PERFORMANCE INDICATORS IN ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS IN ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

INTRODUCTION

Deciding on whether policies and programs are effective depends on the development of statistical indicators to measure success of programs and policies. This follows a logical approach outlined in 'A systems approach to environmental monitoring'. Development of such indicators applies to problems of management generally, especially in complex systems or operations. In some instances, the term 'environment' may have a narrow interpretation and refer to ecological issues. In other instances, 'environment' may refer also to social and economic as well as ecological issues. The approach taken herein is to accept a broad meaning of environment. Accordingly, environmental indicators are physical, chemical, biological or socio-economic measures that are useful in assessing natural resources and environmental quality. Over time, environmental indicators can describe and quantify the extent of human impact on the environment. Environmental indicators are increasingly seen as a necessary tool in helping to set the course towards a sustainable future (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1992: 8)

Use of indicators is now an important part of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), especially following the Action Plan contained in Agenda 21. Agencies such as the World Bank also share in the need to develop indicators to ensure that the outcomes of international development aid programs are compatible with the objectives of the UNEP.

Attempts at forecasting environmental impact prior to implementing a development depends on the historical experience derived from monitoring the effects of previous programs. This creates a nexus between environmental monitoring and environmental impact assessment.

Hart Environmental Data provides a useful introduction to indicators of sustainability.

UN INVOLVEMENT ARISING FROM AGENDA 21

At its third session in 1995, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) approved a work programme on indicators of sustainable development (See relevant documents). The programme included a list of approximately 130 indicators organized in a framework as follows:

Driving Force Indicators - representing human activities, processes and patterns that have an impact on the state of the environment

State Indicators - indicating the status of particular environmental attributes and providing a representation of the state of the environment at a particular time

Response Indicators - indicating the effects of government policies aimed at improving social, economic and ecological conditions

The indicators provide information for use at the national level by countries in their decision-making processes. Not all of the indicators will be applicable in every situation. It is understood that countries will choose to use from among the indicators those that are relevant to national priorities, goals and targets.

United Nations, Economic and Social Development, Division of Sustainable Development, Indicators of Sustainable Development, Environmental management, Environmental monitoring, Environmental policy - CSD Working list of sustainable development indicators

AUSTRALIAN RESPONSES

The Commonwealth State of the Environment Reporting system supports the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development, and helps Australia meet its international obligations, such as those under Agenda 21 and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation Development (OECD) environmental performance reviews.

The Commonwealth Environment Minister released Australia: State of the Environment 1996 - the first independent and comprehensive assessment of Australia’s environment - in September of that year. The next step in evolving a reporting system is to develop a set of environmental indicators that, properly monitored, will help track the condition of Australia’s environment and the human activities that affect it. To help develop these indicators, Environment Australia commissioned reports recommending indicators for each of the seven major themes that provide a basis for Commonwealth state of the environment reporting. The themes are:

human settlements

biodiversity

the atmosphere

the land

inland waters

estuaries and the sea

natural and cultural heritage

Clearly, none of these themes is independent of the others. In many places issues relevant to more than one theme receive detailed treatment in one report, with cross-referencing to other reports. While many of the ideas given are not viable as short term solutions, they are a scientific basis for longer term planning of environmental monitoring and related activities.

Department of Environment and Heritage, Environment Australia, State of Environment Reporting, Environmental Indicators for State of the Environment Reporting - Core Environmental Indicators for Reporting on the State of the Environment - (these sites provide extensive information in a series of files in Portable Document Format)

Regional Environmental Indicators Project, a joint initiative of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) and Environment Australia

UNITED STATES RESPONSES

In 1993, the President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD) was created to formulate recommendations for the implementation of Agenda 21. The PCSD has been explicitly charged with recommending a national action plan for sustainable development. The Council comprises leaders from government and industry, as well as from environmental, labor and civil rights organisations. The PCSD submitted its report, "Sustainable America: A New Consensus", to the President in early 1996.

Like Australia’s approach to the problem, the Council divided the task into 7 important areas which needed attention:

Eco-efficiency

Energy and Transportation

Natural Resources management and Protection

Principles, Goals and Definitions

Population and Consumption

Public Linkage, Dialogue and Education

Sustainable Agriculture

US laws and regulations covering environmental protection, natural resource management and socio-economic development are administered by many federal agencies. Federal natural resource management is overseen, for example, by a number of different agencies in the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, and Commerce, among others. Environmental pollution is regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA), the Department of Justice, and other agencies. While this division of labor has resulted in a clear mission on the part of individual agencies, some goals which depend on more than one agency were not being achieved. Accordingly, several government-wide activities have been initiated to identify weaknesses and improve national coordination between environmental and economic agencies and their decision-making capability.

http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/usa/index.htm – Sustainable development information on many different aspects of the environment in the USA.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/PCSD/Publications/TF_Reports/amer-top.html – Sustainable America: A new Consensus

NB. None of the USEPA links connect to relevant sites and no indicator information could be found in the EPA data collection.

Likewise, only the first of the department of energy links still works, the rest are unavailable.

United States, Environment Protection Agency (EPA), Environmental Indicators Website,
United States, Department of Energy - Center for Excellence in Sustainable Development - sustainable development toolkit - indicators of sustainability - sustainability indicators in action -

Links to Indicator Reporting by: EPA National Program Offices - Other National Data Sources - EPA Regional Offices - U.S. States - Other Geographic Areas

National Center for Environmental Decision-Making Research (NCEDR)

ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING PERFORMANCE INDICATORS IN ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING