Environment Statistics

Environment statistics describe the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the state of the environment and its
interaction with human activities and natural events by integrating data from a multitude of different subject areas
and sources. Environment statistics is an emerging statistical field in official statistics in most countries and it is
indispensable for evidence based policies and decision making to support sustainable development.

Environmental statistics and indicators agenda worldwide will include the new Sustainable
Development Goals, targets and indicators shaping the
for policy-making next international development monitoring framework,
which will undoubtedly require countries to produce a wide
The United Nations Conference on the Human range of environment statistics to compile relevant
Environment (Stockholm, June 1972) was the first global indicators.
conference to signal that environmental concerns had
increasingly become the subject of mainstream Milestones in the history of environment
socioeconomic policies.
statistics
The second major global conference in the environmental
field was the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (Rio de Janeiro, June 1992) where a The first initiatives pertaining to the development of
groundbreaking consensus was achieved that strategies environment statistics at the international level stemmed
of sustainable development should integrate from two meetings of the Economic Commission for
environmental issues into development plans and policies. Europe (ECE) in 1973. Given the global environmental
Specific recommendations by Agenda 21 to UNSD concerns, a draft programme of international work in
referred to the development and implementation of environment statistics was first submitted to the Statistical
integrated environmental and economic accounting and Commission at its eighteenth session in 1974.
indicators of sustainable development. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, while work at UNSD
In 2000 most countries signed the Millennium Declaration concentrated on conceptual frameworks for environmental
and committed themselves to reach the declaration’s statistics and indicators and on environmental-economic
goals and targets by 2015, including Goal 7 on accounting, the UN-ECE Statistics Division pioneered work
environmental sustainability, using 10 globally agreed on standard environment statistics classifications.
environmental indicators to monitor progress. Environment statistics programmes also started at OECD
and later at Eurostat, focusing on data collection and
The World Summit on Sustainable Development indicator development.
(Johannesburg, August 2002) put the emphasis on
reaching specific targets in specific time frames and In the late 1990’s UNSD embarked on data collection. The
monitoring progress, thus reaffirming the need for first global collection of environment statistics was
statistics, indicators and integrated information systems launched in 1999 and since then it has been conducted on
that measure and track progress. a biennial basis.

More recently, during the United Nations Conference on In 2010, following the request of the Statistical
Sustainable Development (Rio+20, Brazil, June 2012), Commission, UNSD started the revision of the 1984
Member States of the United Nations have addressed the Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics
necessary advancement in environmental information. Its (FDES 2013) including the establishment of the Basic and
outcome document, “The Future We Want”, contains Core Sets of Environment Statistics.
various references to the importance of environmental The Statistical Commission at its 44th session in February
data, information and indicators, that are highly relevant 2013 endorsed the revised FDES (including the Basic and
to the work of UNSD. Core Sets of Environment Statistics) as the framework for
Environmental and sustainable development assessment, strengthening environment statistics programmes in
climate change information and policy, discussions about countries, and recognized it as a useful tool in the context
ecosystems and biodiversity, the green economy and of sustainable development goals and the post-2015
measuring progress beyond GDP, are all developments development agenda. The Commission also endorsed the
that influence and will most likely continue to contribute to Action Plan and the establishment of an Expert Group on
increased demand for environmental statistics and Environment Statistics.
indicators. Beyond the MDGs, the post-2015 development
Framework for the Development of 6.
Environment
Protection,
2.
Environmental
Resources and
Environment Statistics and a Core Set of Management and
Engagement
their Use

Environment Statistics – FDES 2013 1.

