Tools for structuring the assessment: sustainable development themes / indicators / measures/ significance criteria
Setting the Context and Background: This template should be used part of the SIA methodology to select sustainable development themes and indicators needed in an SIA study.
Role and objectives:
The available literature offers a high number of indicators in all dimensions of sustainable development. Rather than adopting a comprehensive approach with lists of indicators, the SIA methodology put emphasis on process related issues regarding the way the analysis and assessment should be structured.
In the SIA methodology, this relies primarily on the selection of relevant sustainable development themes and indicators. Appropriate themes and indicators should be selected to help structuring and focussing the assessment on relevant dimensions of sustainable development, taking into account baseline conditions and changes which might occur due to trade measures:
Sustainable themes aim at structuring the analysis by pointing out to key issues to be considered during the SIA.
The role of the indicator is to measure the effects of a particular trade agreement and its consequence on an aspect of sustainability.
Definitions:
Sustainable development pillars
The SIA uses four pillars to characterise sustainable development: social, environmental, economic and institutional.
Definition of Theme:
A sustainability theme has a certain aspect (or subcomponent) of each SD pillar which require particular attention in the SIA.
Choices of themes should be undertaken so that on the whole they capture the essence of sustainable development and that they point out the main issues to be addressed by the assessment. If needed, sub themes can be defined
Definition of Indicator:
An indicator is a parameter that provides information about a phenomenon or about an underlying situation. The significance of an indicator goes beyond the strict measure and is used as an approximation of the impact of a change on the sustainable development area under scrutiny.
Indicator can have a direct or indirect relationship with the phenomenon. If this phenomenon can not be measured directly or conveniently, indicators can be indirect substitute or proxy (for example GDP as an indicator of wealth). Direct indicators measurement of phenomena that directly relate to question asked. For example a direct indicator of crop productivity would be measurement of crop yields)
Definition of Measure:
The measure is a quantifiable element of performance that is used to characterise the state of an indicator under the scenarios considered by the SIA. Choice of measure method should take into account the limitation due to lack of available data
Definition of the significance criteria
The significance criteria are used to characterise a given impact as regards its significance for policy makers: it is linked to the impact in itself (magnitude, reversibility) as well as the context in which it occurs (existing stress, regulatory capacity for mitigating changes).
Use in the SIA methodology
Selection of Themes
A first set of SD themes should be defined ‘a priori’ before the screening to set the scene in which the SIA takes place i.e. with a view to give an overall picture of existing SD trends and issues characterising the system in which the agreement is taking place as well as progress regarding international policy commitments (Millennium Development Goals)
This initial selection should be operated on the basis of the above list, completed by eventual supplementary themes if required by the specificity of the SIA.
This initial selection of the themes should be based on the following criteria:
o coverage: in aggregate the set of themes should cover comprehensively the relevant SD issues
o exclusivity: themes should not overlap
o number of themes/sub themes should be limited
o maintain a balance between SD pillars
There are various themes that can be used in an SIA study. The following section of the template lists the most probable themes that can be found and used in an SIA study.
Proposed themes of Sustainable Development:
SOCIAL PARAMETERSTheme / Sub-theme
Equity / Poverty
Gender Equality
Health / Nutritional Status
Mortality
Sanitation
Drinking Water
Healthcare Delivery
Education / Education Level
Literacy/ Illiteracy
Housing / Living Conditions
Human Settlements
Security / Crime
Population / Population Change
Youth & Elderly Populations
Child Bearing age
Labour / Unemployment
Income Distribution
Employment Opportunities
Unacceptable Work
Adequate Earnings and Productive Work
Decent Hours
Stability & Security of Work
Balancing work and family life
Fair treatment in employment
Safe Work
Social Protection
Social Dialogue and Workplace Relations
Socio Economic Context
Source: CSD Theme Indicator Framework, UN Statistics Division- Social Indicators, ILO- Measuring Decent Work with Statistical Indicators
ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERSTheme / Sub-theme
Atmosphere / Climate Change
Ozone Layer
Air Quality
Land / Agriculture
Forests
Desertification
Urbanization
Oceans, Seas and Coasts / Coastal Zone
Fisheries
Fresh Water / Water Quantity
Water Quality
Biodiversity / Ecosystem
Species
Urban Areas
Energy Resources
Waste
Source: European Environmental Agency, UNEP & CSD Theme Indicator Framework
ECONOMIC PARAMETERSTheme / Sub-theme
Economic Structure / Economic Performance
Trade
Financial Status
Material Consumption
Consumption & Production Patters / Energy Use
Waste Generation & Management
Transportation
Balance of Payments
National Accounts / National Accounts (local currency)
National Accounts (Euro)
Derived national accounts
Government Finance / Purchasing Power Parity
External Debt
Source: World Bank Development Indicators and CSD Theme Indicator Framework
INSTITUTIONALTheme / Sub-theme
Process / Implementation of Sustainable Development principles
Contribution to international commitments
Institutional Capacity / Communication Infrastructure
Science & Technology
Disaster Preparedness & Response
Governance
Source: CSD Theme Indicator Framework
Note: Please see Annex 2 for a selection of themes, indicators and their data sources.
