use o scarce resources, combat poverty,protect and repair the environment, and set the conditions or sustainabledevelopment. On the other hand, countries experiencing below-replacement

ertility levels (below 2.1 children per woman) could ace rapid population

ageing and, eventually, decreasing population size. Adolescent ertility (birthsto women under 20 years o age) constitutes a matter o concern or many gov-ernments, specially in regions still experiencing relatively high ertility. Early childbearing entails a much greater risk o maternal death, while the childrenborn to young mothers tend to have higher levels o morbidity and mortality.

DEPENDENcY RATIO

Sub-theme: Population change Core indicatorBrie defnition: Te dependency ratio relates the number o children (0-14 years old) and older persons (65 years or over) to the working-age popula-tion (15-64 years old).

Description: Dependency ratios indicate the potential e ects o changes inpopulation age structures or social and economic development, in particularregarding social support needs. A high dependency ratio indicates that the

economically active population and the overall economy may ace a greaterburden in supporting the young and/or older economically dependent popu-lations. It is also normally disaggregated into children dependency ratio andold-age dependency ratio.

RATIO OF LOcAL REsIDENTs TO TOURIsTs IN MAjOR TOURIsTREGIONs AND DEsTINATIONs

Sub-theme: Population changeBrie defnition: Te number o visitors (tourists and same day visitors)divided by the number o local residents in tourist regions and destinations. Itcan be reported separately or the whole year and or peak seasons or days.




Description: Te ratio can indicate total and seasonal pressure on theenvironmental and social resources o host regions and populations. While

tourism represents a key source o income and employment in most touristreceiving regions and destinations, it also exerts considerable pressure on theenvironmental and socio-cultural resources o host populations, especially inpeak periods. Negative environmental and social impacts o tourism can beprevented and mitigated with appropriate planning, management and moni-toring o tourism activities, ollowing integrated approaches and sustainabil-ity principles.

F. Natural hazards

PERcENTAGE OF POPULATION LIVING IN hAzARD PRONE AREAs

Sub-theme: Vulnerability to natural hazards Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te percentage o national population living in areassubject to signi cant risk o prominent hazards: cyclones, drought, oods,

earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides. Te indicator may be calculated sepa-rately or each relevant prominent hazard. Te risk o death in a disaster causedby natural hazards is a unction o physical exposure to a hazardous event andvulnerability to the hazard. Te indicator measures the risk at sub-nationalscale by using historical and other data on hazards and on vulnerability. Tesub-national risk levels are then aggregated to arrive at national values.

Description: Tis indicator contributes to a better understanding o the

level o vulnerability to natural hazards in a given country, thus encourag-ing long-term, sustainable risk reduction programs to prevent disasters. Highvulnerability means higher exposure to natural catastrophes in the absenceo disaster reduction measures. Disasters caused by vulnerability to naturalhazards have a strong negative impact on the development process in bothindustrialized and developing countries.

hUMAN AND EcONOMIc LOss DUE TO DIsAsTERsSub-theme: Disaster preparedness and response

Brie defnition: Te number o persons deceased, missing, and/or injuredas a direct result o a disaster involving natural hazards; and the amount o economic and in rastructure losses incurred as a direct result o the natural




disaster. Te indicator may be expressed as percentage o total population ( orhuman loss) and o GDP ( or economic loss).

Description: Te indicator provides estimates o the human and economicimpact o disasters. Disasters involving natural hazards can have devastatingshort and long-term impacts on the society and the economy o any country,adversely a ecting progress towards sustainable development.

G. Atmosphere

cARBON DIOxIDE EMIssIONsSub-theme: Climate change Core indicator

Brie defnition: Anthropogenic emissions, less removal by sinks, o car-bon dioxide (CO2). In addition to total emissions, sectoral CO2 emissionscan be considered. Te typical sectors or which CO2 emissions/removals areestimated are energy, industrial processes, agriculture, waste, and the sector o land use, land-use change and orestry (LULUCF).

Description: Tis indicator measures the emissions o carbon dioxide, whichis known to be the most important, in terms o impact on global warming,anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG). A doubling o the CO2 concentrationin the atmosphere is believed to cause an increase in the global mean tempera-ture o 1.5 to 4.5°C, which is expected to have a very negative impact on eco-nomic, social and environmental conditions in most countries o the world.

EMIssIONs OF GREENhOUsE GAsEs

Sub-theme: Climate change

Brie defnition: Anthropogenic emissions, less removal by sinks, o themain greenhouse gases (GHGs) carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4),nitrous oxide (N2O), hydro uorocarbons (HFCs), per uorocarbons (PFCs),sulphur hexa uoride (SF6). Emissions o CH4, N 2O, HFCs, PFCs and SF6 can be converted to CO2 equivalents using the so-called global warmingpotentials (GWPs) provided in assessments o the Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change.

Description: Tis indicator measures the emissions o the six main GHGs which have a direct impact on climate change, less the removal o the main




GHG CO 2 through sequestration as a result o land-use change and orestry activities. An increase o greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere con-

tributes to global warming, which is a major global challenge to sustainabledevelopment. For countries that have committed to reduce or stabilize theirGHG emissions under the Kyoto Protocol o the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the indicator also provides in ormation onthe ul lment o this global commitment.

cONsUMPTION OF OzONE DEPLETING sUBsTANcEs

Sub-theme: Ozone Layer Depletion Core indicatorBrie defnition: Tis indicator shows the consumption trends or ozonedepleting substances (ODSs) controlled under the Montreal Protocol onSubstance that Deplete the Ozone Layer, thereby allowing in erence o theamounts o ODSs being eliminated as a result o the protocol.

Description: Tis indicator depicts the progress towards the phase out o ODSs by the countries which have rati ed the Montreal Protocol on Sub-

stances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and its Amendments. Te phase-outo ODSs, and their substitution by less harm ul substances or new processes, will lead to the recovery o the ozone layer, whose depletion has adverse e ectson human health, animals, plants, micro-organisms, marine li e, materials,biogeochemical cycles, and air quality.

AMBIENT cONcENTRATION OF AIR POLLUTANTs IN URBAN AREAs

Sub-theme: Air quality Core indicatorBrie defnition: Ambient air pollution concentrations o ozone, particu-late matter (PM10, and PM2,5, i those are not available: SPM, black smoke),sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, lead. Additional air pollutants are carbonmonoxide, nitrogen monoxide and volatile organic compounds includingbenzene (VOCs). Te priority is collection o the indicator in large cities.

Description: Te indicator provides a measure o the state o the environ-ment in terms o air quality and is an indirect measure o population exposureto air pollution o health concern in urban areas. Improving air quality is asigni cant aspect o promoting sustainable human settlements.




H. Land

LAND UsE chANGESub-theme: Land use and status

Brie defnition: Te indicator measures changes o the distribution o landuses within a country over time. Broad land use categories are: Arable land,permanent cropland, permanent pasture, orests and woodland, built-upareas, other. Finer classi cations may be chosen, i available and appropriate.