Environmental
5.
Conditions and
Human 3.
Quality
UNSD developed a Framework for the Development of Settlements and Residuals
Environmental
Environment Statistics that was published in 1984 (FDES Health
1984). It presented a systematic approach to the 4.
organization and development of environment statistics. It Extreme Events
and Disasters
was accompanied by two technical reports which described
detailed sets of statistical variables within the FDES
entitled Concepts and Methods of Environment Statistics: The resulting FDES 2013 is a multi-purpose conceptual
Human Settlements Statistics published in 1988 and and statistical framework that is comprehensive and
Concepts and Methods of Environment Statistics: Statistics integrative in nature and marks out the scope of
of the Natural Environment published in 1991. The FDES environment statistics. It provides an organizing structure
1984 was considered a successful framework that has to guide the collection and compilation of environment
been used by many countries. statistics at the national level. It brings together data from
the various relevant subject areas and sources. It is broad
The Statistical Commission at its forty-first session in 2010 and holistic in nature, covering the issues and aspects of
endorsed a work programme to revise: a) the FDES 1984, the environment that are relevant for policy analysis and
based on improved scientific knowledge about the decision making by applying it to cross-cutting issues such
environment and new statistical requirements created by as climate change as well as the relation of agriculture to
emerging environmental policies and concerns; and b) to the environment.
develop a Core Set of Environment Statistics as part of the
FDES revision process. The process was led by UNSD The FDES 2013 organizes environment statistics into a
with the substantive contribution of the Expert Group on structure of six components, each of them broken down
the Revision of the FDES, which met four times and into sub-components and statistical topics, which in turn
worked remotely on a continued basis during the process. contain the individual environment statistics. It is structured
in a way that allows links to economic and social domains
The revision and development process (2010–2013) therefore facilitating further integration of information for
started with a review of different conceptual, analytical and analytical purposes.
indicator frameworks. It also included the analysis of
relevant international and country practices and data The objective of the Core Set of Environment Statistics
requirements created by international conventions, contained in the FDES 2013 is to serve as an agreed,
Multilateral Environmental Agreements and development limited set of environment statistics that are of high priority
goals. It required the consideration of current and and relevance to most countries. The Core Set is
foreseeable environmental and sustainable development organized and presented in accordance to the FDES 2013
information needs at all levels. The process also involved structure. The Core Set of Environment Statistics is
the consideration of different possible structures for actually Tier 1 of a greater (though not exhaustive) Basic
organizing the statistics about the environment into a multi- Set of Environment Statistics composed of three tiers
layered approach. The revision and development process according to the level of relevance, availability and
engaged a great variety of stakeholders represented by methodological development of the statistics.
producers and users of environment statistics from The FDES 2013 targets a wide user community. Though it
countries in all regions and at different stages of is relevant to, and recommended for use by countries at
development, as well as international organizations, any stage of development, its primary objective is to guide
specialized agencies and NGOs. As part of the process to countries at early stages in the development of their
develop the Core Set of Environment Statistics, more than environment statistics programmes. The audience at the
2,500 environmental indicators and statistics were national level includes environmental statisticians in
analyzed, in terms of relevance, statistical feasibility and national statistical offices (NSOs), environmental
methodological soundness. The resulting draft Core Set administration and management as well as other
was tested in 25 countries through a pilot exercise that producers of environment statistics in line ministries and
substantively improved it. Both the revised FDES and the sectoral authorities. The FDES 2013 helps to mark out the
Core Set were subjected to a Global Consultation process roles of the different data producers, thus facilitating inter-
in which 71 countries, areas and organizations sent their agency coordination.
valuable contributions and suggestions.
Implementation of the FDES 2013 and the compilation of environmental indicators from national
statistical services, based on a core set of indicators. UNSD
Expert Group on Environment Statistics embarked on the collection of environment statistics from
national statistical offices in 1999, covering all non-
th
The Statistical Commission at its 44 session endorsed the OECD/Eurostat countries. The data collection has since been
action plan for the implementation of the Framework in conducted on a biennial basis as part of UNSD’s data
countries. The action plan included the establishment of an collection programme. UNEP joined the data collection in
Expert Group on Environment Statistics to assist the 2004.
Statistics Division in methodological work such as the The 2013 round of data collection is currently being finalized
development of (i) a methodological manual for the Core Set and the complete results from this round will be disseminated
of Environment Statistics that will provide detailed guidance on the UNSD website.
built upon existing resources where available; (ii) an
environment statistics self-assessment tool; and (iii) The UNSD/UNEP Questionnaire on Environment Statistics
guidelines to establish and strengthen environment statistics covers the areas of water, air, land and waste. The last five
programmes in countries. data collections have focused on water and waste.
Response rates vary strongly by region. The best response
The Expert Group on Environment Statistics (EGES) was rates have been from Eastern Europe, Latin America and the
established in December 2013. Complementary statistical Caribbean, and Asia. Africa and the Pacific show low
tools of the FDES currently under development by the EGES response rates.
include: the Environment Statistics Self-Assessment Tool
(ESSAT), the Manual on the Basic Set of Environment While the number of countries responding with data to the
Statistics containing detailed methodological guidance and Questionnaire has increased since 1999, many countries still
metadata for the different component, sub-components and have only scattered data and are able to respond only for a
its individual environment statistics, and the Handbook to Set limited number of variables.
Up/Strengthen Environment Statistics Programmes at the Following a thorough
National Level. validation process, selected
The FDES 2013 has been used by countries to assess the data sets, together with data
state of their environment statistics as well as to plan their from OECD, Eurostat and
future strategies; it has been applied as a basis for capacity other sources, are published
building and technical assistance by UNSD and partner by UNSD through two main
agencies, and has also been used by consultants assisting web-based products: the
countries, regions, and sub-regions to develop and UNSD Environmental
strengthen environment statistics. Indicators and Country
Snapshots, as well as
Countries more recently developing their environment through contributing
statistics programmes are using its structure and guidance to selected tables to UNdata.
organize their own statistical databases and compendia of
environment statistics (following the FDES 2013 structure of
components, sub-components and statistical topics). The Ten themes have been selected to organize the current set of
FDES 2013 has been very helpful in providing guidance for UNSD Environmental Indicators: Air and Climate;
countries on how to organize and develop environment Biodiversity; Energy and Minerals; Forests; Governance;
statistics that are multi-purpose, providing descriptive Inland Water Resources; Land and Agriculture; Marine and
statistics and indicators, substantiating reports, and feeding Coastal Areas; Natural Disasters; and Waste.
into integrated environmental-economic accounts.
The Country Snapshots include many of the indicators from
There have now been many cases where the FDES 2013 the UNSD Environmental Indicators list, as well as other
has been successfully implemented in countries by National economic and demographic background information.
Statistical Offices, Ministries of Environment or very often by
the two institutions in cooperation with one another as well
as with other institutions. Several national, sub-regional and Technical cooperation and capacity
regional workshops with or without the presence of UNSD building
have aided the implementation process.

