In Search of Indicators of Sustainable Development

128 Pages·1991·3.58 MB·English

by  Harmen Verbruggen, Onno Kuik (auth.), Onno Kuik, Harmen Verbruggen (eds.)

IN SEARCH OF INDICA TORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Environment & Management
VOLUME 1
IN SEARCH OF
INDICATORS
OF SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
Edited by
Onno Kuik and Harmen Verbruggen
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
ISBN 978-94-010-5431-7 ISBN 978-94-011-3246-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-3246-6
coverphoto:
© Bram de Hollander
Printed on acid-free paper
AU Rights Reserved
© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1991
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1991
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
CONTENTS
ecaferP vii
.1 srotacidnI of elbaniatsus :tnempoleved na weivrevo 1
nemraH neggurbreV and onnO Kuik
.2 Towards elbaniatsus tnempoleved srotacidni 7
snaH Opschoor and Lucas Reijnders
.3 etoN no eht noitcerroc of lanoitan emocni rof latnemnorivne sessol 92
Roefie gniteuH and Peter Bosch
.4 PNG dna elbaniatsus emocni :serusaem emos smelborp dna a yaw tuo 93
Hans Opschoor
.5 larutaN ecruoseR :gnitnuoccA etatS of eht tra dna sevitcepsrep 54
for eht tnemssessa of sdnert ni elbaniatsus tnempoleved
paaJ Arntzen and Alison trebliG
.6 ehT evitciderp gninaem of ytilibaniatsus srotacidni 75
noeL Braat
.7 The ABEOMA hcaorppa sa a lufesu loot rof gnihsilbatse elbaniatsus 17
?tnempoleved
Ben net Brink
.8 Towards :ytilibaniatsus srotacidni of latnemnorivne ytilauq 98
saileH odU ed ,seaH netraaM piN and snarF njilK
.9 sruotnoC fo na detargetni latnemnorivne xedni rof noitacilppa ni 701
esu-dnal gninoz
Joop ed ,reoB yrraH ,gnikiA allE ,sremmaL areV Sol and Jan artsneeF
setoN on eht srotubirtnoc 121
tsiL of pohskrow stnapicitrap 521
iiv
Preface
nI 1989 the Dutch government published a lanoitaN Environmental Policy nalP hctuD(
abbreviation .)PMN This NMP is based on eht book nrecnoC for .worromoT a
national environmental survey yb MVIR eht( lanoitaN Institute fo Public htlaeH dna
Environmental Protection). A major conclusion of eht MVIR yduts saw taht emissions
of many pollutants had to be cut yb 07 - 09 % in order ot reach environmental
quality goals. The government accepted eht MVIR analysis dna consequently tneTUlC
Dutch environmental policy smia ta large reduction of .stnatullop Another conclusion
of the MVIR study saw that such hgih reduction goals would not be easy to eveihca
yb technological snaem ,enola dna taht suht structural changes would be .deriuqer
These changes could eventually dael ot sustainable development, which won smrof eht
major sucof of Dutch government lanoitan environmental .ycilop
This being ,os eht hctuD government requested taht MVIR ni subsequent issues of
nrecnoC for worromoT should investigate eht options for sustainable .tnempoleved
enO first step sah neeb to request eht Institute for Environmental Studies of eht eerF
University, ,madretsmA to organize owt workshops that would bring together scientists
from different disciplines to outline eht options for "measuring" sustainable
development. The papers resulting morf eht workshops have been put together ni eht
volume won before .uoy I ma convinced that the results of siht research era
interesting beyond eht sredrob of eht sdnalrehteN dna I ma therefore pleased taht eht
organizers of ellt spohskrow evah nekat eht evitaitini to translate dna hsilbup eht
.srepap Comments morf colleagues morf suoirav comers of eht dlrow era most
welcome dna may be sent ot eht .srotide
Leen Hordijk
Head Environmental Forecasting eciffO
lanoitaN Institute of cilbuP htlaeH dna Environmental Protection
.O.P xoB 1
3720 AB BILTHOVEN
The Netherlands
1
Indicators of sustainable :tnempoleved na overview
nemraH neggurbreV and onnO Kuik
sI" this country's or that region's economic performance more sustainable ni 1991
than ti was in 1891 ."? Finding measuring rods to answer questions ekil this one, ,saw
according to Opschoor dna Reijnders retpahC( ,)2 the loosely formulated objective of
the workshops that were organized in the fall of 1989 dna early 1990 by the Institute
for Environmental Studies of the Free University of Amsterdam at the request of the
Netherlands' National Institute of Public Health dna Environmental Protection .)MVIR(
The papers presented at these workshops, which were attended by both scientists dna
policy-makers, form the core of this publication. nI this introductory chapter ew try
to put the different contributions into perspective dna highlight some of the topics that
were discussed at the workshops.