Selection of indicators:
A selection of a detailed list of indicators should be carried out after an initial preliminary assessment (screening) in order to better focus on specific and key sustainability issues and assess changes.
For each theme and sub-theme for which potential effect of the trade agreement has been identified by the screening, indicators have to be selected, using the following criteria:
o Coherence and Consistency should be found between general indicators used in overall assessment (preliminary analysis) and specific indicators used during sector studies
o Linkages with other general policy objectives are enabled (i.e. contribution of the trade agreement to Millennium Development Goals)
o coherence is ensured between different possible approach of sustainable development (i.e. European choices for determining dimensions of sustainable development can differ from third countries choices
o Balance coverage of the pillars of sustainable development
o Relevance as regard trade impacts and other policy objectives (Millennium Development Goals)
o Reliability in measuring the needed parameters
o Credibility
o Data availability
o Transparency
Some example of indicators are presented in the list in Annex 3, which is based on an initial list of indicators created by different organisations such as the World Bank, UNEP, EEA, UN, ILO work on socio-economic security; an idea can be obtained as to what type of indicators should be used. Please note that this is by no means the final version to be used
It should be recognised that the detailed specification and form of measurement (quantitative or qualitative) may vary to reflect type of measure, country group characteristics and data availability.
Below is an example of the indicators that can be chosen by consultants to fit best with the study being conducted.
Box 1: Sector indicators developed by the SEI in the SIA food crops (SEI, 2002)IMPACT CATEGORY SUGGESTED INDICATORS
Economic:
Economic performance
Budgetary pressures
Productivity
Aggregate income effects
Agricultural GDP as % of total GDP
Budgetary expenditure as % of GDP
Agricultural GDP/employee
Employment and income levels in the sector
Social:
Food security
Poverty
Gender
Population migration
Social conflict
Biodiversity Average daily per capita calorie supply (kilocalories)
Share of farmers below poverty line
Women’s engagement in the sector as a % of total female employment
Urbanisation rates
No. of protests and petitions (agriculture related)
Protected area as % of total land area
Environment:
Soil quality
Deforestation
Marginal land appr / idling
Rural landscape change
Depletion of water resources
Water quality
Average annual fertilizer use in kg/ha
Forest cover as % of total area and % changes
Agricultural and forest land conversion rates % change
Different landscape types in ha and % changes
Annual water withdrawals as % of water resources
Access to safe drinking water % of population
Significance criteria
The SIA methodology proposes to use “significance criteria” for assessing the significance of any change in an SD indicator. The following significance criteria should be taken into consideration:
· Magnitude and direction of changes to base-line conditions (short term/long term)
· Existing conditions including economic, social and environmental stress
· Distribution of the impacts i.e. localised to specific groups/area or diffuse (short term/long term)
· Reversibility, notably for environmental impacts (short term/long term)
· Capacity to change: institutional and regulatory capacity to implement flanking measures
Scoring systems
The scoring notation to be used in recording the significance of each impact in an impact assessment table is as follows:
0 = non-significant impact compared with the base situation
1 = lesser significant impact (marginally significant, by itself, to the negotiation decision
but, if impact is negative, also a potential candidate for mitigation)
2 = greater significant impact (likely to be significant, by itself, to the negotiation decision.
