Environmental Indicators of the Latin American and
Caribbean Initiative for Sustainable Development
(ILAC)
Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the
Caribbean
BackgroundThe Initiative covers 6 thematic areas: 1. Biological Diversity2. Water Resources3. Vulnerability, Human Settlements and
Sustainable Cities4. Social Issues (including health, inequity and
poverty)5. Economic Issues (including trade, production and
consumption patterns) 6. Institutional Issues
• Continue indicators developmentThe WGEI has agreed 33 indicators of the Initiative, out of a total of 49 existing indicators
• Foster the elaboration of National ILAC Reports
Ten countries have published National ILAC Reports to date, three of them in the past biennium: Panamá (2010), Nicaragua (2011) and Uruguay (2011).
• Promote the use of ILAC indicators at regional level
“Regional Revision of Indicators 2011”, a document with regional data for all the indicators agreed by the WGEI.
WGEI achievements (2010 – 2011)
Objetivos de la Red Intergubernamental
Acuerdo MarcoWGEI achievements (2010 – 2011)• Promote the incorporation of countries of the region to the WGEI
In 2010, 12 new countries became part of WGEI
Member countries of WGEI since 2002
Member countries of WGEI since 2010
BELIZE ANTIGUA & BARBUDA
BARBADOS
SAN KITTS & NEVISHAITI
SAN TA LUCIA
Formulación del Plan de AcciónWGEI achievements (2010 – 2011)• Promote national capacity building in the elaboration of
statistics and environmental indicators
• Continue and further coordination with the working group on statistics and environmental indicators of the Statistical Conference of the Americas
• Training on the use of geo-spatial tools for the construction of ILAC indicators
• Promote the systematization and institutionalization of ILAC indicators monitoring at national and regional level
Objetivos de la Red Intergubernamental
Work Plan 2012 - 20131. Strengthen and continue the development of ILAC
indicators’ methodological sheets in the thematic areas approved by the Forum, achieving consensus among all countries of the region
2. Foster the elaboration of National ILAC Reports and the update of those already published
3. Promote the use of ILAC indicators at regional level4. Strengthen the Working Group on Environmental
Indicators through regular meetings, incorporation of new countries and thematic areas where indicators can be applied
5. Promote concrete activities with other groups and similar initiatives at regional level: WGES, SCA, CAN, CCAD, CARICOM, MERCOSUR
Work Plan 2012 - 20136. Promote training on the use of geo-
spatial tools for the construction of indicators: Geographic Information software for the web portal
7. Promote the incorporation and active participation of Caribbean Small Island Developing States
8. Promote the systematization and institutionalization of ILAC indicators’ monitoring at national and regional level (national system of environmental information).
Objetivos de la Red Intergubernamental
Recommendations to strengthen ILAC
The structure of ILAC indicators needs review to achieve greater internal consistency and clarity in their interpretation.
A modification in the indicators structure, re-naming information categories is proposed:
BEFORE THEMATIC AREA GOAL INDICATIVE PURPOSE INDICATOR
AFTER THEMATIC AREA OBJECTIVE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE INDICATOR
BEFORE Water Resources Management
Water supply Improve technology to increase water use efficiency in industry, agriculture domestic consumption
Domestic water consumption per household
AFTER Water Resources Management
Improve water supply
Increase water use efficiency in the industrial, agricultural and domestic sectors
Efficiency in water use in the domestic sector
Recommendations to strengthen ILAC
WGEI urges Governments to strengthen the offices of environmental statistics through:
• National policies to improve the management of environmental information
• More human resources and capacity development• More allocation of financial resources• Creation of Environmental Information Systems• Horizontal and triangular cooperation
Recommendations to strengthen ILAC
The gap between demand and availability of environmental information in the region continues growing
Some reasons:• Limited technical capacity in the institutions in charge of attending
information demands • Growing and varied demand of information by the Government and society
Solutions:• National policies oriented to
improve environmental information management schemes
• Widen information supply and maintain updated, transparent and accessible registries
• Institutional coordination
Recommendations to strengthen ILAC
WGEI makes available its strength, the technical capacity of the group and the results of its work to
the Forum of Ministers
• Contribute to countries´ preparation towards the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Río+20)
• Use of indicators for sustainable development initiatives and goals that will be eventually approved during this Conference.
Recommendations to strengthen ILAC
The WGEI ratifies the importance of the following topics, largely included in the ILAC:
• Environmental aspects, topics identified in the regional consultation process of the GEO-5 Report: Environmental Governance, Biodiversity, Water, Soil and Climate Change.
• Economic aspects, monitoring the sustainability in production and consumption patterns. For this, the WGEI proposes to work in collaboration with the Council of Government Experts on Sustainable Consumption and Production.
• Social aspects, to measure the vulnerability of population to extreme natural disasters and socio-economic crisis at global, regional and national level.
Thank you
www.geodatos.org
El portal de indicadores ambientales ILAC: www.geodatos.org
Thank you
UNEP ROLAC: Secretariat of the WGEI
