review paper

How to measure the

Sustainable

Development Goals

in Central Europe?

Lucas Porsch, Terri Kafyeke, Jiayi Yuan

NETGREEN Policy Brief No. 2 / 4 August 2015

Deliverable D4.2

AUTHOR(S)

Mr Lucas Porsch, Ecologic Institute

Ms Terri Kafyeke, Ecologic Institute

Ms Jiayi Yuan, Ecologic Institute

With thanks to:

Chris Hopkins, Green Economy Coalition

Project coordination and editing provided by Ecologic Institute.

Manuscript completed in August 2015.

This document is available on the Internet at: http://netgreen-project.eu/deliverables

Document title NETGREEN Policy Brief No.2

Work Package

Document Type

Date 4 August 2015

Document Status

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & DISCLAIMER

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union

FP7 ENV.2013.6.5: progress towards the Green Economy - under the grant agreement n°

603877.

Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission

is responsible for the use which might be made of the following information. The views

expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not

necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized, provided

the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy.

3 ::

1 :: Executive summary

The international community is currently celebrating the outcomes of the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and simultaneously preparing to pursue

the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new set of goals may be

universal, but different countries will have different perceptions, priorities and

strategies to attain and implement them by 2030. Consequently, different

states will require different sets of indicators to monitor their progress in the

next fifteen years.

The SDGs are more elaborate than their predecessors, with 17 goals and 169

targets. This exhaustive set of objectives was designed to build upon the work

done in the context of the MDGs while being more tailored to the different

realities of different countries and putting greater emphasis on environmental

matters. The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) is still in the

process of preparing a list of global and national indicators to monitor progress

towards the SDGs.It is expected to be signed off at the 47 th

UNSC annual

conference in NY in March 2016. There should be around 100 Global

Monitoring indicators, but they cannot be relevant for all countries and all

policy problems.

Indicators are useful tools to measure progress towards a policy objective, but

they come with inherent challenges. Policy-makers and those who advise them

need to select the right indicators from a seemingly infinite list of options,

combine them with the right complementary indicators and interpret them

correctly. Failing to do so may lead to a distorted picture of reality. There is no

“one size fits all” solution to this: each policy context calls for its own set of

indicators that reflect its socio-economic context and political priorities.

The Measuring Progress tool was designed to help policy-makers (and those

wishing to influence them) construct their set of green economy indicators. The

NETGREEN project team has not only built an inventory of green economy

indicators, but embedded this information in a unique interactive structure that

enables the users to easily identify indicators, combine them and interpret

them correctly. The online tool is available on Measuring-Progress.eu

During the remaining project months, the NETGREEN team aims to identify

research gaps in the green economy indicator field, in addition to testing the

tool with target users. Measuring Progress will grow and evolve based on user

feedback and indicator needs, which tend to change rapidly in the policy world.

2 :: Introduction

At last, the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have

reached their target date. The initiative has led to impressive results 1

during its

fifteen years of implementation, and it is currently being hailed as the most

successful anti-poverty movement in history. Meanwhile, the international

community is preparing to redirect this impulse towards the next challenge: the

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

While all nations are concerned by this new set of targets, it would be a mistake

to ignore the enormous differences that still exist between countries. This

heterogeneity leads to extremely different perceptions of the goals and of their

relative importance within the set. This, in turn, affects which indicators would

be most appropriate to measure a country’s progress towards the goals. Each

country will have to focus on a few indicators for communication purposes. In

this policy brief, we argue that the Measuring Progress tool can facilitate the

indicator selection process that countries must go through in order to monitor

their progress towards the SDGs.

In Section 3, some background information on the SDGs and their indicators is

provided. Section 4 follows with a brief discussion on the use of indicators to

monitor progress and associated difficulties. Finally, Section 5 will present

Measuring-Progress.eu, an interactive online tool aiming to facilitate indicator

selection. This section includes a case study walking the user through the tool.

The policy brief is based on insights from the NETGREEN research project 2

as

well as an expert workshop on the SDGs and indicators.