During the last two decades, UNSD has been committed to

Collection and dissemination of global technically assist countries in the field of environmental
environment statistics and indicators statistics and indicators, and has conducted various
specialized regional, sub-regional and national workshops,
seminars and training courses around the world. UNSD has
The Statistical Commission in 1995 approved the proposal by constructed partnerships to build capacities in the different
the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Advancement regions and sub-regions working closely with the UN
of Environment Statistics that UNSD carry out a global
Regional Commissions and other regional and sub-regional Working Group on Environment Statistics (IWG-ENV) to
institutions. A wide range of practitioners from NSOs, coordinate and harmonize methodological work, data
environmental ministries and sectoral authorities involved in collection, dissemination, training and capacity building
the production of environment statistics have participated in programmes in environment statistics. The permanent
these capacity building activities over the years. members of the IWG-ENV are those organizations that
have well-established international programmes on
Currently, environment statistics capacity building activities
environment statistics (current members are UNSD, UN-
are being supported by the regular budget as well as by two
ECE, UN-ECLAC, UN-ESCWA, UNEP, OECD, Eurostat
Development Account projects: “Supporting developing
and FAO). The IWG-ENV also works through thematic
countries measure progress towards achieving a Green
sub-groups as needed.
Economy” (2014-2015), and “Supporting Member States in
developing and strengthening environment statistics and
integrated environmental-economic accounting for improved
monitoring of sustainable development” (2014-2017).
Information on the Web
Previously, technical assistance in environment statistics
through statistical capacity building Development Account
projects was provided in the CARICOM, ESCWA and The FDES 2013 is currently undergoing official English
ECOWAS regions. Within these projects, several activities editing. The unedited version is available here:
were undertaken including workshops, inter-country study http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/fdes.htm
tours, and direct technical assistance to selected countries.
A brochure describing the developments and the use of
A major output of the CARICOM project was a regional the FDES 2013 is available in all the six UN languages at:
publication entitled The CARICOM Environment in Figures http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/fdes.htm
2002. The CARICOM Secretariat has launched a regular
data collection programme in environment statistics and the
third regional compendium is planned for 2013. UNSD has ENVSTATS, Environment Statistics News and Notes
continued to provide technical assistance in this subject to provides information about national, regional and
the CARICOM Secretariat and its Member States. international events and developments in environment
statistics. It is published twice a year and is available at
The ESCWA and ECOWAS projects resulted in the http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/newsletters.htm
publication of detailed assessments of the situation of
environment statistics in the countries of these two regions. For more information on ongoing methodological work in
environment statistics, questionnaires, indicators, country
A strategic Framework for Strengthening Capacity in the data, access to data sources and publications, visit
Development and Institutionalization of Environment http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/default.htm
Statistics in the ECOWAS Region was developed and is
being implemented by the ECOWAS Secretariat. The
ECOWAS Secretariat has started data collection in
environment statistics from its Member States and UNSD Contact address
continues to assist the Secretariat in this regard.

Environment Statistics Section

Coordination of international activities in United Nations Statistics Division
environment statistics 2 UN Plaza, DC2-1418
New York, NY 10017, United States
Fax: + 1 212 963 0623
The Statistical Commission at its thirty-fourth session in E-mail: [email protected]
2003 empowered UNSD to convene an Intersecretariat