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8/13/2019 Climate Change and Indicators of Sustainable Development

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Conference on Climate Change, Development andOfficial Statistics

Seoul, 11-12 December 2008

Matthias Bruckner

Division for Sustainable Development

Department of Economic and Social AffairsUnited Nations

Climate Change and Indicators ofSustainable Development


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Outline

1. What are indicators of sustainabledevelopment?

2. Why are indicators of sustainabledevelopment useful for measuringclimate change impacts and responses?

3. Which indicators are used by countries?

4. Where are the main challenges fordeveloping climate change indicators ofsustainable development?


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3

UN DESA Division forSustainable Development

Mission Statement: To provide leadership and tobe an authoritative source of expertise within theUnited Nations system on sustainabledevelopment

DSD serves as the Secretariat of the Commissionon Sustainable Development (CSD)

CSD: Functional Commission of the UN Economic

and Social Council (ECOSOC) Attended by non-CSD member states,

UN system, NGOs and IGOs Includes high-level segment with

60-70 ministers in attendance

DSD conducts normative work, analytical workand technical cooperation


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Indicators of SustainableDevelopment

Indicators of sustainable development canhave multiple functions:

Simplifying, clarifying and making aggregated

information and scientific knowledge available topolicy-makers

Measuring progress towards sustainabledevelopment goals

Identifying critical issues for sustainabledevelopment

Communicating the concept of sustainabledevelopment to policy-makers and the public


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Indicators of sustainable development oftenintegrate economic, social and environmentalstatistics, e.g.

Resource efficiency indicators integrate economic andenvironmental statistics;

Gender employment indicators integrate economic andsocial statistics;

Air pollution indicator integrate social and environmentalstatistics;

Indicator on sustainable resource management integrateall three dimensions, but are often not fully developed.


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Indicators of sustainable development can usedifferent frameworks. Frameworks determine what to measure and why Policy-oriented frameworks

Guaranteed policy relevance, flexible, buy-in form stakeholders Prone to change with change in government, sometimes

theoretically weak

Theory-based frameworks More stable across time, more commonalities across countries, less

subject to political change

Need to agree on theory, validity and relevance of theories variesacross time and space, less buy-in from stakeholders, policyrelevance can be low

Extended capital theory advocated by some (see e.g. JointECE/OECD/Eurostat Working Group on Statistics for SustainableDevelopment)

Other frameworks: Indices (theory-based or theory-free),Pressure-state-response frameworks


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Many countries across the world utilizeindicators of sustainable development,especially for

Monitoring progress of their national sustainabledevelopment strategies; Assessing state of sustainable development.

UN DESA publishes a set of Indicators of

Sustainable Development as reference forcountries to develop national indicators Mandated by the United Nations Commission on

Sustainable Development in 1995;

Third edition released in late 2007.


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Detailed methodology sheetsfor each indicator availableonline.

Methodology sheets will beupdated regularly.

http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/isd.htm


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Role of official statistics in national indicator sets Provision of high-quality data (data collection and

integration) Common types and sources of data needed

National accounts Censuses Household and other surveysAdministrative records Estimations based on agreed standards;

Provision of statistical methodologies and standards; In some countries, official statistics have a lead role

in analysing and reporting of indicators


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Benefits of indicators of sustainable

development for climate change

Climate change is a sustainable development issue,not just an environmental concern

Climate change threatens to erase progress made inachieving sustainable development goals, including the

Millennium Development Goals. Greenhouse gas emissions depend on economic andtechnological pathways.

Current emissions impact on the living conditions of futuregenerations.

Poor and vulnerable countries are expected to face thegreatest burden of climate change, while havingcontributed the least to the problem.

Indicators of sustainable development can beinformative for climate change.


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Existing sustainable development indicator sets are a usefulpoint of departure for the derivation of climate changeindicators.

Recognizes the important linkages between climate change

and other sustainable development issues, e.g. Reducing emissions from combustion of (imported)

fossil fuels can increase energy security.

Improved disaster risk management helps to address

not only climate related events (droughts, floods,),but also non-climate related ones (earthquakes,volcanoes)

Preserving forests to maintain natural capital and to

sustain livelihoods also increases carbon absorption.


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Linking climate change indicators to sustainable developmentindicators increases coherence among indicator sets.

This avoids risk of sending mixed messages.

Coherence can further be increased by incorporating

existing issue-specific sets of sustainable developmentindicators, for example

Energy Indicators of Sustainable Development Biodiversity Indicators.

Disaggregating general indicators of sustainabledevelopment may make them climate change relevant.

It also helps to avoid duplication of efforts. It may reduce reporting burden for agencies.