1 Some key results can be viewed here:

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20PR%20Key%20F acts%20Global.pdf

2 The project is described in subsection 5.1.

5 ::

3 :: The UN Sustainable Development

Goals – an overview

3.1 History, background and objective

As the Millennium Development Goals have reached their 2015 target date, the

United Nations initiated a new opportunity to enhance the global solidarity

against poverty and partnership for sustainable development. From its

Campaign in 2002 to the present stage of acceleration, the MDGs have

galvanized international endeavor towards issues ranging from extreme hunger

to environmental sustainability. To carry on the momentum generated and

speed up the progress towards the goals and the targets, a post-2015 agenda,

encapsulated in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, was proposed and

offered to the international community as an opportunity to strengthen the

global partnership for development.

In addition to inheriting the global partnership established by MDG Goal 8 3

, the

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also charged to tackle aspects where

the MDGs were shorthanded. While MDGs target the world’s poorest and the

vulnerable, the SDGs extend the target horizontally and vertically to citizens of

developing and developed countries, of today and tomorrow. Compared to the

MDGs, the new proposal carries the definition of equity of mankind onto the

next level that ensures sustainable development from all social, economic and

environmental aspects. SDGs also put forward an agenda more fitted for

concrete actions. Despite its unprecedented, spearheading framework, the MDG

8 has weaknesses calling for a new proposal that will fill in the gaps between

the Goals and their implementations. With more elaborated measurement

strategies and a universally applicable guideline, the SDGs point out a clear

path for all Member States for immediate and far-reaching actions.

The MDGs have set out the backdrop for a stage of international commitment

to sustainable development. The renewed global partnership guided by the

SDGs will continue to nurture positive globalization, integrate the original

initiatives and targets, as well as address both the persistent and emerging

challenges of the evolving world.

3.2 Overview of the main goals

Mandated by the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) outcome

document, The future we want (2012), the SDGs engage the UN and its partners

in a continuing round of commitment with the new target year 2030. Poverty

3 The 8

th Goal in the Millennium Development Goals is to develop a global partnership for

development. An elaboration on the MDG 8 and the rest of the Goals can be found at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/global.shtml.

eradication, changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of

consumption and production and protecting and managing the natural resource

base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives of this

renewed global partnership. The SDGs will be accompanied by a robust system

of implementation, larger mobility in access to material as well as intellectual

resources, and targets evaluated with indicators of measurable outcomes.

The SDGs lay out 17 goals with 169 targets built upon the MDGs, aiming at the

ultimate aspiration of global sustainable development. The global vision

delivered with these goals takes different nation’s developmental realities into

consideration and provides a universal guideline that is applicable to all nations

yet tailored to their specific stage of development. Following the principle of

common but differentiated responsibilities, the Goals and the Targets assign

accountability to all countries and leave no-one out of the international

enabling environment that the SDGs endeavor to create. With a more detailed

and ambitious context, the SDGs range from poverty eradication to revitalizing

the global partnership required for the future vision of development. A full

elaboration on the Goals and the Targets can be found on the UN Department

of Economic and Social Affair’s website for Sustainable Development. 4

Table 1. Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote

sustainable agriculture

Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong

learning opportunities for all

Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation

for all

Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy

for all

Goal 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and

productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable

industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and

sustainable

Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

4 United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development

Knowledge Platform. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html. 26/05/2015.

7 ::

Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*

Goal 14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources

for sustainable development

Goal 15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,

sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and

reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development,

provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and

inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global

partnership for sustainable development

3.3 The SDG indicators

With the 17 Sustainable Development Goals ahead, the Open Working Group on

the SDGs (OWG) and Member States are on a tight agenda to make their first

step towards meeting the target. It is clear that from the experience of MDGs,

indicators and reliable data collection are important monitoring tools to keep

all Member States headed in the right direction. From now through September,

while they review the Goals and Targets before the official adoption, Members

States will assemble a monitoring mechanism that is going to ensure a global

partnership and shared responsibility among all nations throughout the 15

years of SDG implementation.

The integrated indicator framework for the SDGs, despite not yet being in its

refined state, has been agreed upon by Member States to lay out a blueprint

where different levels of monitoring will complement each other. This

framework will be headed by national level indicators, and complemented by

indicators on global, regional, and thematic levels. 5

In the most recent indicator

report by Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a set of 100

Global Monitoring Indicators (GMI) are suggested—each Goal is accompanied

with 2 to 14 GMIs as well as a separate list of recommended Complementary

National Indicators (or National Monitoring Indicators, NGI). The GMIs align with

and are categorized by their corresponding SDGs.