The workshops were organized because, although 'sustainable development' si
becoming a key concept dna even a goal ni Dutch and international environmental
policy, there era no measuring rods or yardsticks to measure practical policy initiatives
against this .laog Unless there si some clear measure or at tsael some indicator of
sustainable development, the effectiveness of environmental or other policy towards
this goal can not be assessed. sA ten Brink (Chapter )7 points ,tuo it si not so hcum
that environmental information, no hcihw a policy of sustainable development tsum
be based, si ;gnissim it si the fragmentary, often qualitative and very detailed nature
of the information that hampers its direct usefulness ni policy making. What ew deen
si adequate information that si tailored to quantitative environmental objectives.
"Adequate" means information:
- which gives a clear indication whether objectives will be ,tem
- on the system sa a whole,
- of a quantitative character,
- understandable for non-scientists,
- containing parameters which can be used rof longer time periods.
The search for indicators of sustainable development means the search for ycilop
relevant and coherent environmental information which adheres ot these criteria. tuB
what exactly are indicators? In measurement theory the term indicator is used for
the empirical specification of concepts that cannot be )ylluf( operationalized on the
basis of generally accepted rules soV( te ,ia .)5891 Their primary function seil in
simplification: indicators era a compromise between scientific accuracy dna eht
2
demand for concise information. More specifically, indicators may be used for two
intertwined purposes :).dibi(
.1 planning: problem identification, allocation of socio-economic resources dna
policy assessment; and
.2 communication: notification ,)gninraw( mobilization and legitimation of policy
measures.
There era other ways to bring the threats to sustainable development to the attention
of economic planners. The best way would be to reach a lluf integration of economic
dna natural resource accounts. However, this is not readily achievable, due to lack of
data and sa yet unsolved methodological problems. Given this state of affairs, ti si
preferable to monitor sustainable development with a set of "quick and "ytrid
indicators. sA we have seen above, indicators are a compromise between scientific
accuracy dna the demand rof information.
Have the workshops been successful? ,seY inasmuch sa they contributed to the mutual
understanding of policy-makers and scientists of each other's needs dna possibilities
regarding sustainability indicators. Important questions regarding the type, dimensions,
scope dna construction of indicators were raised dna discussed. The quality of the
individual papers and the urgency of eht subject del ot the decision to present the
results of the workshops ot na international .ecneidua elIT workshops were not
successful inasmuch sa ew did not dnif eht measuring rod ot answer the sustainability
question; but siht could hardly be expected ta this stage where there si not neve
consensus on the exact operational meaning of the concept of sustainable development.
This does not mean, however, that we think that indicator development should tiaw
until the last questions about this concept have been answered: we see indicator
development and the operationalization of sustainable development sa a two-way,
cross-fertilizing activity.