Description: Te indicator provides in ormation on changes in the pro-ductive or protective uses o the land resource to acilitate sustainable landuse planning and policy development. Such in ormation is use ul in identi y-ing opportunities to protect land uses or promote uture allocation aimed atproviding the greatest sustainable bene ts or people. Economically, changesin land use will, or example, result in changes in possible agricultural pro-duction and in uence employment opportunities. From an environmentalpoint o view, unsustainable land use is an important actor in land degrada-

tion, may pose a threat to ecosystems, and lead to natural habitat loss andlandscape changes.

LAND DEGRADATION

Sub-theme: Land use and status

Brie defnition: Te share o land which due to natural processes orhuman activity is no longer able to sustain properly an economic unction

and/or the original ecological unction. Degraded land includes land a ectedby soil erosion, deterioration o the physical, chemical and biological or eco-nomic properties o soil and/or long-term loss o natural vegetation.

Description: Te indicator measures the extent o land degradation, whichis an impediment to sustainable development in general, and to sustainableagriculture in particular. In many developing countries it is a major causeo poverty and urther environmental damage due to overuse o nationalresources. Te indicator can also be seen as an overall measure o the reduc-tion in quality o land resources.




LAND AREA AFFEcTED BY DEsERTIFIcATION

Sub-theme: Deserti cation

Brie defnition: Te proportion o land in drylands that is a ected by deserti cation. Deserti cation is de ned as land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting rom various actors, including cli-matic variations and human activities.

Description: Te indicator describes the extent and severity o deserti ca-tion at the national level. For dryland areas, deserti cation is a central prob-lem in sustainable development. While many dryland ecosystems have gener-

ally low levels o absolute productivity, maintenance o that productivity iscritical to the present and uture livelihood o many hundreds o millions o people. Combating deserti cation is, there ore, a central sustainable develop-ment goal or large areas o the world.

ARABLE AND PERMANENT cROP LAND AREA

Sub-theme: Agriculture Core indicator

Brie Defnition: Arable and permanent crop land is the total o “arableland” and “land under permanent crops”. Arable land is the land under tem-porary crops, temporary meadows or mowing or pasture, land under marketand kitchen gardens and land temporarily allow ( or less than ve years); andland under permanent crops is the land cultivated with crops that occupy theland or long periods and need not be replanted a ter each harvest.

Description: Tis indicator shows the amount o land available or agri-cultural production and, inter alia, the cropland area available or ood pro-duction. In many developing countries, rising ood and bre demand and adecline in arm sizes orces small armers to extend cultivation to new areas, which are ragile and not suitable or cultivation. Crop intensi cation, whichhas contributed signi cantly to agricultural growth in recent years, can easethe pressure on cultivating new lands but arm practices adopted or raisingyields can also, in some situations, damage the environment. Tis indicator is

o value to land planning decision making.




FERTILIzER UsE EFFIcIENcY

Sub-theme: Agriculture

Brie defnition: Te indicator measures the extent o ertilizer use recov-ery in agriculture per crop unit. Data on the quantities o ertilizers usedare converted into the three basic nutrient components and aggregated. Tethree components are nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P205), and potassium(K 20). Nutrient components o crops and their by-products are based ontheir standardized chemical composition.

Description: Tis indicator shows the potential environmental pressure

rom inappropriate ertilizer application. Intensive ertilizer application islinked to nutrient losses that may lead to eutrophication o water bodies,soil acidi cation, and potential contamination o water supply with nitrates.In many countries, intensi cation o agricultural production is a response toincreases in ood demand and in the scarcity o agricultural land. It is neces-sary that this intensi cation keeps negative impacts to the resource base andthe wider environment within bounds so that the sustainability o the system

is not threatened.

UsE OF AGRIcULTURAL PEsTIcIDEs


Brie defnition: Use o pesticides in metric tons o active ingredients perunit o agricultural land area.

Description: Tis indicator measures the use o pesticides in agriculture, which is linked to the intensi cation o agriculture. Whereas pesticides may increase agricultural production, they pose challenges to health and environ-ment. Pesticides tend to accumulate in the soil and in biota, and residues may reach sur ace and groundwater through leaching. Humans can be exposed topesticides through ood.

AREA UNDER ORGANIc FARMING


Brie defnition: Ratio o total utilized agricultural area occupied by organicarming to total utilized agricultural area. Organic arming involves holistic

production management systems, or crops and livestock, emphasizing the




use o management practices in pre erence to the use o o - arm inputs. Teindicator may be extended to cover organic orestry and aquaculture.

Description: Tis indicator shows the importance o organic arming.Organic arming contributes to reducing environmental loading on soil and water resources and pressure on biodiversity. Te reduction o use o pesti-cides, herbicides and other chemicals, combined with enhanced managemento natural resources, not only improves the health o ecosystems but also os-ters the health o animals and people and increases income generation andcommunities’ sel -reliance.

PROPORTION OF LAND AREA cOVERED BY FOREsTs

Sub-theme: Forests Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator measures the share o orest area in total landarea. When possible the area o primary orest should also be reported on. Te orest areais de ned as “land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higherthan 5 metres and a canopy cover o more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach

these thresholds in situ. Te indicator may urther distinguish between primary and other orests. Te primary orest area is de ned as “Naturally regenerating

orest o native species, where there are no clearly visible indications o humanactivities and the ecological processes are not signi cantly disturbed”.

Description: Te indicator allows or monitoring changes in the area cov-ered by orests over time. A continuing and ast decreasing orest area in acountry might be an alarm signal o unsustainable practices in the orestry and

agricultural sector. Forests provide many signi cant resources and unctionsincluding wood products and non-wood products, recreational opportuni-ties, habitat or wildli e, conservation o biological diversity, water and soil,and play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. Tey support employmentand traditional uses. Primary orests are usually associated with high levels o biological diversity, particularly in tropical regions. Te area o primary orestis an important indicator o the status o the orest ecosystem as a whole.

FOREsT TREEs DAMAGED BY DEFOLIATION

Sub-theme: Forests

Brie defnition: Tis indicator is de ned as the percentage o trees on or-est and other wooded land in the de oliation classes moderate, severe and




dead. De oliation is needle or lea loss in the assessable crown as compared with a re erence tree.

Description: Te purpose o the indicator is to provide in ormation onthe state o orest de oliation. Te extent o de oliation provides an indicationo the health o orests. De oliation is in uenced by a combination o climatic

actors (especially drought), soil conditions, atmospheric pollution and orestpathogens. Te indicator, thus, provides in ormation on the impact o poli-cies which reduce the occurrence o such in uencing actors, in particular airpollution.