These globally harmonized indicators set up the guideline for review at the

High Level Political Forum and are generally applicable to every country. While

the GMIs are identical for all nations, national monitoring varies depending on

each nation’s reality. Lists of National Monitoring Indicators are recommended

in the last report, and it is then an individual nation’s decision to select the

indicators most pertinent to its needs. The four levels of monitoring together

5,4 SDSN. (2015). Indicators and a Monitering Framework for the Sustainable Development Goals. Launching a data revolution for the SDGs.

For a complete description of the four levels of monitoring, please go to http://unsdsn.org/resources/publications/indicators/.

cover all three dimensions of economic development, social inclusion and

environmental sustainability as laid out in the SDGs. The GMIs and the

suggested NMIs are composed to inspire and provide principles for further

brainstorming of implantation measures that caters better to each nation and

region’s developmental stage.

A list of indicators from Goal 12 of SDGs is provided beneath for reference. A

complete list of the 100 GMIs and complementary NGIs can be found in SDSN

2015. 4

Indicators for Goal 12 are selected to be included as samples because

they are the most relevant to the demonstration given in Chapter 3 on how to

use measuring-progress.eu.

Table 2. Suggested SDG Indicators Arranged by Goals. Goal 12: Ensure sustainable

consumption and production patterns

Potential and Indicative Global Indicator

Potential lead

agency or agencies

Other goals

indicator applies to

Disclosure of Natural Resource Rights Holdings EITI, UNCTAD, UN Global Compact

15, 16, 17

Global Food Loss Index [or other indicator to be developed to track the share of food lost or wasted in the value chain after harvest]

FAO 2, 11

Consumption of ozone-depleting substances (MDG Indicator)

UNEP Ozone Secretariat

9

Aerosol optical depth (AOD) UNEP 9, 11, 13

[Share of companies valued at more than [$1 billion] that publish integrated monitoring] – to be developed

Global Compact, WBCSD, GRI, IIRC

8, 17

Complementary National Indicators: 12.1. [Strategic environmental and social impact assessments required] – to be developed 12.2. [Legislative branch oversight role regarding resource-based contracts and licenses]-to be developed 12.3. [Indicator on chemical pollution] – to be developed 12.4. CO2 intensity of the building sector and of new buildings (KgCO2/m2/year) 12.5. [Indicator on policies for sustainable tourism] – to be developed 12.6. [Indicator on sustainable public procurement processes] – to be developed

With such a large number of indicators, it is challenging to select the right

ones. Policy-makers, NGOs, journalists and other stakeholders wishing to use

indicators often do not have time to consider and weigh all the options.

Nonetheless, neglecting the importance of indicator selection would be a

considerable mistake.

9 ::

4 :: Measuring Sustainable Development

with Indicators

4.1 The importance of measurement

2015 marks the transition into a new set of goals, together laying an ambitious

and challenging path ahead. In realizing the Sustainable Development Goals,

the first step is to know where the world is today, and then where each step we

make from this point on is taking us to. This progression cannot be achieved

without choosing suitable measuring tools that give direct feedbacks.

Therefore, measurement plays a preliminary role in the kickoff stage in the

post-MDG agenda, a developmental role throughout the march towards the

next target date, and an analytical role at the commencing stage between the

current and future policies. 6

Following the UN Millennium Declaration in 2000, 60 relevant indicators 7

were

chosen and applied to track progress of the global commitment to the

Declaration. During the 15 years of implementing MDGs, progress was

measured and published annually by the Secretary-General to the General-

Assembly. Because of the monitoring function measurements served, this

process enabled the UN to spot the need of 4 additional targets in 2005 to

supplement the Goals.

Measurements have successfully helped put the vision of MDGs into practice,

identify areas of weaknesses, and propose a renewed agenda for the post-2015

world. In the next challenge we face, measurements and indicators will

continue to facilitate innovations in the SDGs to have their intended impact.

6 UNEP. (2014). Using Indicators for Green Economy Policymaking. In the guideline provided

by the UN in its Green Economy paper, the use of indicators are described in details in all stages of an integrated policymaking process, namely the issue identification and agenda setting, policy formulation and assessment, decision-making, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation stage.

7 A list of MDG indicators can be found here

http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Host.aspx?Content=Indicators/OfficialList.htm

4.2 The challenges of measurement

Indicators are an essential tool for policy makers to identify and prioritize

issues to target initially, and compare and assess policy approaches in later

stages. However, they are associated with unavoidable challenges which

complicate the task of selecting, combining and interpreting them. This is

further exacerbated by the fact that, unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all”

solution: each specific policy issue or challenge requires its own set of

indicators in order to lead to meaningful conclusion.

4.2.1 Selecting the right indicator

The agony of choice is a common problem in the indicator world; policy makers

are faced with a seemingly infinite list of indicators. The NETGREEN project

consortium identified over 2000 indicators relevant to the green economy 8

.

Even within a specific theme, there are plenty of indicators which present

differences in their scopes, purposes, sources, etc. Knowing which ones to use

for a particular policy issue is therefore a delicate task.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) suggested

three criteria that make “a good indicator” in its 2011 report on progress

monitoring. Policy relevance, analytical soundness, and measurability together

describe the basic principles of assessing the quantitative and qualitative

indicators. Policy makers can thus validate their choice of indicators that abide

by this standard and dismiss those that do not. 9

Although this is a useful guideline, it should be noted that the performance of

an indicator in these three criteria will significantly vary from one country to

another. For example, an indicator may be policy relevant in Germany but not in

China. Similarly, an indicator might be easily measurable in France but not in

Romania due to missing data. It is therefore impossible to identify an indicator

that is “universally good”.

8 More details in section 5.1

9

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (OECD). (2011). Towards

Green Growth: Monitoring Progress. Paris: OECD.

11 ::

4.2.2 Relationships of indicators

Many issues and targets from the SDGs are interconnected. A specific

environmental problem, for example, can have an influence on social and

economic dimensions in addition to the environmental one. Therefore, it is

necessary to examine the causal relationship between problems before

implementing policies in order to most efficiently orchestra the entire system

rather than filling in one of the holes. Indicators, correspondingly, are also in

direct or indirect, positive or negative relationship with one another. By sorting

out the causes and impacts and matching them to their indicators, policy

makers can achieve a better understanding of what is going on and what kind

of interference needs to take place as they identify and prioritize issues. The

UNEP guideline on Using Indicators for Green Economy Policymaking provides a

step-by-step instruction on mapping the related key indicators in the system of

interest. 10

4.2.3 Risk of misinterpretation

A misinterpreted indicator can be worse than not picking the right indicator.

Before drawing conclusions from data, caution should be taken to understand

what the numbers are pointing to. An example is given in OECD’s 2011 report

on Green Growth to distinguish the difference between energy productivity and

the efficiency in the use of energy of a country, when using indicators to assess

progress towards green growth. 11

In addition, the same report also points out

that an indicator does not stand by itself— it is to be read in connection with

other indicators and be complemented with additional information. Taken out

of context, an indicator is rendered valueless.

10 This procedure producing CLD, a Causal Loop Diagram, is described in the 2014 publication

“Using Indicators for Green Economy Policymaking.”

11 OECD (2011).

Choosing the right indicators

Anna Karnikova, Head of the Sustainable Development Unit of the

Office of the Government of the Czech Republic reported on the

Czech sustainable development strategy during a workshop

organized by NETGREEN on 8 May 2015 in Berlin.

She mentioned that one of the challenges of working with

indicators was knowing how to choose the right ones, that are

relevant and measurable. In addition, she said it would be useful

to know which indicators are best suited for which purpose

(policy-making, communicating to the public, etc.)

An indicator should not be avoided solely because it risks being misinterpreted.

In fact; several misinterpretations can be outshined by using a complementary

indicator.

4.2.4 The risk of an incomplete set of indicators

While indicators can assist with monitoring policy implementation, the

concluding image formed can be distorted with certain overlooked pieces of

information. The capability construct connections between causes and results

enables the initial decision making process on selecting indicators for

measurement. However, within the dense socio-economic network, the stage of

development of one branch is interconnected with varies others; an exclusive

view with missing pieces yield a misguided conclusion. For example, an

increasing annual net earning can be concluded as improved personal economic

situation, while the soaring cost of living, once included into the calculation,

will demonstrate the opposite. In the context of sustainable development, a

comprehensive set of indicators should concern all social, economic and

environmental aspects.

