Indicators
In order to bring about more sustainable development whilst safeguarding the environment, it is important to know how well a nation is achieving this objective. Agenda 21 encourages the use of indicators of sustainable development which describe the current state of the economy, environment and society. Indicators can help to monitor progress towards sustainable development, and identify where improvements need to be made.
Sustainability indicators summarise the characteristics of a particular system. For example greenhouse gas emissions and global temperature are indicators of climate change. Designing good sustainability indicators however, is not easy. There may be many potential indicators, but not all are suitable. The usefulness of indicators depends on their relevance, and by and large different sets of indicators are required for different places. For example, butterfly distribution may be a good indicator of biodiversity for Northern Europe, but not so good for the Arctic.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has established several sets of indicators each responding to a specific purpose. These form a core set that covers the main environmental concerns in most countries. Generally, these indicators can be divided into two groups, environmental indicators and socio-economic indicators.
In the UK, the Government uses information on 21 groups of issues to review whether the nation is becoming more sustainable. The range of topics shows that achieving a sustainable level of development in the context of society and environmental protection will need action in all aspects of life.
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Sector |
Sustainability Indicators |
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The Economy |
employment, inflation, government borrowing and debt |
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car use, number of short journeys, freight traffic |
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Leisure & Tourism |
air travel, leisure journeys |
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Overseas Trade |
imports & exports |
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energy consumption, use of fossil fuels, renewable fuel use |
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Land Use |
use of derelict land, urban development, green spaces |
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Water Resources |
rainfall, demand & supply of public water |
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forest cover, tree health, ancient woodland remaining |
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Fishing |
fish stocks, fish catches |
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global temperature change, greenhouse gas emissions |
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measured ozone depletion, CFCs consumption |
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power station and road transport emissions of sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen |
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pollutant emissions, money spent on air pollution reduction |
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Freshwater Quality |
chemical and biological river quality, pollution incidents, money spent on sewage treatment |
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Oceans |
bathing water quality, oil spills and discharges, contaminants in fish |
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Wildlife & Habitats |
breeding birds, mammal populations, habitat fragmentation, butterfly distribution |
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Land Cover & Landscape |
rural land cover, agricultural productivity, use of pesticides |
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Soil |
soil quality, heavy metals in soils |
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Minerals Extraction |
mineral workings on land, amounts of waste |
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household & industrial waste, recycling, landfill waste |
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population exposure to radiation, nuclear power station discharges |
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Other topics
• DETR
• DETR
• Environmental Change Network
• New Zealand Air Indicators
• New Zealand Air Indicators
• New Zealand Air Indicators
• Centre for Ecology/Hydrology
• dti Energy Stats.
• World Resources Institute
• ISSDNet
• Introduction
• Agenda 21
• Agriculture
• Air Pollution
• Biodiversity
• Biofuels
• Brundtland Report
• CHP
• Conservation/Preservation
• Cycling & Walking
• Doing Our Bit
• Earth Summit
• Energy
• Energy Efficiency
• Energy from Waste
• Forests
• Fossil Fuels
• Geothermal Energy
• Human Health
• Hydroelectric Power
• Indicators
• Land Use Planning
• Local Agenda 21
• Nuclear Power
• Population
• Poverty
• Power Generation
• Public Transport
• Renewable Energy
• Solar Energy
• Sustainable Development
• Tidal Power
• Transport
• Transport Impacts
• Transport Solutions
• UK Strategy
• Waste
• Waste Disposal
• Waste Recycling
• Water Quality
• Wave Power
• Wind Power