AREA OF FOREsT UNDER sUsTAINABLE FOREsT MANAGEMENT

Sub-theme: Forests

Brie defnition: Tis indicator will measure the orest area that is undersustainable orest management. It can be based on a variety o in ormation,including data on orest health, the extent to which orests ul ll targetsrelated to their environmental, economic and social unctions and on orest

management practices.Description: Te indicator will provide in ormation on orest managementpractices. Sustainable orest management or a variety o uses is essential toachieving sustainable development. It is a critical means to eradicate poverty,to signi cantly halt de orestation and to halt degradation o natural resourcesand the loss o biodiversity.

I. Oceans, seas and coasts

PERcENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION LIVING IN cOAsTAL AREAs

Sub-theme: Coastal zone Core indicator

Brie defnition: Percentage o total population living within a 100 kilo-metres rom the coast and 50 meters above sea level. Other combinations o distance-to-coast and elevation may be used as de nition o coastal zones. Another approach is to measure the population living in river delta areas, which are important areas at the land-ocean inter ace.

Description: Tis indicator measures the concentration o population incoastal areas, typically due to the economic bene ts that accrue rom access




to ocean navigation, coastal sheries, tourism and recreation. Te indica-tor quanti es an important driver o coastal ecosystem pressure, and it also

quanti es an important component o vulnerability to sea-level rise and othercoastal hazards. Among the most important pressures are habitat conversion,land cover change, pollutant loads, and introduction o invasive species. A high population concentration in the low-elevation coastal zone (de ned asless than 10 meters elevation) increases a country’s vulnerability to sea-levelrise and other coastal hazards such as storm surges.

BAThING WATER qUALITYSub-theme: Coastal zone

Brie defnition: Te indicator describes the changes over time in the qual-ity o designated bathing waters (inland and marine) in terms o compliance with standards or microbiological parameters (total coli orms and aecalcoli orms) and physicochemical parameters (mineral oils, sur ace-active sub-stances and phenols).

Description: Te indicator provides important in ormation on the envi-ronmental status o coastal waters. Violation o bathing quality standardsposes health risks or the population as well economic risks to the tourismsector. Te indicator also provides in ormation on the e ectiveness o envi-ronmental regulation, especially with regard to wastewater and marine pollu-tion caused by ships.

PROPORTION OF FIsh sTOcKs WIThIN ThEIR sAFE BIOLOGIcAL LIMITsSub-theme: Fisheries Core indicator

Brie defnition: Percentage o sh stocks exploited within their levelo maximum biological productivity, i.e., stocks that are either “Underex-ploited”, “Moderately exploited” or “Fully exploited” according to ormalstock assessments based on a FAO procedure. Stocks that are “Overex-ploited”, “Depleted” and “Recovering” are outside their maximum biological

productivity.Description: Te indicator provides in ormation on the state o exploi-tation o shery resources at the global, regional and national levels. Itmeasures the level o sustainable production rom capture sheries, animportant element o ood security. It is based on ormal stock assessments,




derived rom national and, or shared sh stocks, regional catch and e ortstatistics.

PROPORTION OF MARINE AREA PROTEcTED

Sub-theme: Marine environment Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as the share o national marinearea (territorial water plus exclusive economic zones) that has been reservedby law or other e ective means to protect part or all o the enclosed environ-ment. Te indicator may be disaggregated by management category o the

protected areas. It could be calculated separately or di erent marine ecologi-cal regions, i appropriate classi cation systems are available.

Description: Te indicator represents the extent to which marine areasimportant or conserving biodiversity, cultural heritage, scienti c research(including baseline monitoring), recreation, natural resource maintenance,and other values, are protected rom incompatible uses. Protected marineareas are essential or maintaining marine ecosystem diversity, in conjunction

with management o human impacts on the environment.

MARINE TROPhIc INDEx

Sub-theme: Marine environment

Brie defnition: Te marine trophic index measures the change in meantrophic level o sheries landings by region and globally. rophic level isde ned as the position o an organism in the ood chain, and ranges rom a

value o 1 or primary producers up to a level o 5 or marine mammals andhumans.

Description: In addition to being an indicator o the sustainability o sh-eries, the marine trophic index provides a measure o ecosystem integrity.Declining trophic levels result in shortened ood chains, leaving ecosystemsless able to cope with natural or human-induced change. Te long term sus-tainability o sheries is, in turn, directly linked to human livelihoods and well-being. Excessive shing is the most widespread and dominant humanimpact on ocean ecosystems and is a major impact on marine biodiversity.Te lowered biomasses and ragmented habitats resulting rom the impactso shing are predicted to lead to local extinctions especially among large,long-lived, slow growing species.




WATER UsE INTENsITY BY EcONOMIc AcTIVITY

Sub-theme: Water quantity Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as cubic metres o water usedper unit o value added (in US $) by economic activity. Water used by aneconomic activity consists o the sum o (i) water directly abstracted rom theenvironment either permanently or temporarily or own use and (ii) waterreceived rom other industries including reused water. Value added (gross)by economic activity is de ned as in the National Accounts as the value o output less the value o intermediate consumption.

Description: Tis indicator measures the intensity o water use in termso volumes o water per unit o value added. It is an indicator o pressure o the economy on the water resources. Over time, it shows whether a coun-try has decoupled decouple water use rom economic growth. Te indicatoralso provides in ormation on progress in implementation o integrated waterresources management plans.

PREsENcE OF FAEcAL cOLIFORMs IN FREshWATERSub-theme: Water qualitity Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te proportion o reshwater resources destined or pota-ble supply containing concentrations o aecal coli orms which exceed thelevels recommended in the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines

or Drinking-water Quality.

Description: Te indicator assesses the microbial quality o water availableto communities or basic needs. It identi es communities where contami-nation o water with human and animal excreta at source or in the supply poses a threat to health. Diarrhoeal diseases, largely the consequence o aecalcontamination o drinking-water supplies, are the major cause or morbidity and mortality in many developing countries, especially among children. Fre-quent diarrhoeal episodes, even without atal consequences, disrupt children’sdevelopment and education, which, in the longer term, can have serious con-

sequences or sustainable development.




BIOLOGIcAL OxYGEN DEMAND (BOD) IN WATER BODIEs

Sub-theme: Water quality

Brie defnition: BOD measures the amount o oxygen required or con-sumed or the microbiological decomposition (oxidation) o organic materialin water.

Description: Te purpose o this indicator is to assess the quality o wateravailable to consumers in localities or communities or basic and commercialneeds. It is also one o a group o indicators o ecosystem health. Te pres-ence o high BOD may indicate aecal contamination or increases in particu-

late and dissolved organic carbon rom non-human and animal sources thatcan restrict water use and development, necessitate expensive treatment andimpair ecosystem health. Human ill health due to water quality problemscan reduce work capability and a ect children’s growth and education. Highlevels o oxygen consumption pose a threat to a variety o aquatic organisms,including sh.