Contributors and counter-contributors and their related indicators might be

scattered in an unseen pathway anywhere around the policy of measurement

interest. Hence, an intuitive search that does not grant considerations to all

contributing factors gives rise to misleading data and inappropriate policy

analysis. To avoid this series of mistake, policy makers and organizations

should be advised with an inclusive list of indicators while measuring the

progress of development.

Indicators as a weapon

R. Andreas Kraemer, founder and former director of Ecologic

Institute, told highlighted that indicators are now often used as

weapons during a workshop organized by NETGREEN on 8 May

2015 in Berlin. Indicators are sometimes intentionally misused in

order to emphasize a point of view.

13 ::

Another challenge: financial resources

Beata Maciejewska, Commissioner of the Mayor of the City of

Sł upsk (Poland) for Sustainable Development and Green

Modernization of the City, told participants about her experience

in a rural municipality during a workshop organized by NETGREEN

on 8 May 2015 in Berlin.

Beata Maciejewska underlined financial means as the main barrier

preventing some cities from implementing a good green economy

strategy. She mentioned that her municipality has considered

applying for a Green Capital award as a means of being measured,

as candidate city are evaluated on various criteria.

5 :: Measuring-Progress.eu

5.1 The NETGREEN project

As a result of the issues mentioned above and in an effort to pursue the Beyond

GDP agenda 12

, six institutions from five different EU Member States 13

came

together for a European Commission-funded project: NETGREEN, NETwork for

GREEN economy indicators. The project began in September 2013 and the final

conference will take place in Brussels on September 30 th

2015.

The goal of NETGREEN is to accelerate progress towards the green economy by

facilitating the informed use of relevant indicators. In the context of the project,

the green economy is defined as an economy that operates without infringing

environmental limits 14

. Concretely, the project team aims to simplify the correct

use and interpretation of green economy indicators for stakeholders from

different countries and governance levels. This is done through the

development and promotion of an interactive online indicator database.

In order to create this database, the NETGREEN consortium first performed a

stocktacking exercise in order to identify the different pathways towards the

green economy and to list the most important indicator initiatives. To do so,

the NETGREEN team interviewed 55 experts in the field and carefully analyzed

92 green economy papers from reputable sources. Over 2000 green economy

indicators were considered for inclusion in the database.

The NETGREEN consortium then proceeded to narrow down the indicator list to

a more manageable number of “main indicators”. For these indicators, a

completed fact sheet was filled out. The NETGREEN fact sheet contains basic

information about the indicator (unit, geographical coverage, link tot data, etc.)

in addition to more practical information to help policy-makers use the

indicators: related indicators, misinterpretation risks, complementary

indicators, and so forth.

Finally, the NETGREEN team designed a user-friendly online tool featuring these

indicators and connecting them to keywords, green economy topics as well as

other indicators. The interactive tool is called Measuring Progress and is

available online at www.measuring-progress.eu.

12 Read more about the Beyond GDP initiative here:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/beyond_gdp/index_en.html

13 Ecologic Institute (Germany; lead partner), New Economics Foundation (United Kingdom),

Fundacao da Faculdade de Ciencias et Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), LEI – Wageningen UR (Netherlands), Centre for European Policy Studies (Belgium), Green Economy Coalition (UK).

14 Deliverable 2.1

15 ::

5.2 Status quo and upcoming developments

To date, Measuring Progress contains 260 fully described indicators, as well as

200 additional indicators with essential information. The additional indicators

are related to the main ones either as related/similar indicators or as

complementary ones that help avoid common misinterpretation mistakes.

These indicators are linked to over 900 keywords through a Green Economy

topic tree containing 102 topics.

Measuring Progress provides three different search paths to reflect the different

backgrounds, experience levels and needs of its users.

 The Keyword Search is quick, user-friendly, and simple. The user enters a

term of interest (e.g. "green jobs", "poverty", or "biodiversity") and

immediately receive suggestions of related indicators from the database.

 The Topic Search function was designed to help the experienced user find indicators of interest within a specific green economy topic by

exploring a structured topic tree. It is also useful for users who do not

have a keyword in mind and want to learn more about the topics

included in the green economy field.