What should be measured yb indicators of sustainable development? To answer the
question whether the development of a region or a nation si sustainable or ,ton ew
must first decide which developments era important for the sustainability .eussi sA
Opschoor and Reijnders (Chapter )2 point out, siht question has scientific as llew sa
ethical .selgna Do we just look at the sustainability conditions for the human species,
or do we include other species sa ?llew Although this point was not completely
settled, most workshop participants agreed that sustainability should not be defined
from a purely functionalist or 'narrow' economic perspective. The ecological
sustainability or viability of economic development saw stressed. nI siht interpretation,
the emphasis si on the preservation of prudently dna stringently defined environmental
capital to be passed on 'intact' to erutuf generations, sa a development .laitnetop
Environmental capital refers to the quantity dna quality of the natural resource esab
of a region. Indicators of sustainable development should take account of the
'integrity' of natural elements dna structures, dna of the 'diversity' of species dna
systems.
3
To eb erom ,esicerp a erusaem of elbaniatsus development dluohs include srotacidni
rof the erusserp morf yteicos no eht environment ,noitullop( resource ,)esu dna
indicators rof eht etats of eht tnemnorivne lacigoloce( integrity or .)ytisrevid-oib htoB
stes( )fo indicators should confront lautca swolf or setats with sustainable swolf or
.setats Opschoor dna srednjieR retpahC( )2 dna gniteuH dna Bosch retpahC( )3 ekat
these sustainable swolf dna states sa suonegoxe to eht indicator development :ssecorp
sustainable flows and setats ta emos point in time tsum eb defined yb stsitneics or
by the policy .ssecorp This sustainable 'reference' is, of ,esruoc critical to eht ytidilav
of the indicators. Opschoor dna srednjieR ekam ynam valuable suggestions no siht
.tcejbus The requirement that this 'reference' dluohs eb 'beyond doubt dna dispute'
,taarB( Chapter )6 smees to eb demia too hgih to evah hcum lacitcarp .gninaem
lanoitaN emocnI ,stnuoccA for ,ecnatsni evah neeb detupsid sa gnol sa yeht ;tsixe
nevertheless, they evah devres ynam lacitcarp .sesoprup
Braat retpahC( )6 setacovda a tahwemos tnereffid hcaorppa ni which lautca
developments ni the man-environment metsys era modelled ni a dynamic simulation
ledom to generate erutuf values for detceles socio-economic dna environmental
.selbairav ehT erutuf pattern of tnempoleved of these variables can then eb dessessa
to eb sustainable or .ton taarB stniop tuo taht ereht si not one sustainable ,erutuf tub
many different seno htiw different slevel of selbairav-yek ,noitalupop( ,emocni
environmental .)ytilauq morF eht set of elbissop sustainable ,serutuf a tes of
acceptable elbaniatsus serutuf must eb .detceles sihT selection tsum eb left to eht
political .metsys This is a challenging ,emmargorp .deedni ,revewoH nevig Braat's
general requirements that pertain ot srotacidni yeht- must eb evitcartta dna
representative, evah a scientific ,sisab dna eb -elbaifitnauq ti is siht last tnemeriuqer
)elbaifitnauq( ,hcihw ta least in eht trohs ,mret smees difficult to .teem
The same seilppa to na hcaorppa hcihw si based no larutaN ecruoseR gnitnuoccA
neztnrA( dna ,trebliG Chapter .)5 larutaN ecruoseR gnitnuoccA seeks to correct or
supplement eht system fo lanoitan )cimonoce( stnuocca htiw information no eht
quantity dna quality of larutan ,secruoser no the sisab of eht correct weiv taht a
nation's welfare si not only dependent nopu the quantity and quality of edam-nam
capital dna human resources, but osla no sti stock of natural .secruoser neztnrA dna
Gilbert give a very readable account of eht stpmetta taht evah neeb edam in suoirav
