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Information for Decision-Making including Indicators of Sustainable Development: Decisions of the General Assembly and Commission on Sustainable Development

UN Commission on Sustainable Development
13th Session
11 – 22 April 2005

Resolution 13/1 Policy options and practical measures to expedite implementation in water, sanitation and human settlements

E. International Institutional Arrangements for Monitoring and Follow-Up of CSD-13 Decisions on water, sanitation and human settlements:

(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.

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UN Commission on Sustainable Development
11th Session
27 January 2003 & 28 April - 9 May 2003

A. Draft resolutions and decision recommended by the Commission for adoption by the Council

Multi-year programme of work of the Commission for the period after 2003

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.

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Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
World Summit on Sustainable Development
26 August - 4 September 2002

X. Means of implementation

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.

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44. See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2001, Supplement No. 9 (E/2001/29), chap. I.B.

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UN Commission on Sustainable Development
9th Session
5 May 2000 & 16-27 April 2001

Decision 9/4
Information for decision-making and participation

Approaches to indicators of sustainable development

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:

  1. Reiterates the need for the Commission to keep under review the full range of indicators with full participation and ownership of Member States of the United Nations, with a view to avoiding duplication, as well as ensuring the transparency, consistency and reliability of these indicators;
  2. Emphasizes, in accordance with Council resolution 2000/27, that the indicators used by the United Nations Secretariat in the context of the coordinated and integrated follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits should be developed with the full participation of all countries and approved by the relevant intergovernmental bodies;
  3. Notes the important role that national Governments of the 22 testing countries played in developing its work programme on experimental indicators of sustainable development, and in this context notes the usefulness of the above-mentioned exercise and requests that further work on these and other indicators be undertaken, in accordance with Council resolution 2000/27;
  4. Encourages the further work on these and other indicators for the purpose of sustainable development in line with national conditions and priorities in defining and implementing national goals and priorities for sustainable development, including integration of gender aspects, and encourages the involvement of all national stakeholders, as appropriate;
  5. Stresses the need to further develop indicators on means of implementation to evaluate progress towards conference goals in creating an enabling environment for development;
  6. Urges developed countries and international organizations to assist developing countries, as appropriate, in establishing the basic capacities for the development of national indicators of sustainable development through, inter alia, financial support, capacity-building, technical assistance and twinning arrangements;
  7. Recalls the invitation of the Council to the Statistical Commission to serve as the intergovernmental focal point for the review of the indicators used by the United Nations system for the integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits at all levels, and the methodologies employed in formulating them, including in the context of the elaboration of the common country assessment, and to make recommendations with a view to facilitating future consideration by the Council.

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United Nations General Assembly
19th special session
New York, 23-27 June 1997

Means of implementation: Information and tools for measuring progress

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.

Future role and programme of work of the Commission on Sustainable Development
Methods of work of the Commission on Sustainable Development

Changing consumption and production patterns

(c) Developing core indicators to monitor critical trends in consumption and production patterns, with industrialized countries taking the lead.

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* Chapter 40 of Agenda 21. For the discussion, see chapter V below.

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UN Commission on Sustainable Development
4th Session
18 April - 3 May 1996

Decision 4/5. Information for decision-making *

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.

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UN Commission on Sustainable Development
3rd Session
11- 28 April 1995

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.

I. Information for decision-making

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:

  1. enhancement of information exchange among all interested actors;
  2. development of methodology sheets to be made available to Governments;
  3. training and capacity-building at the regional and national levels;
  4. testing of an appropriate combination of indicators and monitoring of experiences in a few countries;
  5. evaluation of the indicators, including those mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.17/1995/18), and adjustment, as necessary;
  6. identification and assessment of linkages among the economic, social, institutional and environmental elements of sustainable development;
  7. development of highly aggregated indicators; and
  8. further development of the conceptual framework for sustainable development indicators, involving experts from the areas of economics, the social sciences and the physical sciences and policy makers, as well as incorporating non-governmental organization and indigenous views. The Commission requests the Secretariat to provide it with a progress report on the implementation of the programme of work at its fourth session, in 1996.

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.

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