WAsTEWATER TREATMENTSub-theme: Water quality

Brie defnition: Proportion o wastewater that is treated, in order toreduce pollutants be ore being discharged to the environment, by level o treatment (primary, secondary or tertiary).

Description: Tis indicator assesses the potential level o pollution romdomestic and industrial/commercial point sources entering the aquaticenvironment, and monitors progress towards reducing this potential withinthe ramework o integrated water resources management. It helps to iden-ti y communities where wastewater treatment action is required to protectthe ecosystem. Untreated or insufciently treated wastewater can result inincreased nutrient levels, high levels o organic matter and hazardous sub-stances, posing threats to aquatic ecosystems and human health.




K. Biodiversity

PROPORTION OF TERREsTRIAL AREA PROTEcTED, TOTAL AND BYEcOLOGIcAL REGION

Sub-theme: Ecosystem Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as the share o terrestrial area thathas been reserved by law or other e ective means to protect part or all o theenclosed environment. It can be calculated separately or di erent terrestrialecological regions. Te indicator may also be disaggregated by management

category o the protected areas.Description: Te indicator represents the extent to which areas important

or conserving biodiversity, cultural heritage, scienti c research (includingbaseline monitoring), recreation, natural resource maintenance, and othervalues, are protected rom incompatible uses. It shows how much o eachmajor ecosystem is dedicated to maintaining its diversity and integrity. Pro-tected areas are essential or maintaining ecosystem diversity in countries and

ecological regions, in conjunction with management o human impacts onthe environment.

MANAGENT EFFEcTIVENEss OF PROTEcTED AREAs

Sub-theme: Ecosystem

Brie defnition: Tis indicator will measure the e ectiveness with whichprotected areas are being managed based on in ormation about the context,

planning and design, resource inputs, management processes, delivery o goods and services, and conservation outcomes o protected areas.

Description: Management e ectiveness o protected areas is an impor-tant indicator o how well protected areas are conserving biodiversity. Tisis critical as most nations use protected areas as a cornerstone o biodiversity conservation. However, to determine whether this is a success ul strategy itis necessary to know not only about the area and systems they cover, but also

whether these are e ectively managed.




AREA OF sELEcTED KEY EcOsYsTEMs


Brie defnition: Tis indicator measures the extant area o identi ed key ecosystems. Ecosystem re ers to the plants, animals, micro-organisms andphysical environment o any given place, and the complex relationships link-ing them into a unctional system. Key ecosystems can be de ned as eitherthose ecosystems or which it is most important to measure changes in extent,or those ecosystems or which it is possible or measure changes in extent.

Description: Te indicator assesses the relative e ectiveness o measures or

conserving biodiversity at ecosystem level. It is a tool to estimate the need orspeci c conservation measures to maintain the biological diversity in a coun-try or region. Key ecosystem require attention and speci c policy measures asthey contain rare or locally endemic or threatened species, are o particularly high species richness, represent rare or unusual habitat, are severely reducedin area relative to their potential original extent, are under a high degree o threat, and/or are o high actual or potential economic importance.

FRAGMENTATION OF hABITAT


Brie defnition: Tis indicator measures the ragmentation o identi edkey habitats. For orests and other terrestrial habitat types the patch size dis-tribution o habitats may be derived rom vegetation in ormation systems.For river ragmentation, de ned as the interruption o a river’s natural ow by

dams, inter-basin trans ers or water withdrawal, ragmentation can be assessedbased on number, placement and amount o water stored behind dams.

Description: Te ragmentation o habitats caused by human activities hassigni cant, largely negative implications or their native biodiversity, throughthe e ects o area reduction, edge exposure and isolation, as well as throughinterruption o ecosystem processes and associated ecosystem degradation.Te indicator has the potential to illustrate the e ectiveness o national meas-

ures designed to conserve biological diversity.




chANGE IN ThREAT sTATUs OF sPEcIEs

Sub-theme: Species Core indicator

Brie defnition: Tis indicator is an index based on the number o spe-cies in each category o the IUCN Red List (Least Concern, Near Treat-ened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, Extinct in the Wild,Extinct), and the number o species changing categories between assessmentsas a result o genuine improvement or deterioration in status. Te indicatoris an adaptation o the IUCN Red List Index, the best known and mostaccepted methodology or assessing trends in the status o threatened species

at a global level.Description: Te indicator allows monitoring the extinction risk o speciesover time. Extinct and endangered species constitute a major loss o biodiver-sity, which plays a critical role in overall sustainable development. Te indi-cator also illustrates the e ectiveness o local, national, regional and globalmeasures to protect endangered species.

ABUNDANcE OF KEY sPEcIEsSub-theme: Species

Brie defnition: Tis indicator uses estimates o population trends inselected species to represent changes in biodiversity, and the relative e ective-ness o measures to maintain it. Te indicator can be applied to individualspecies groups (e.g. birds, butter ies), or can be aggregated to incorporate anumber o taxa (e.g. in a ashion similar to the Living Planet Index), accord-

ing to data availability and indicator applicability.Description: Te indicator allows monitoring the abundance o speciesover time. Te indicator illustrates the e ectiveness o national measuresdesigned to limit the loss in biodiversity.

ABUNDANcE OF INVAsIVE ALIEN sPEcIEs

Sub-theme: Species

Brie defnition: Te indicator measures the number o invasive alien spe-cies in a given country or region. An invasive alien species is a species intro-duced outside its normal distribution whose establishment and spread modi-

es ecosystems, habitats, or species.




Description: Te indicator measures an important threat to biodiversity.Invasive alien species (IAS) may threaten native species as direct predators or

competitors, as vectors o disease, by modi ying the habitat, or altering nativespecies dynamics. IAS have been a major cause o extinctions, especially onislands and in reshwater habitats. Species introductions caused by humansmay be intentional (e.g. species released or hunting or biological control),but more commonly are unintentional (e.g. introduced with traded goodssuch as lumber, in the ballast water o ships, or or the pet trade).

L. Economic developmentGROss DOMEsTIc PRODUcT PER cAPITA

Sub-theme: Macroeconomic per ormance Core indicator

Brie defnition: Levels o gross domestic product (GDP) per capita areobtained by dividing annual or period GDP at current market prices by population. A variation o the indicator could be the growth o real GDPper capita which is derived by computing the annual or period growth rate

o GDP in constant basic producers’ or purchasers’ prices divided by corre-sponding population. GDP is the sum o value-added o all production unitsincluding all taxes and subsidies on products which are not included in thevaluation o output.

Description: Te indicator is a basic economic growth indicator and meas-ures the level and extent o total economic output. It re ects changes in totalproduction o goods and services. It is a power ul summary indicator o eco-

nomic development, even though it does not account or social and environ-mental cost o production and consumption.

