Skip to main links | Skip to secondary links | Skip to content
Information for Decision-Making including Indicators of Sustainable Development: Decisions of the General Assembly and Commission on Sustainable Development
(bb) Encourage Member States to continue to work on the development and application of indicators for sustainable development at the national level, including integration of gender aspects, on a voluntary basis, in line with their national conditions and priorities, and in this regard invites the international community to support the efforts of developing countries.
13. Also encourages, with the purpose of implementing paragraphs 130 and 131 of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and paragraph 3 of Commission decision 9/4, further work on indicators for sustainable development by countries at the national level, including integration of gender aspects, on a voluntary basis, in line with national conditions and priorities, and requests the Secretary-General to consider progress made in that regard, including further work on the above-mentioned indicators, in reporting to the Commission, as appropriate;
14. Underscores that reporting to the Commission should be guided by the following considerations:
(d) The effective use of indicators, as described in paragraph 13 above.
129. Strengthen national and regional information and statistical and analytical services relevant to sustainable development policies and programmes, including data disaggregated by sex, age and other factors, and encourage donors to provide financial and technical support to developing countries to enhance their capacity to formulate policies and implement programmes for sustainable development.
130. Encourage further work on indicators for sustainable development by countries at the national level, including integration of gender aspects, on a voluntary basis, in line with national conditions and priorities.
131. Promote further work on indicators, in conformity with paragraph 3 of decision 9/4 of the Commission on Sustainable Development.44
133. Support countries, particularly developing countries, in their national efforts to:
(a) Collect data that are accurate, long -term, consistent and reliable.
*******
44. See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2001, Supplement No. 9 (E/2001/29), chap. I.B.
3. The Commission, recognizing that any indicators developed under its work programme on indicators of sustainable development are intended only for use by countries at the national level on a voluntary basis, suited to country-specific conditions, and shall not lead to any type of conditionalities, including financial, technical and commercial:
114. The Commission's work programme on indicators of sustainable development should result in a practicable and agreed set of indicators, suited to country-specific conditions, including a limited number of aggregated indicators, to be used at the national level, on a voluntary basis, by the year 2000. Such indicators of sustainable development, including, where appropriate, and subject to nationally specific conditions, sector-specific ones, should play an important role in monitoring progress towards sustainable development at the national level and in facilitating national reporting, as appropriate.
(c) Developing core indicators to monitor critical trends in consumption and production patterns, with industrialized countries taking the lead.
__________________
* Chapter 40 of Agenda 21. For the discussion, see chapter V
below.
2. The Commission expresses its appreciation of the meetings held during the inter-sessional period to further the work and understanding of issues addressed in Chapter 40 of Agenda 21, particularly as they relate to indicators of sustainable development, Earthwatch, Development Watch, the establishment of common and compatible systems of access to data, and common core data sets.
3. The Commission takes note of the progress made in the implementation of the work programme on indicators of sustainable development, approved at its third session, and welcomes that progress, particularly with regard to the preparation of methodology sheets for the various indicators.
4. The Commission invites Governments to test, develop and use the indicators of sustainable development based, inter alia, on the work done to date, as appropriate, on identifying the indicators and preparing the corresponding methodology sheets. In this regard, Governments are encouraged, as appropriate, to adopt indicators at the national level and to consider the advantages of working in partnership with other countries in the testing, further development and use of the indicators. For example, twinning between countries with more and less experience in using indicators could prove beneficial to both.
General discussion on progress in the implementation of Agenda 21, focusing on the cross-sectoral components of Agenda 21, and the critical elements of sustainability.
8. Governments are encouraged to develop or conduct studies on the development of indicators of sustainable development in accordance with specific national conditions. In this context, there is a need for coordination, especially through the Commission, of the many intergovernmental and scientific institutions working in this area, as well as a need for intensive international dialogue.
9. The Commission urges bodies such as the Statistical Division of the United Nations Secretariat, the statistical services of Member States and other appropriate institutions, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Statistical Office of the European Communities and major groups to cooperate in the development of indicators of sustainable development. Furthermore, the Commission encourages the scientific community, including the project on indicators of sustainable development undertaken by the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), to focus its efforts on the development and improvement of such indicators.
10. The Commission reiterates the importance of developing indicators of sustainable development for use by decision makers at the local, regional and national levels and expresses its appreciation to the organizations, both intergovernmental and non-governmental, and the Governments that have contributed to the process of defining a programme of work for the further development of indicators of sustainable development.
11. The Commission approves the programme of work on indicators for sustainable development contained in annex I to the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.17/1995/18) and calls upon the organizations of the United Nations system, with the support of other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and through the coordination of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the United Nations Secretariat, to implement, within existing resources, the following, as outlined in the programme of work:
12. The Commission took note of the report of the Statistical Commission on its twenty-eight session, and expresses its appreciation to the Statistical Commission for its offer to collaborate with and support the Commission in its work on indicators for sustainable development. In this context, the Commission also welcomes the action taken by the Statistical Commission with respect to the international compilation of environmental indicators from national statistical services and looks forward to the contribution of this work to the overall programme of work on indicators of sustainable development. The Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the United Nations Secretariat should promote and assist these efforts.