Indicators of Sustainable Development

Birgitte Alvarez-Rivero

Division for Sustainable Development

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Mandate

The CSD 3rd Session (1995) approves a Programme of Work on Indicators of Sustainable Development

Main Objective:

A core list of indicators of sustainable development accessible to decision-makers at the national level by the year 2001. Achieved by defining them, elucidating their methodologies and providing training and other capacity-building activities, as relevant.

WSSD & CSD11

JPOI par. 130 & CSD11 par.13:

Encourage further work on indicators for sustainable development by countries at the national level, including integration of gender aspects, on a voluntary basis, in line with national conditions and priorities

…Reporting to the CSD guided by….effective use of indicators….. (CSD11 par. 14d)

Contributing Organizations

DESA • DHA • UNFCCC • UNICEF • UNCTAC •

UNDP • UNSO • UNEP • SBC • UNU • ECA •

ECLAC • ESCAP • ESCWA • ECE • HABITAT • ILO • FAO • UNESCO • WHO •

ITU • WMO • UNIDO • World Bank • IAEA

Other Organizations:EUROSTAT • OECD •

CIAT • IUCN • IISD • IIASA • RIVM • NEF •

SCOPE • WRI • WWF • The Wuppertal

Institute

Contributing Countries

Ghana, Kenya, Morocco,South Africa and Tunisia

China, Japan, Maldives, Pakistan and the Philippines

Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada Costa Rica, Mexico, USA, Venezuela

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic,Finland, Germany, France,

The United Kingdom, Switzerland

Indicators of Sustainable Development

CSD Indicators of Sustainable DevelopmentGuidelines and Methodologies

Core set of 58 indicators with flexible adaptation at the national level

Description of themes and sub-themes

Methodology sheet for each indicator by lead agency

Guidelines for national implementation

Framework

Dimension  

Theme Sub-Theme Indicators

Social  

     

Environmental  

     

Economic  

     

Institutional  

     

Guidelines

National Coordinating Mechanism & Focal PointGap analysis including a baseline assessment and priority selection through a consultative processAssessment of capacity-building needsAction PlanDissemination strategyPeriodic evaluation and re-assessment

Challenges

Lack of data and development capacity

International harmonization efforts

Further indicator development in “less advanced”substantive areas

Training in integrated information management

DSD focus

DSD responding to challenges by:

Support for regional indicator networks Sustainable Development Information Management for SIDS in the Caribbean RegionCountry projectsDisaster reduction indicators in the context of sustainable development with ISDR & UNDP

Training Activity

In preparation:Sub-regional training programme in the development and implementation of national strategies for sustainable development (NSDS), monitoring and evaluation

Project components: 1)NSDS preparation, 2) information management

and, 3) national level indicator design

Millennium Development Goals

Adopted by the UN General Assemblyin 2000

Commitment to a set of values and principles

8 Millennium Development Goals

Indicators associated with goals to be reported on by member states

Summary

Progress has been made since Rio, but challenges remain:

Lack of data

Harmonization

Areas less advanced

Training and capacity-building

CSD Indicators Website