INVEsTMENT shARE IN GROss DOMEsTIc PRODUcT

Sub-theme: Macroeconomic per ormance Core indicator

Brie defnition: Tis indicator re ers to the share o investment in totalproduction. It is obtained by calculating gross capital ormation as percentageo gross domestic product. Gross capital ormation (investment) is de nedas the total value o gross xed capital ormation plus changes in inventoriesand acquisitions less disposal o valuables. Gross xed capital ormation is thetotal value o produced assets used in the production process or more thanone year.




Description: Te investment ratio gives an indication o the relative impor-tance o investment as opposed to, or example, consumption. Acquisitions

o capital goods provide important in ormation on uture economic per orm-ance o a society by widening and deepening the capital stock. Te indicatormeasures, thus, an important element o the sustainable development proc-ess, especially in developing countries with low amounts productive capital.

GROss sAVINGs

Sub-theme: Macroeconomic per ormance

Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned in national accounts as grossdisposable income (i.e. gross national income plus the balance o currenttrans ers with the rest o the world). I available, the alternative net savings,i.e. gross savings less capital depreciation, may provide superior in ormation.Both gross and net savings may be expressed as rates, i.e. as gross (net) savingsdivided by gross (net) disposable income.

Description: Te indicator measures the part o income available or

investment or, possibly, capital trans ers to the rest o the world. It providesimportant in ormation on domestic means o implementation or sustain-able development. I calculated as net savings, it is an important indicator or

uture net wealth.

ADjUsTED NET sAVINGs As PERcENTAGE OF GNI


Brie defnition: Adjusted net savings is de ned as net savings (i.e. grossnational income less capital depreciation plus the balance o current trans ers with the rest o the world), plus expenditures or education, less depletion o a variety o natural resources (oil, minerals, orests) and less pollution dam-age (damage rom urban air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions). Teindicator is then computed by dividing adjusted net savings by gross nationalincome.

Description: Te indicator modi es traditional net savings in order toderive an aggregate savings concept more commensurate to sustainable devel-opment. A negative adjusted net savings rate can be interpreted as a reductionin total wealth o the economy, thus implying unsustainability. Educationexpenditures are added as they can be seen as investments in human capital.




Depletion o natural resource is deducted to re ect the decline in asset valuesassociated with their extraction and harvest. Pollution damages are deducted

as they reduce human and real capital.

INFLATION RATE


Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as the cost o living as measuredby the annual percentage increase o the consumer price index. Consumerprice indices are based on a representative basket o goods and services pur-

chased by consumers in an economy. Composition and relative weights o thebasket are reviewed periodically.

Description: Te indicator measures in ation, which i too high hamperseconomic growth. High and unanticipated in ation increases uncertainty and leads to inter-and intra-temporal misallocation o resources as long asprices are not ully exible. In ation, especially i unanticipated, has o tenunwanted distributional e ects, as it reduces real income o xed income

earners and shi ts wealth away rom creditors to debtors. Very high and accel-erating in ation rates may be caused by excessive nancing o public debtsthrough seignorage and can be sign o unsustainable public nances.

DEBT TO GROss NATIONAL INcOME RATIO

Sub-theme: Sustainable public nance Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator can be de ned as the total amount o out-

standing debt issued by the general government divided by gross nationalincome. otal debt consists o external debt (debt held by non-residents) andinternal debt (held by residents). For countries where external debt is a majorconcern, the indicator can alternatively or additionally be de ned as totalexternal debt (private and public) divided by GNI.

Description: With regard to public debt, the indicator is a standard meas-ure o public nance. Debt constitutes a burden or uture generations as itreduces the amount available or their consumption and investments. Highand increasing debt ratios can be seen as an indication o unsustainable pub-lic nances. With regard to external debt, this is one o the indicators thatmeasures the burden o servicing the external debt o a country in relation toits total income (GNI). While external borrowing is a method o supplement-




ing savings and nancing the investment gap in a country, an unsustainableexternal debt burden will choke development.

EMPLOYMENT-TO-POPULATION RATIO

Sub-theme: Employment Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te employment-to-population ratio is de ned as theproportion o a country’s working-age population that is employed. It is typi-cally disaggregated by sex and by age group.

Description: Te employment-to-population ratio provides in ormation

on the ability o an economy to create employment. Employment, as opposedto unemployment, is viewed as the desired portion o the economically activepopulation (labour orce). Employment-to-population ratios are o particularinterest when broken down by sex, as they can provide in ormation on genderdi erences in labour market activity in a given country. For policy purposes,employment-to-population ratios o youth and old are particular relevant.

VULNERABLE EMPLOYMENT

Sub-theme: Employment

Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as the share o own-account work-ers and contributing amily members in total employed people. Te indicatoris based on the broader indicator ‘status in employment’ which distinguishesbetween three categories o the total employed. Tese are: age and sala-ried workers (also known as employees); sel -employed workers (employers,own-account workers and members o producers’ cooperatives); contributing

amily workers (also known as unpaid amily workers). Te indicator may bebroken down by sex.

Description: Tis indicator provides in ormation how many personsare vulnerable to economic risk because o weak institutional employmentarrangements. Own-account workers and contributing amily members areregarded as especially vulnerable as they have by de nition no ormal work

arrangements and are there ore more likely to have a low degree o job security and to lack access to social security. Te indicator provides in ormation onthe in ormalization o labor markets, which may be associated with increas-ing and persistent poverty. High values o the indicator may also indicate alarge agricultural sector in terms o employment, o ten associated with low labour productivity and economic growth rates.




LABOUR PRODUcTIVITY AND UNIT LABOUR cOsT


Brie defnition: Labour productivity is de ned as output (in constantprices) per unit o labour. Te indicator can be reported or the total economy as well as or di erent sectors. Both hours worked and number o personsemployed can be used as unit o labour. Unit labour cost is de ned as labourcompensation per unit o gross value added produced. otal labour compen-sation includes gross wages and salaries o employees and other costs o labourthat are paid by employers, including employers’ contributions to social secu-

rity and pension schemes.Description: Positive changes in labour productivity measure the part o economic growth due to more e ective work by those who are employed.Driving orces behind labour productivity include the accumulation o machinery and equipment, improvements in organization as well as physi-cal and institutional in rastructures, improved health and skills o workers(“human capital”) and the generation o new technologies. Unit labor cost

represents a direct link between productivity and the cost o labour used ingenerating output. A rise in a country’s unit labour cost represents an increasedreward or labour’s contribution to output. However, a rise in labour cost thatis higher than the rise in labour productivity, especially in tradable goodsproducing sectors, may indicate a decrease in international competitiveness,i other costs are not adjusted in compensation.

shARE OF WOMEN IN WAGE EMPLOYMENT IN ThENON-AGRIcULTURAL sEcTOR


Brie defnition: Te indicator is the share o emale workers in wageemployment in the non-agricultural sector expressed as a percentage o total wage employment in that same sector. Te non-agricultural sector includesindustry and services.