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While using national sets of indicators of sustainabledevelopment as basis for climate change indicators, otherprocesses should be integrated

International processes under the UNFCCC

Negotiations related to measurable, reportable and verifiablecommitments and actions on mitigation, financing, technology andcapacity-building

Performance indicators on technology transfer Reduced emissions form deforestation and forest degradation

National climate strategies and action plans

Progress on System of Environmental-Economic Accounting

Climate change-related work on CSD indicators Meeting held in New York in October 2008, see

http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/15Oct_2008/egm.htm


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Indicators used at the national level

Many indicators used by countries to monitor their nationalsustainable development strategies (NSDS) relate to climatechange.

Climate change and development are not fundamentally new issues.

There are different possibilities to determine which indicatorsof sustainable development are climate change related.

Indicators on issues that the strategy explicitly identify asbeing linked to climate change (Revealed preference).

Indicators on issues that other countries identified as climatechange relevant in their strategies.

Indicators on issues that experts identified as climate changerelated, for example in the IPCC reports.

Following examples are based on an on-going study bUN DESA

The study uses indicator sets of 9 countries Number of indicators varies across countries, so number of

indicator sis no indication of emphasis on climate change in

NSDS


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Indicators used at the national levelAustralia Climate change mitigation

Policy issue

in NSDSIndicator Type of

reference

Energy Renewable energy use as a proportion of total Own NSDS

Energy Total renewable and non-renewable energy use Own NSDS

Climatechange

Total net greenhouse gas emissions Own NSDS

Forests Total area of all forest type Other NSDS

Air qualityNumber of occasions where concentrations ofpollutants exceeded NEPM standards for ambient airquality in major urban areas

Expert

Air quality Total SOx, NOx and particulate emissions Expert


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Indicators used at the national levelAustralia Climate change adaptation

Policy issue inNSDS

IndicatorType ofreference

BiodiversityNumber of extinct, endangered and vulnerablespecies

Other NSDS

Biodiversity Number of endangered ecological communities Other NSDS

Industrialperformance

Real GDP per capita Other NSDS

Water

management

Surface water units within 70% of sustainable

yieldOther NSDS

WaterManagement

Ground water management units within 70% ofsustainable yield

Other NSDS


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Indicators used at the national levelIndia Climate change mitigation

Policy issue inNSDS


Environment andclimate change

GHG emissions per capita Own NSDS


Energy intensity per unit of GDP Own NSDS


Forest and tree cover Own NSDS

Environment and

climate changeAir quality in major issues Expert


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Indicators used at the national levelIndia Climate change adaptation

Policy issue inNSDS


Income andpoverty

Average GDP growth Own NSDS

Income andpoverty

Agricultural GDP growth rate Own NSDS


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Indicators used at the national levelRepublic of Korea Climate change mitigation I

Policy issue inNSDS


Climate change Emissions of GHGs Own NSDS

Climate change Emissions of GHGs per person Own NSDS

Climate change Emissions of GHGs per GDP Own NSDS

Forests Forest area as a percent of land Own NSDS

Forests Wood harvesting intensity Own NSDS

WasteGeneration of industrial and municipal solidwaste

Own NSDS

Waste Waste recycling and reuse Own NSDS


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Indicators used at the national levelRepublic of Korea Climate change mitigation II

Policy issue inNSDS


Energy useAnnual energy consumption of renewableenergy sources

Own NSDS

Energy use Share of consumption of renewable energysources Own NSDS

Energy use Energy use per GDP (TOE/1000$) Own NSDS

Material use Intensity of material use (per GDP 1000$) Other NSDS

Transportation Transportation shares per modal split Other NSDS

AgricultureProportion ration of environmentally friendlyagriculture

Other NSDS

Agriculture Use of fertilizer Expert

Ozone layer Consumption of ODS Expert

Air quality Air pollution in metropolitan areas Expert


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Indicators used at the national levelRepublic of Korea Climate change adaptation

Policy issue inNSDS


DisasterHuman life and economic loss caused bynatural disaster

Own NSDS

Economicperformance

GDP per capita Other NSDS

Ecosystems Number of species in danger of extinction Other NSDS

Ecosystems Protected area in % of total area Other NSDS

Water quantityAnnual withdrawal of ground and surfacewater

Expert


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Indicators used at the national levelUnited Kingdom Climate change mitigation I

Policy issue inNSDS


GHG emissionsGHG and CO2 emissions, and CO2emissions associated with UK consumption

Own NSDS

GHG emissionsCO2 emissions from industry, domestic(residential), transport sectors

Own NSDS

GHG emissionsGHG emissions from UK-basedinternational aviation and shipping fuelbunkers

Own NSDS

Electricitygeneration

Renewable electricity generated as apercentage of total electricity

Own NSDS

Electricitygeneration

Electricity generated, CO2, NOx and SO2emissions by electricity generators andGDP

