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