Description: Te indicator shows the extent to which women haveaccess to paid employment, which will a ect their integration into themonetary economy. It also indicates the degree to which labour marketsare open to women in industry and services sectors which a ects not only equal employment opportunities or women but also economic efciency




through exibility o the labour market and the economy’s capacity toadapt to changes over time. Promoting gender equality and the empower-

ment o women thus eliminating all orms o gender-based discriminationin labour markets is essential to de eating poverty and ostering sustainabledevelopment.

NUMBER OF INTERNET UsERs PER POPULATION

Sub-theme: In ormation and communication technologies Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator is computed by rst dividing the number

o Internet users by total population, and then multiplying by 100. Inter-net users are those who use the Internet rom any location. Te Internet isde ned as a world-wide public computer network that provides access toa number o communication services including the World Wide Web andcarries email, news, entertainment and data les. Internet access may be viaa computer, Internet-enabled mobile phone, digital V, games machine etc.Location o use can re er to any location, including work.

Description: Te number o Internet users is a measure o Internet access anduse. As an in ormation distribution system, the Internet and its usage provideopportunities or bringing education and in ormation within the reach o all. Itcan signi cantly shorten time lags as well as open up a new range o in orma-tion resources. It also provides signi cant, new economic opportunities as wellas possibilities or more environment- riendly options or the marketplace.

FIxED TELEPhONE LINEs PER 100 POPULATIONSub-theme: In ormation and communication technologies

Brie defnition: Te indicator is derived by dividing the number o xedtelephone lines by total population and multiplying by 100.

Description: Tis indicator is one o the broadest and most commonmeasurements o the degree o telecommunication development in a coun-try. elecommunication is critical to support sustainable development and isclosely linked to social, economic, and institutional development. It providesthose in rural and remote areas with closer contact to the outside world. Itis also a critical actor or many economic activities and improves exchangeo in ormation among citizens. Modern communications are considered tobe relatively benign to the environment, as they are potential substitutes or



Description of CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development 8

transport and induce relatively low levels o environmental pollution. Teindicator is also used as a general in rastructure indicator.

MOBILE cELLULAR TELEPhONE sUBscRIBERs PER 100 POPULATION

Sub-theme: In ormation and communication technologies

Brie defnition: Te indicator is derived by dividing the number o mobilecellular subscribers by total population and multiplying by 100.

Description: Tis indicator is one o the broadest and most commonmeasurements o the degree o telecommunication development in a coun-try. elecommunication is critical to support sustainable development and isclosely linked to social, economic, and institutional development. In many developing countries, mobile telephony has overtaken xed telephony in itsimportance as means o communication.

GROss DOMEsTIc ExPENDITURE ON REsEARch AND DEVELOPMENTAs A PERcENT OF GROss DOMEsTIc PRODUcT

Sub-theme: Research and developmentBrie defnition: Gross domestic expenditure on scienti c research andexperimental development (R&D) expressed as a percentage o Gross Domes-tic Product (GDP). Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) activitiesare de ned as the total intramural expenditure on research and developmentper ormed on the national territory during a given period. Tis includes bothcurrent costs and capital expenditures.

Description: Tis ratio provides an indication o the level o nancialresources devoted to R&D in terms o their share o the GDP. R&D is essen-tial or expanding the knowledge basis and developing new and improvedproducts in the economy. It is a critical component o uture economic growth.Moreover, R&D on issues relevant or sustainable development increases thescienti c basis or in ormed decision-making in this area.

TOURIsM cONTRIBUTION TO GDP

Sub-theme: ourism Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as the sum o the value added(at basic prices) generated by all industries in response to internal tourism




consumption and the amount o net taxes on products and imports included within the value o this expenditure. It is based on tourism satellite account

( SA), a satellite account to standard national accounts that serves as theinternational standard on tourism statistics.

Description: GDP generated by visitor consumption is the most com-prehensive aggregate illustrating the economic relevance o tourism. Tereis increasing consensus on the importance o tourism as a strategic sector inthe national economy inso ar as it provides an essential contribution to theeconomic well-being o the resident population, contributes to the economic

objectives o governments and shows its possible role as a relevant player inmoving towards a more innovative economy.

M. Global economic partnership

cURRENT AccOUNT DEFIcIT As PERcENTAGE OF GDP

Sub-theme: rade Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator is the balance o the current accountdivided by gross domestic product. Te current account is part o the balanceo payments and contains nancial transactions o economic value betweenresidents and non-residents o an economy. In the 5th edition o the balance o payment manual, the current account components are the balance o trade ingoods and services, balance o income (compensation o employees workingabroad and income rom oreign investments) and current trans ers (workers

remittances and government trans ers).Description: Current account balance is part o the measure o an econo-my’s savings. Along with net capital trans ers and acquisition/disposal o non-produced, non- nancial assets, the current account balance represents the net

oreign investment or net lending/borrowing position o a country vis-à-visthe rest o the world. Persistent current account de cits or surpluses indi-cate a macroeconomic instability that is not conducive to sustained economic

growth and, there ore, to sustained means o implementation o sustainabledevelopment goals. A current account de cit has to be nanced through anincrease in nancial and non- nancial liabilities vis-à-vis the rest o the worldor a decrease in reserve assets. Repayment o these liabilities decreases theresources uture generations have available or consumption and investment.




NET OFFIcIAL DEVELOPMENT AssIsTANcE GIVEN OR REcEIVED AsPERcENTAGE OF GROss NATIONAL INcOME

Sub-theme: External nancing Core indicatorBrie defnition: Tis indicator is de ned as the total ODA given orreceived as a share o GNI o the source or recipient country, respectively,net o repayment o principal. When ODA ows by donor countries aremeasured, ODA comprises bilateral disbursements o concessional unds todeveloping countries and multilateral institutions. When ODA receipts by developing countries are measured, ODA comprises disbursement o conces-

sional nance rom both bilateral and multilateral sources. ODA consists o grants and concessional loans.

Description: Te indicator is a measure o the size o ows that are bothconcessional, and aimed mainly at promoting development and wel are o developing countries. ODA remains an important source o external meanso implementation or sustainable development in many developing coun-tries. For donor countries, the indicator provides in ormation on the adher-

ence to the internationally agreed target o ODA to be at least 0.7 % o GNI. For developing countries, the indicator provides in ormation on thecontribution o oreign countries to sustainable development as well as ontheir dependency on oreign aid.

FOREIGN DIREcT INVEsTMENT (FDI) NET INFLOWs AND NETOUTFLOWs As PERcENTAGE OF GDP

Sub-theme: External nancingBrie defnition: Tis indicator is de ned as the share o oreign directinvestment (FDI) net in ows and o FDI net out ows in GDP. FDI is invest-ment made to acquire a lasting interest in or e ective control over an enter-prise operating outside o the economy o the investor.FDI net infows andnet out ows include reinvested earnings and intra-company loans, and arenet o repatriation o capital and repayment o loans.