Own NSDS


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Indicators used at the national levelUnited Kingdom Climate change mitigation II

Policy issue inNSDS


CO2 and otheremissions

Domestic CO2 emissions, domestic energyconsumption and household spending

Own NSDS

CO2 and otheremissions Road transport (CO2, NOx, PM10 emissionsand Gross Domestic Product) Own NSDS


Private car CO2 emissions, car-kilometresand household spending

Own NSDS


Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) CO2 emissions,kilometres, tonnes and GDP

Own NSDS


Manufacturing sector CO2, NOx, SO2,PM10 emissions and output

Own NSDS


Service sector CO2 , NOx emissions andoutput

Own NSDS

CO2 and otheremissions Public sector CO2 , NOx emissions andoutput Own NSDS


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Indicators used at the national levelUnited Kingdom Climate change mitigation III

Policy issue inNSDS


Energy supplyUK indigenous energy production andgross inland energy consumption

Other NSDS

Resource use Domestic Material Consumption and GDP Other NSDS

AgricultureFertiliser input, farmland bird population,ammonia and methane emissions andoutput

Other NSDS

Land use(contextual)

Area covered by agriculture, woodland,water or river, urban Other NSDS

Mobility(a) Number of trips per person by mode (b)Distance traveled per person per year bybroad trip purpose

Other NSDS

Waste Waste arisings per disposal Other NSDS


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Indicators used at the national levelUnited Kingdom Climate change adaptation

Policy issue inNSDS


Biodiversityconservation

(a) Priority species status (b) priorityhabitat status

Other NSDS

Bird populationsBird population indices (a) farmland birds(b) woodland birds (c) coastal birds (d)wintering wetland birds

Expert

Water resourceuse

Total abstractions from non-tidal surfaceand ground water, leakage losses and GDP

Expert

Water stress Impacts of water shortages (spatialdisaggregation)

Expert

FloodingNumber of properties in areas at risk offlooding

Expert


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Indicators used at the national levelOther countries Climate change mitigation

Policy issue in

NSDSIndicator Country

GHG emissions CO2 intensity of energy consumption Finland

Land useIncrease in land use for housing andtransport Germany

Mobility Intensity of passenger transport (km/GDP) Germany

Nutrition Nitrogen surplus in farming Germany

Clean energy

Contribution of biofuels to fuel

consumption Spain

Energy intensivesectors

Average CO2 emissions in new vehicles Spain

Carbon sinks Agricultural land used as carbon sink Spain

Natural resourcemanagement

Percentage of forest land covered bysustainable forest management plans

Uganda


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Indicators used at the national levelOther countries Climate change adaptation

Policy issue inNSDS

Indicator Country

Coastal zones Population density in coastal provinces Morocco

Soil, vegetation anddesertification

Land affected by soil erosion, salinationand desertification

Morocco

Hydrologicalresources

Drought risk index Spain


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Indicators used at the national levelOther countries Climate change financing

Policy issue inNSDS

Indicator Country

Globalresponsibility

Development aid targeted at thecombating of climate change and at the

enhancement of health and education

Finland

Climate changemarket instruments

Government purchase of Certified EmissionReductions (CER)

Spain


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Main challenges

Defining the scope of climate change indicators ofsustainable development

Indicators expressing significant linkages should probablybe included.

To remain focused, indicators expressing indirect linkages could beexcluded.

Additional specific climate change indicators may be useful E.g. climate indicators, CO2 intensity of fuels, CO2 emissions from

policy relevant sources such as cars

Definitions of climate change adaptation are often vague. People and economies adapt to a multiple factors, climate change

being one of them.

If development is the best form of adaptation, are alldevelopment indicators climate change related?


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Main challenges

Statistical classifications and methodologies for indicators insome important domains remain incomplete

Land cover, land use and land degradation.

Key area for both mitigation and adaptation

Ecosystem services Spatial classifications for capturing spatially differentiated

climate change impacts

Technology transfer

Lack of common definitions of climate change related technologies Technology can be transferred through many modes (trade in

goods, trade in services, inward foreign direct investment, outwardforeign direct investment)

Transfer can be at commercial or at preferential terms.


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Main challenges

Time lag between climate change measures andclimate change impact

Measures on climate change mitigation and adaptation arein response to future climate changes.

Climate change impacts are uncertain

Extreme events can be devastating, but cannot be ignored (Fat-tailed distribution)

Demand for indicators to a large extent determinedby outcome of current climate change negotiations.

Details of outcome currently unknown.


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hank YouContact: Matthias Bruckner

Division for Sustainable DevelopmentDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs

United Nations

email: [email protected]://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/index.html
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

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