Download Indicators of Sustainable Development in America

Indicators of Sustainable
Development in America
David Schaller
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
International Symposium on
Indicators of Sustainable Development
Taipei, Taiwan
December 1, 2000
Introduction
Sustainable Development is an evolving
process - not an end point
 Why the policy interest in Sustainable
Development?
 The importance of measurement and the
use of indicators
 Advantages and risks
 Creating a policy framework
 The United States experiment

Sustainable Development A Working Definition
An evolving process that improves the
economy, the environment, and society for
the benefit of current and future
generations
 Sustainable Development is about
dynamics, not absolutes
 How do we measure a moving target?

New Policy Interest in
Sustainable Development
Problems are increasingly multi-dimensional
 Our knowledge and expertise is expanding
 The world is becoming a smaller place
 Technology gives us new ways of looking at
the world
 Problems are becoming harder to ignore
 We have an opportunity to integrate our
needs, our goals, and our competing
demands

Sustainable Development:
Its All About Measurement
We need to ask the right questions
 Look not just at symptoms but also
root causes of non-sustainability
 Understand linkages and feedback loops
 Apply intergenerational considerations
 Measures are meaningless if they can’t be
communicated

Developing Indicators
The world is complex and changing, with
conflicting signals all around us
 There is need for a framework
 One model begins with: long-term
endowments and liabilities;
 then examines economic, ecological, and
social-cultural-political processes; and
 lastly, identifies results
 Multi-generational application possible

Indicator Framework with Flow of Information
Long-term Endowments
and Liabilities
Long-term Endowments
and Liabilities
Processes
Processes
Economic Environmental Social
Current Results
Current Results
Time
Indicator Framework with Flow of Information
Long-term Endowments
and Liabilities
Long-term Endowments
and Liabilities
Processes
Processes
Economic Environmental Social
Current Results
Current Results
Time
Long-term Endowments and
Liabilities

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Current Climate
Current Sea Levels
Availability of fossil
fuel reserves
Availability of
renewable energy
reserves
Built infrastructure
and existing
technologies
Indicator Framework with Flow of Information
Long-term Endowments
and Liabilities
Long-term Endowments
and Liabilities
Processes
Processes
Economic Environmental Social
Current Results
Current Results
Time
Processes

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Environmental
regulation
Fiscal policy-making
Climate/weather
processes
Energy generation and
use
Ecosystem
interactions

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Agricultural
production
Natural resource
consumption
Emission of
greenhouse gases
Investment in R&D
Indicator Framework with Flow of Information
Long-term Endowments
and Liabilities
Long-term Endowments
and Liabilities
Processes
Processes
Economic Environmental Social
Current Results
Current Results
Time
Current Results

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Current weather
patterns
Current cost and
availability of energy
Current agricultural
productivity
Current ecosystem
distribution patterns
Current distribution of
disease vectors
Advantages and Risks
of Using Indicators
Advantages
Promise of new information
Show interrelationships
Help us anticipate the future
More informed decisions
Risks
Unmet expectations
Requires much data
Cost of information
Unwanted answers
Creating a Policy Framework
Create a statement of vision
 Create a declaration of policy
 Identify sustainability criteria
 Optimize scope and scale of actions
to be taken
 Assign responsibilities
 Report and communicate findings
 Continue to refine and improve each step
as new information becomes available

Sustainable Development Indicators
and the American Experience
 US
Interagency Working Group
(1998)
 Indicators established for
endowments and liabilities, processes,
and results
 Trends identified
 Informed decisions now more possible
An experimental set of indicators:
Long-term endowments and liabilities
ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENTAL
SOCIAL
Capital assets
Surface water quality
Population
Labor productivity
Acres of major
terrestrial
ecosystems
Children living in
families with only
one parent present
Federal debt to
GDP ratio
Teacher training level
Status of
stratospheric ozone
An experimental set of indicators:
Processes
ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENTAL
SOCIAL
Energy Consumption Soil erosion rates
per capita
People in census tracts
with 40% or greater
poverty
Materials
consumption per
capita
Conversion of
cropland to other
uses
Contributing time
and money to
charity
Inflation
Ratio of renewable
water supply to
withdrawals
Educational attainment
by level
An experimental set of indicators:
Current Results
ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENTAL
SOCIAL
Domestic Product
Air quality standards
attainment status
Crime rate
Percentage of
households in
problem housing
Agricultural import
dependency
Life expectancy at
birth
Income distribution Outdoor
recreational
opportunities
Educational
achievement rates
Conclusions on the use of Sustainable
Development indicators
Indicators never tell the full story
 They are a tool for examining important
issues in a comprehensive fashion
 Indicators make for a more informed
policy debate
 Without action, indicators are
meaningless