countries ,.g.e( ,yawroN )aisenodnI to etargetni larutan resources ni the prevailing
system of national .stnuocca However gnitalumits rieht ,noissucsid their conclusion
points to the fact that it cannot eb expected that larutaN Resource gnitnuoccA lliw
ni the short mret deeccus ni ylluf gnitargetni eht environment into eht cimonoce
.stnuocca
toN lla is dias dna done on this particular ,hcaorppa .revewoh gniteuH and hcsoB
(Chapter )3 etouq na Indonesian minister ,ohw gnieb confronted with the laciteroeht
problems in constructing a erusaem-yenom for environmental ,sessol :dekramer fI" a
4
theoretically sound indicator is not ,elbissop then dnif one that is rather ssel
theoretically ".dnuos The hcaorppa detacovda yb gniteuH dna hcsoB ,si sa they llac
,ti a practical solution rof a laciteroeht .ammelid The laciteroeht dilemma eht-
problems of a monetary noitaulav of sessol of environmental -snoitcnuf si denialpxe
both yb Hueting dna hcsoB dna yb Opschoor retpahC( ,)4 but their conclusions .reffid
Opschoor stcejer the monetary hcaorppa dna sesucof on dimensionless indicators
,snoitcarf( .)segatnecrep gniteuH dna hcsoB stick to a tahwemos( )deifilpmis yratenom
.hcaorppa Their disagreement is not os hcum ,laciteroeht but sah a practical .nigiro
They tend to disagree on eht ssenevisserpxe or attractiveness of the different stamrof
yratenom( susrev )yratenom-non rof ,srekam-ycilop dna especially rof economic
planners. This si na important ;eussi it dluow ekat erom laicos hcraeser to elttes eht
question whether dna to tahw extent cimonoce srennalp era erom desserpmi yb
monetary or non-monetary noitamrofni tuoba eht .tnemnorivne
These latnemadnuf questions dna elbissop sehcaorppa era dealt htiw ni eht tsrif evif
chapters of siht .emuloV The next eerht chapters era of a erom lacitcarp .erutan nI
Chapter ,7 ten Brink sebircsed na lacigoloce indicator which was developed ,rof dna
is yllautca desu ,yb hctuD water ,seitirohtua for eht purpose of gnitalumrof dna
evaluating slaog for the lacigoloib tnenopmoc of water .smetsys Ten knirB seugra taht
this indicator eht- dellac-os -ABEOMA could llew eb desu ni a rediw lacigoloce
context to provide a lufesu indicator rof elbaniatsus .tnempoleved gnitratS point of the
AMOEBA approach si eht noitalumrof of a ecnerefer situation rof a cificeps
ecosystem. sihT si a situation ni hcihw eht metsys sah ton ta ,lla or ylno ,ylthgils
been influenced by namuh .seitivitca The noitpmussa is edam that eht closer one
comes to the point of ,ecnerefer eht regral the guarantee rof ecological .ytilibaniatsus
The search rof ecological objectives -or sustainable -tnempoleved can eb decuder ot
the :noitseuq what is eht mumixam elbatpecca distance to the point fo ?ecnerefer ehT
reference is expressed ni ,srebmun distribution and/or htlaeh of a number of detceles
.seiceps ABEOMA depicts ,ecnerefer ,evitcejbo dna yad-tneserp situation ni na
attractive lacihparg .mrof
In Chapter 8 odU ed seaH et .la ssucsid eht possibilities of quantifying lacigoloce
objectives -sustainability -sdradnats rof terrestrial .smetsysoce ehT situation for
terrestrial ecosystems si erom detacilpmoc naht that rof citauqa smetsysoce esuaceb
for man-made ecosystems, ,.g.e larutlucirga ,dnal eht 'reference' cannot be dnuof ni
undisturbed .erutan An environmental ytilauq target tsum eb .detcurtsnoc fO ,esruoc
this target sah to relate to eht present or laitnetop snoitcnuf of eht aera .deredisnoc
On eht highest ,level a noitcnitsid si edam neewteb larutluc dna larutan .saera rehtruF
distinctions era made no eht sisab of a cihcrareih classification of .smetsysoce Targets
must be formulated for 62 ecodistrict sepyt ni eht .sdnalrehteN stegraT tsum relate ot
physical, chemical dna citoib .selbairav These variables tsum evah relevance rof
environmental policy, be predictable dna ,elbarusaem ,dna preferably, evah emos