Description: Te indicator shows the provision o external nancingresources in the orm o direct investments at home rom oreign investorsand abroad rom domestic investors. For many developing countries, FDIin ows are a major and relatively stable source o external nancing andthereby provide important means o implementation o sustainable develop-




ment goals. In many cases, FDI also contributes to the trans er o technol-ogy and management skills. Conversely, FDI out ows have the potential to

improve sustainable development in receiving countries. Sustained increasesin FDI in ows are o ten a sign o an improved general investment climate.

REMITTANcEs As PERcENTAGE OF GNI

Sub-theme: External nancing

Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as total current private trans ersreceived by residents in a country plus compensation o employees earned

by nonresident workers and migrants’ trans ers divided by Gross NationalIncome (GNI).

Description: Tis indicator shows the extent o nancial bene t or acountry rom temporary and permanent movements o its residents whoare able to work abroad. For many countries, remittances are a major andstable source o external nancing and thereby provide important means o implementation o sustainable development goals. As a result o increased

globalization the importance o remittances has been rapidly increasing inthe last decade.

N. Consumption and production patterns

MATERIAL INTENsITY OF ThE EcONOMY

Sub-theme: Material consumption Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as the ratio o Domestic MaterialConsumption (DMC) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant prices.DMC is de ned as the total amount o materials (measured by weight)directly used in the economy (used domestic extraction plus imports), minusthe materials that are exported.

Description: Te indicator provides a basis or policies to decouple thegrowth o the economy rom the use o natural resources in order to reduceenvironment degradation resulting rom primary production, materialprocessing, manu acturing and waste disposal. Reducing the material inten-sity o production and consumption o goods and services is essential to envi-ronmental protection and resource conservation. Reductions in intensity o




material use can be achieved by more efcient use o natural resources inproduction and consumption, by recycling used and waste material, and by

shi ts in consumption patterns to less material intensive goods and services.

DOMEsTIc MATERIAL cONsUMPTION

Sub-theme: Material consumption

Brie Defnition: Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) is de ned asthe weight o the total amount o materials directly used in the economy (useddomestic extraction plus imports), minus the materials that are exported.

Materials may be broken down by type o material (minerals, biomass, ossiluels).

Description: DMC is a use ul indicator, as it provides an assessment o the absolute level o use o resources. Primary production o raw materials,processing o the materials into products, and ultimate disposal o the wastematerial has major environmental impacts. Te indicator provides a basis orpolicies to increase the efcient use o raw materials in order to conserve natu-

ral resources and reduce environment degradation resulting rom primary extraction, material processing, manu acturing and waste disposal.

ANNUAL ENERGY cONsUMPTION, TOTAL AND BY MAIN UsERcATEGORY

Sub-theme: Energy Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as the total energy consumption

(total primary energy supply or total nal consumption) in the economy (intonnes o oil equivalents). It can be broken down by main user category.

Description: Tis indicator measures the level o energy use and re ectsthe energy-use patterns in the economy overall and in di erent sectors.Energy is a key actor in economic development and in providing vitalservices that improve quality o li e. Although energy is a key requirement

or economic progress, its production, use and by-products have resulted

in major pressures on the environment, both by depleting resources and by creating pollution.




shARE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY sOURcEs IN TOTAL ENERGY UsE

Sub-theme: Energy

Brie defnition: Te share o renewable sources in total primary energy supply or total energy consumption. Renewable energy sources are dividedinto non-combustible (geothermal, hydro, solar, wind, tide and wave) andcombustible renewables and waste (biomass, animal products, municipal waste and industrial waste). Non-renewables are ossil uels (coal, crude oil,petroleum products, gas) and nuclear.

Description: Te promotion o energy, and in particular o electricity rom

renewable sources o energy, is a high priority o sustainable developmentor several reasons. Energy rom renewables can increase energy security and

lead to diversi cation o energy supply. It reduces environmental degradationcaused by non-renewable energy sources, contributes to the mitigation o climate change and reduces the depletion o natural resources.

INTENsITY OF ENERGY UsE, TOTAL AND BY EcONOMIc AcTIVITY

Sub-theme: Energy Brie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as energy use (o the economy in total and o the main sectors) divided by gross domestic product (or valueadded in case o a sector).

Description: Declining trends in overall energy use relative to GDP (orvalue added) indicate that the economy is able to improve its energy ef-ciency and, hence, to decouple economic growth rom energy consumption.Improving energy efciency has bene cial e ects on energy security andreduces pressures rom economic activities on the environment.

GENERATION OF hAzARDOUs WAsTEs

Sub-theme: Waste generation and management Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te total amount o hazardous wastes generated per yearthrough industrial or other waste generating activities, according to the de -nition o hazardous waste as re erred to in the Basel Convention and otherrelated conventions.

Description: Te indicator provides a measure o the extent and type o industrialization in a country and the nature o industrial activities including




technologies and processes generating hazardous wastes. Te generation o hazardous wastes has a direct impact on health and the environment. Nor-

mally, long-term exposure is required be ore harm ul e ects are seen. Reducedgeneration o hazardous wastes may indicate reduced industrial activities ina country, introduction o cleaner production in the industrial processes,changing patterns in consumers’ habits, or changes in national hazardous waste legislation.

GENERATION OF WAsTE

Sub-theme: Waste generation and managementBrie defnition: Te amount o all waste, both hazardous and non- hazardous, generated by selected main groups o industries or sectors o theeconomy, expressed per capita and per unit o value added (in US $) by eco-nomic activity (at constant prices).

Description: Te main purpose is to show the trend in the generation o waste produced by di erent human activities. Waste represents a consider-

able loss o resources both in the orm o materials and energy. Te treat-ment and disposal o the generated waste may cause environmental pollutionand expose humans to harm ul substances and bacteria, and there ore impacton human health. Waste generated per unit o value-added shows i there isdecoupling o waste generation rom economic growth.

WAsTE TREATMENT AND DIsPOsAL

Sub-theme: Waste generation and managementBrie defnition: Percentage o waste which is recycled; composted; incin-erated; and land lled on a controlled site.

Description: Te indicator measures the proportion o waste generated which is recycled, composted, incinerated, or land lled on a controlled site.It gives an indication o the environmental impact o waste management inthe country. Te proper treatment and disposal o waste is important roman environmental and social viewpoint but can be an economic burden onindustries, municipalities and households. Te amount o waste recycled andcomposted reduces the demand or raw materials, leading to a reduction inresource extraction. Tere may also be a bene t o increased income genera-tion or the urban poor through recycling schemes.




