Session 1: Need for environment statistics and Indicators

1. Session 1: Need for environment statistics and Indicators Workshop on Environment Statistics and Accounts 7 – 11 March 2011 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2. Outline of Presentation • I. Introduction • II. Regional and International environmental conventions • III. Thematic/topical international data collections • IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections

3. I. Introduction • Environment statistics and indicators are required at national, sub-regional, regional and global levels: • To monitor progress in national environmental policies  • To meet main types of regional / international requirements • To follow up on global conferences (CSD, MDGs) • To report to international and regional conventions • To respond to thematic/topical international data collections • To respond to comprehensive international environment statistics data collections

4. I. Introduction (cont’d) • The main regional and global conferences related to environment • Millennium Summit • Conference on Sustainable Development (CSD) • NEPAD Environment Initiative • Other Development related conference • Need of environment statistics: To monitor progress based on an agreed set of indicators

5. II. Regional and International environmental conventions • II. International environmental conventions and programmes that most African countries ratified included: • Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, Basel, 1989. • Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Stockholm, 2001. • Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, Rotterdam, 1998. • RamsarConvention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat, 1971.

6. II. Regional and International environmental conventions (cont’d) • Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, (CITES), Washington DC, 1973. • Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, Bonn, 1979. • Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage • Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), Paris, 1994. • Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Nairobi, 1992. • The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), New York, 1992.

7. II. Regional and International environmental conventions (cont’d) • Regional environmental conventions: • London Convention for the Protection of Wild Animals, Birds and Fish in Africa (1900) • African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1968) • Protocol on Protected Areas and Wild Flora and Fauna in Easter Africa Region (1985) • Convention for Cooperation in the Protection and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of West and Central African Region

8. II. Regional and International environmental conventions (cont’d) • Convention on Establishing a Permanent inter-state drought control committee for the Sahel • Bamako convention on the ban of the import into Africa and the control of trans-boundary movement and management of hazardous wastes within Africa • Lusaka agreement on cooperative enforcement operations directed at illegal trade in wild fauna and flora Need for environment statistics: To monitor compliance with regulations based on a prescribed set of data by national parties

9. III. Thematic/topical international data collections • Objective: To provide internationally comparable data based on standard questionnaires and methodology. The aim is not directly environmental but the data are used in environment statistics. • Examples: • UNSD:-Energy statistics, industrial commodity statistics, trade statistics, national accounts, demographic statisticsFAO • AQUASTAT (water) • FAOSTAT (agriculture, nutrition, fisheries, forestry, food aid, land use and population) • FISHSTAT (fisheries) • Etc.

10. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections • Objective: To provide internationally comparable statistics on environmental issues based on standard questionnaires and methodology at national level • UNSD/UNEP Questionnaire on Environment Statistics • OECD/Eurostat Questionnaire on the State of the Environment

11. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections (cont’d) Duplication of requests and related problems • International organizations may ask for the same or similar data/indicators, creating unnecessary burden on countries; • Equally, more than one national organization may collect (and provide to the international organizations) the same or similar data in parallel, ending up with diverging figures for the same country; • International organizations may use different concepts, definitions and classifications that end up with apparently duplicate data requests; • Deviations from the international definitions motivate organizations to manipulate country data to ensure comparability and as a result, there will be differences between data from international and national sources.

12. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections (cont’d) Consistency between questionnaires • UNSD/UNEP Questionnaire is consistent with the OECD/Eurostat Questionnaire • The UNSD questionnaire asks for less detailed information than the OECD/Eurostat questionnaire • The Water questionnaire is consistent with SEEAW (water accounts) • Any regional questionnaires should be consistent with UNSD/UNEP and OECD/Eurostat questionnaires

13. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections (cont’d) Coordination • Efforts to avoid duplication by using data available at international sources instead of asking it from the countries • Sometimes duplication is apparent and unavoidable (e.g. FAO land use statistics versus UNSD land use questionnaire) • International Coordination of Environment StatisticsUNSD is actively promoting coordination between international and regional organizations through the Inter-secretariat Working Group on Environment Statistics (IWG-ENV).

14. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections (cont’d) The main objective of the IWG-ENV: • Harmonization of international data and their collection. It focuses on: • Development and harmonization of methods; • concepts, definitions and classifications • Coordination of data collection • Coordination of training Members include: UNSD, UN-ECE, UNEP, FAO, OECD, Eurostat

15. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections (cont’d) UNSD/UNEP Questionnaire on Environment Statistics • 2004 Questionnaire included sections on: Air; Land; Waste; and Water • 2006 Questionnaire included sections on: Waste; and Water • 2008 Questionnaire includes sections on: Waste; and Water • 2010 Questionnaire includes sections on: Waste; and Water All the Questionnaires could be accessed at the UNSD website (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/Questionnaires/)

16. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections (cont’d) UNSD/UNEP Questionnaire Contents Waste 2010 • R1: Generation of Waste by Source • R2: Management of Hazardous Waste • R3: Management of Municipal Waste • R4: Composition of Municipal Waste • R5: Management of Municipal Waste – City Data • R6: Supplementary information sheet

17. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections (cont’d) Water 2010 • W1: Renewable Freshwater Resources • W2: Freshwater Abstraction • W3: Freshwater Available for Use • W4: Total water use • W5: Water Supply Industry (ISIC 36) • W6: Wastewater treatment facilities • W7: Population connected to wastewater treatmentW8: Supplementary information sheet

18. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections (cont’d) Air 2004 Emissions • A1: Emissions of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) • A2: Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) • A3: Emissions of Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compounds (NM-VOCs) • A4: Emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) • A5: Emissions of Methane (CH4) • A6: Emissions of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) • A7: Emissions of Lead (Pb) • A8: Supplementary Information Sheet for Emissions Data

19. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections (cont’d) Air Ambient air quality • A9: Annual Mean Concentrations of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) in Ambient Air • A10: Annual Mean Concentrations of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) in Ambient Air • A11: Annual Mean Concentrations of Suspended Particulate Matter (<10µm) (SPM10) in Ambient Air • A12: Supplementary Information Sheet for Ambient Air Quality Data

20. IV. Comprehensive international environment statistics data collections (cont’d) Land 2004 • L1: Land Use • L2: Area Affected by Soil Erosion • L3: Area Affected by Salinization • L4: Area Affected by Desertification • L5: Supplementary Information Sheet on the Land Section

21. V. Data Dissemination • Data collected by the Questionnaires are available at the UNSD website • ECA gets its environment data and indicators online from UNSD websites

22. VI. Conclusions The main requirements of environment statistics are to • Meet the data needs of users at national, regional and international levels • To report to regional and international conventions and conferences on the status of the environment • Data collection is undertaken in a coordinated manner • International organizations share available environment statistics and indicators among themselves • The response rate to the UNSD/UNEP Questionnaires is low, it needs improvement, • NSOs in collaboration with other stakeholders in countries need to fill the questionnaires with whatever available data

23. Thank You