If negative, merits serious consideration for mitigation)
+ = positive impact
± = positive and negative impacts likely to be experienced – net effect is uncertain and/or
varies according to context
-/+ = negative over an initial (specified) period of time but expected to become positive in the
longer term. The length of short and long time periods should be specified (and, where
appropriate, standardised) for this purpose. (sources IDPM (2002))
Reporting requirements
1. This entire process outlined below should be transparent and it should be clear in the study why certain choices were made.
2. Preliminary assessment should include
(i) an overall list of themes including brief description of the selection procedure
(ii) a list of indicators selected. For each indicator the following information is requested:
o Name
o Brief description
o Relevance (relevance to theme/sub theme, linkages with trade effect, with international targets)
o Reliability in measuring the needed parameters
o Credibility including results of consultations
o Measurement method : type of measure, unit
o Data availability
o Documentation references
3. Presentation of results using the template proposed in the below table.
Table 1: Template for presenting sustainability impacts
Dimensions/ Significance CriteriaSD pillar / SD Theme / Indicator / Overall Direction Magnitude / Existing
Conditions / Distribution / Reversibility / Capacity to
Change
Economic
Social
Environmental
Institutional
References:
United Nations Environmental Programme (2002) Global Environmental Outlook 3, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2001) , Environmental Outlook, OECD, Paris, France. ISBN 9264186158
Lowell Flanders, Assistant Director (UN Division for SD) at the conference Sustainable Development of Coastal Zones and Instruments for its Evaluation, Germany, 23-26 Oct, 2000.
European Environmental Agency
United Nations Statistics Division
World Bank (2004) World Development Indicators, World Bank, Washington D.C., USA
ISBN: 0-8213-5729-8
ESTAT (2003) Update of the Statistical Annex (annex 1) to the 2004 Report from the Commission to the Spring European Council Structural Indicators, Lisbon Strategy, European Union.
DiSano, J. Indicators of Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies, Commission for Sustainable Development, United Nations, New York, USA.
Anker, R. Chernyshev, I. Egger, P. Mehran, F and Ritter, J. (2002) Measuring Decent Work with Statistical Indicators, ILO Working Paper 2, Policy Integration Department, Development and Analysi Group, International Labour Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland
Schaible, W. (2000) Methods for producing world and regional estimates for selected key indicators of the labour market, Employment Paper 2000/6, Employment Sector, International Labour Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland
Annex 1
International Goals, Targets, and Standards Related to Themes and Sub-Themes of Indicators of Sustainable Development
SOCIALTheme / Sub-theme / Goals, Targets, and Standards
Equity / Poverty / i) Reduce proportion of people living in extreme poverty in developing countries by at least one-half by 2015 compared to 1990 (Copenhagen 95)
ii) Universal access to paid employment (Copenhagen 95)
iii) Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day (Millennium Development Goals)
iv) By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers (Millennium Development Goals)
Gender Equality / i) Eliminate discriminatory practices in employment (Beijing)
ii) Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015 (Millennium Development Goals)
Nutrition Status / i) Reduce severe and moderate malnutrition among under 5 year old children by 50% from 1990 to 2000 (New York 90, Copenhagen 95, Beijing 95, Rome 96)
ii) Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger (Millennium Development Goals)
Mortality / i) Reduce mortality rate for children under 5 years old by two-thirds of 1990 levels by 2015 (Cairo 94, New York 90)
ii) Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate (Millennium Development Goals)
iii) Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio (Millennium Development Goals)
Health / Sanitation / Universal access to sanitary waste disposal (Rio de Janeiro 92, Copenhagen 95, Beijing 95)
Drinking Water / Universal access to safe drinking water supply by 2025 (Rio de Janeiro 92, Copenhagen 95, Beijing 95)
HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases / i) Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS (Millennium Development Goals)
ii) Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases (Millennium Development Goals)
Healthcare Delivery / i) Universal access to primary health care and reproductive health services by 2015 (Cairo 94, Copenhagen 95, Beijing 95)
ii) Universal immunization against measles (New York 90)
iii) Universal access to safe and reliable contraceptive methods (Cairo 94)