MANAGEMENT OF RADIOAcTIVE WAsTE

Sub-theme: Waste generation and management

Brie defnition: Progress in the management o radioactive waste is meas-ured against key milestones related to both the processing o waste into ormssuitable or either sa e storage or or placement into a designated endpoint(the “ orm actor”) and to the placement o waste into an endpoint acility (“endpoint actor”). Radioactive waste rom various sources, such as nuclearpower generation and other nuclear uel cycle related activities, radioisotopeproduction and use or applications in medicine, agriculture, industry and

research, is considered.Description: Te purpose o the indicator is to represent the progress inmanaging the various radioactive wastes that arise rom the nuclear uel cycleand/or rom nuclear applications. It provides a measure o both the currentstatus o radioactive waste management at any time and the progress madeover time towards the overall sustainability o radioactive waste management.Radioactive waste, i not properly managed, can have a direct impact on

health and the environment through exposure to ionizing radiation.

MODAL sPLIT OF PAssENGER TRANsPORT

Sub-theme: ransport Core indicator

Brie defnition: Te indicator measures the share o each mode (passengercars, buses and coaches, and trains) in total inland passenger transport, meas-ured in passenger-km.

Description: Te indicator provides in ormation on the relative impor-tance o di erent modes or passenger transport. Te use o cars or passengertransportation is generally less energy efcient and has greater environmentaland social impacts, such as pollution, global warming as well as a higher acci-dent rate, than mass transit.

MODAL sPLIT OF FREIGhT TRANsPORT

Sub-theme: ransport

Brie defnition: Te indicator measures the share o each mode (road,rail and inland waterways) in total inland reight transport, measured intonne-km.




Description: Te indicator provides in ormation on the relative impor-tance o di erent modes or reight transport. Road transport is less energy-

efcient and produces more emissions per tonne-kilometer than eitherrail or inland waterways transport. Tere ore, the use o road or reighttransport has greater environmental and social impacts, such as pollution,global warming, as well as a higher accident rate, than either rail or inland waterways transport.

ENERGY INTENsITY OF TRANsPORT

Sub-theme: ransportBrie defnition: Te indicator is de ned as uel used per unit o reight- kilometer (km) hauled and per unit o passenger-km traveled by mode.

Description: Te indicator measures how much energy is used or movingboth goods and people. ransport serves economic and social developmentthrough the distribution o goods and services and through personal mobil-ity. At the same time, transport is a major user o energy, mostly in the orm

o oil products, which makes transport the most important driver behindgrowth in global oil demand. Energy use or transport there ore contributesto the depletion o natural resources, to air pollution and to climate change.Reducing energy intensity in transport can reduce the environmental impactso this sector while maintaining its economic and social bene ts.



Appendix 1. Agenda 21 — Table of Contents

c apter Paragraphs

1. Preamble 1.1–1.6

sEcTION I. sOcIAL AND EcONOMIc DIMENsIONs

2. International cooperation to accelerate sustainable develop-ment in developing countries and related domestic policies

2.1–2.43

3. Combating poverty 3.1–3.12

4. Changing consumption patterns 4.1–4.27

5. Demographic dynamics and sustainability 5.1–5.66

6. Protecting and promoting human health conditions 6.1–6.46

7. Promoting sustainable human settlement development 7.1–7.80

8. Integrating environment and development in decision-making 8.1–8.54

sEcTION II.cONsERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF REsOURcEs FOR DEVELOPMENT

9. Protection o the atmosphere 9.1–9.35

10. Integrated approach to the planning and managemento land resources

10.1–10.18

11. Combating de orestation 11.1–11.40

12. Managing ragile ecosystems: combating deserti cationand drought

12.1–12.63

13. Managing ragile ecosystems: sustainable mountain

development

13.1–13.24

14. Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development 14.1–14.104

15. Conservation o biological diversity 15.1–15.11

16. Environmentally sound management o biotechnology 16.1–16.46

17. Protection o the oceans, all kinds o seas, including enclosedand semi-enclosed seas, and coastal areas and the protection,rational use and development o their living resources

17.1–17.136

18. Protection o the quality and supply o reshwater resources:application o integrated approaches to the development,management and use o water resources

18.1–18.90

19. Environmentally sound management o toxic chemicals,including prevention o illegal international trafc in toxic

and dangerous products

19.1–19.76




20. Environmentally sound management o hazardous wastes,including prevention o illegal international trafc in

hazardous wastes

20.1–20.46

21. Environmentally sound management o solid wastes andsewage-related issues

21.1–21.49

22. Sa e and environmentally sound management o radioactivewastes

22.1–22.9

sEcTION III. sTRENGThENING ThE ROLE OF MAjOR GROUPs

23. Preamble 23.1–23.4

24. Global action or women towards sustainable and equitabledevelopment

24.1–24.12

25. Children and youth in sustainable development 25.1–25.17

26. Recognizing and strengthening the role o indigenous peopleand their communities

26.1–26.9

27. Strengthening the role o non-governmental organizations: partners or sustainable development

27.1–27.13

28. Local authorities’ initiatives in support o Agenda 21 28.1–28.7

29. Strengthening the role o workers and their trade unions 29.1–29.14

30. Strengthening the role o business and industry 30.1–30.30

31. Scienti c and technological community 31.1–31.12

32. Strengthening the role o armers 32.1–32.14

sEcTION IV. MEANs OF IMPLEMENTATION33. Financial resources and mechanisms 33.1–33.21

34. Trans er o environmentally sound technology, cooperationand capacity-building

34.1–34.29

35. Science or sustainable development 35.1–35.25

36. Promoting education, public awareness and training 36.1–36.27

37. National mechanisms and international cooperation orcapacity-building in developing countries

37.1–37.13

38. International institutional arrangements 38.1–38.45

39. International legal instruments and mechanisms 39.1–39.10

40. In ormation or decision-making 40.1–40.30



Appendix 2. Johannesburg Plan of Implementation

Table of content

c apter Title Paragraphs

I. Introduction 1-6

II. Poverty eradication 7-13

III. Changing unsustainable patterns o consumption and production

14-23

IV. Protection and managing the natural resource base oeconomic and social development

24-46

V. Sustainable development in a globalizing world 47-52

VI. Health and sustainable development 53-57

VII. Sustainable development o small island developing States 58-61

VIII. Sustainable development or A rica 62-71

Ix. Other regional initiatives 72-80

A. Sustainable development in Latin America and the

Caribbean73-74

B. Sustainable development in Asia and the Paci c 75-76

C. Sustainable development in the West Asia region 77-78

D. Sustainable development in the Economic Commissionor Europe region

79-80

x. Means o implementation 81-136

xI. Institutional ramework or sustainable development 137-170

A. Objectives 139

B. Strengthening the institutional ramework or sustain-able development at the international level

140-142

C. Role o the General Assembly 143

D. Role o the Economic and Social Council 144

E. Role and unction o the Commission on SustainableDevelopment

145-150

F. Role o international institutions 151-157

G. Strengthening institutional arrangements or sustain-able development at the regional level

158-161

H. Strengthening institutional rameworks or sustain-able development at the national level

162-167

I. Participation o major groups 168-170

un guidelines

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