Indicators of Sustainable Development

Their Practical Application

Today’s Presentation

• What Canada is doing on indicators of sustainable development

• Where is this work leading?

• Practical applications: – Sustainable Development Strategies– the case of indicators for sustainable tourism

What has Canada been doing?

• Environmental indicators series development evolving since 1989 at Environment Canada

• Indicators recognized as a tool to measure progress toward sustainable development

• Currently, 11 key issues of national significance reported upon in the national indicators series in four categories

The Framework

• Ecological Life-support systems

• Human Health & Well-Being

• Natural Resources Sustainability

• Pervasive Influencing Factors

Ecological Life-Support Systems

• Stratospheric Ozone Depletion

• Climate Change

• Toxic Contaminants in the Environment: Persistent Organochlorines

• Acid Rain

Human Health and Well-Being

• Urban Air Quality

• Urban Water: Municipal water use and wastewater treatment

Natural Resources Sustainability

• Sustaining Canada’s Forests: –Timber Harvesting–Forest Biodiversity

• Sustaining Marine Resources–Pacific Herring

• Environmental Sustainability: Canada’s Agricultural Soils

Pervasive Influencing Factors

• Canadian Passenger Transportation

• Energy Consumption

Sample:Urban Air Quality

• Indicators:– number of days ground level ozone

exceeds objective– levels of inhalable airborne particles

in Canadian cities– toxic substances in Canadian urban

air: Benzene

Website

• Http://www1.ec.gc.ca/~ind

What will Canada be doing?

• Currently embarking on a three year project to develop and pilot test a national set of SD indicators being led by NRTEE

• Will draw upon input from variety of organizations and build upon environmental indicator series work

What will Canada be doing? (Cont)

• Phase 1: Determine approach to measure progress toward SD - broad consultations key

• Phase 2: Develop specific indicators

• Phase 3: Test proposed indicators

What are Indicators - in practical terms?

• indicators are signals of

– upcoming situations or problems

– current issues

– need for action– results of our actions

• certain data or information become indicators when their relevance becomes understood– “red sky at night…sailor’s delight”– health of canary in the coal mine

– increased smoke from a volcano

How Indicators

can help reduce

the risk of

damaging the

natural resource

base

Tactics for Risk Reduction

• improve knowledge of likely risks

• establish effective audit and monitoring systems

• provide better information to those potentially affected

• formalize accountability and reporting regimes

Federal Sustainable Development Strategies (SDS)• Addresses legal, economic, social and

environmental risks– A legal requirement– Supports rigorous performance target setting– Derives from scan of SD issues relevant to each

department– Supports preparation of environmental management

systems– Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable

Development

Barriers to Success of SDS Implementation

• Senior management support

• Lack of agreement over terminology (what IS ‘sustainable development’?)

• Lack of ‘SMART’ targets

• Lack of indicators implementation capacity

The Example

of Indicators

for Sustainable

Tourism

THE RISK: NOT KNOWING HOW

MANY TOURISTS ARE TOO

MANY

First Question

• What is it we wish to sustain?

Why Indicators for Sustainable Tourism?

• Tourism sector decision-makers need to know

– the links between tourism and the environment

– the effects of environmental factors on tourism

– the impacts of the industry on the environment

• The objective is to reduce future risks to the tourism industry and to destinations

Useful types of Indicators

• early warning indicators • indicators of stresses on the system • measures of current state of industry• measures of industry impacts • measures of management effort • measures of management effect

Good indicators are:

• Understandable

• Timely and accessible

• Meaningful to real decisions

• Reliable

• Reveal important changes

• Generally accepted

Indicator Requirements at Different Levels

• national level base indicators

• indicators at level of specific locations

• targeting of hot spots within larger locations

• project level indicators

The Benefits of Good Indicators

• better decision-making - lowering risk or cost• identification of emerging issues - allowing prevention• identification of impacts - allowing preventative action• support sustainable development - identifying limits and

opportunities• allow for accountability - you cannot take responsibility

without knowledge

Classes of Indicator

• Core Indicators

• Composite Indices

• Ecosystem Specific Indicators

Core Indicator (samples)

• Stress– Tourist numbers visiting site

(per annum/peak month)

• Social Impact– Ratio of tourists to local residents

(peak period)

Composite Indices (sample)

• Carrying Capacity

– Composite early warning measure of key factors affecting the ability of the site to support different levels of tourism

Prince Edward Island, Canada

• warm water, sandy beach• heavy swimming use in summer• national park protects

shore zone• intensive development of park periphery zone

for tourism• concern over uncontrolled

development /habitat stress• key indicators: peak use levels, water supply,

sewage disposal, habitat stress

Ecosystem Specific Indicators

• Respond to specific risks found in typical tourism destinations of different types

• Supplement the core indicators

• Mountains/Traditional Communities/Cultural Sites/Unique Ecological Sites/Coastal Zones

Coastal Zones (Sample)Issue

Ecological destruction

Beach degradation

Fish stocks depletion

Indicators

Amount degraded

Levels of erosion

Reduction in catch

Measures

% reduction in key species

% of beach eroded

Effort needed to catch fish

Conclusion

• Indicators a tool to help identify and manage risks - ongoing commitment required for success

• Indicators enable sectoral (e.g., tourism) integration with community and regional planning requirements

• Many of the lessons from indicators for sustainable tourism can apply to indicators for sustainable development