 If you could not find the keyword you had in mind, or your topic of interest, it is also possible to search with a free text a search. Like any

search engine, the website will then look for the term of your choosing in

the whole information base on the website.

Measuring Progress is a one-stop shop for green economy indicators. On this

website, the user may not only find fact sheets for indicators, but the

interlinkages between indicators, green economy topics and keywords are

included. In addition, misinterpretation risks were identified for the fully

described indicators and for each of these, complementary indicators were

recommended. The user may enter the website with a policy issue and leave it

with a customized indicator selection that will allow him to measure this issue

in a logically sound way that fits the political and social context of his work.

In the final months of the project, the NETGREEN team organized thematic

workshops to promote dialogue between green economy stakeholders and

started conducting a gap analysis to identify topic areas lacking indicators. In

addition, a user group is currently testing the research database in order to

identify features with a potential for improvement.

“Measuring Progress can help cities

capitalize on work that has been done and

help them get to their objectives quickly.”

--Jan Bakkes, PBL Netherlands

Environmental Assessment Agency

5.3 Case Study: Measuring Progress towards the

SDGs

The following case study illustrates how Measuring Progress can be a useful

tool to help countries measure their progress towards the UN Sustainable

Development Goals.

A German consultant wants to assess her country’s progress towards the

Sustainable Development Goals for a short presentation abroad. Due to the

broad scope of the SDGs, she decides to focus on Goal 12: Ensure Sustainable

Consumption and Production Patterns. She consults the UN’s list of suggested

SDG indicators 15

. She notices that for target 12.6 (”encourage companies,

especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices

and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle”), the two

suggested indicators are in development. She wonders whether any indicators

already in existence could help her evaluate Germany’s performance in this

field.

The consultant enters www.measuring-progress.eu in her internet browser and

lands on the Measuring Progress homepage.

Measuring Progress homepage

15 http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/FINAL-SDSN-Indicator-Report-Table-2.pdf

17 ::

The consultant sees that there are three search options: Keyword Search, Topic

Search and Fulltext Search. After reading the short descriptions for each option,

she decides to go for the keyword search as she has a specific keyword in mind

(“eco-industry”). She clicks on keyword search and is redirected to a search

engine. She starts typing “eco-indus” in the search bar and spots “eco-industrial

development” among the auto-complete suggestions. She clicks on that

keyword as it seems most relevant to the implication of SDG target 12.6.

The website generates a list of suggested indicators. For each indicator, she

sees a box containing the name and the source as well as a “Show details” link.

When she clicks on ”Show details”, the box slightly expands, showing

additional information such as the definition of the indicator, a direct link to

data, a link to related indicators, a link to possible interpretation pitfalls and a

bar chart showing how many green economy topics the indicator covers.

Keyword search results with one expanded indicator

She looks through the suggested results, expanding some of them to see more

basic information on the indicator. She finds the indicator Organisations and

sites with EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) registration interesting

and clicks on “Go to full view”, which leads her to the full fact sheet of that

indicator.

She reads the detailed information about the indicator and decides it could be

useful to measure Germany’s progress towards target 12.6, indicator 76 [Share

of companies valued at more than [$1 billion] that publish integrated

monitoring], which is marked as “to be developed” by SDSN. The indicator looks

promising so she adds it to her indicator selection by clicking on “Select”.

It is the end of the working day so she saves her indicator selection under the

name “Target 12.6”.

On the next morning, she logs into her Measuring Progress account and finds

her indicator under “My collections”. She wants help determining whether that

indicator is appropriate for target 12.a so she prints out the fact sheet to

discuss it her co-workers over lunch.

The consultant goes back to the UN’s list of suggested indicators for the SDGs

and looks at target 12.4 on the management of chemicals and wastes. The

indicator Consumption of ozone-depleting substances is recommended. As she

found the indicator fact sheets very useful on Measuring Progress, she wonders

if the website could help her properly use this indicator.

She returns on www.measuring-progress.eu and chooses the Fulltext Search

option, as she knows exactly what she is looking for. She types in “ozone

depleting” and hits the Search button. Sure enough, Consumption of ozone-

depleting substances appears as the very first result. She clicks on the indicator

name and lands on the fact sheet of that indicator.

She spends the next few minutes reading about the indicator. She finds a direct

link to data, reads about the methodology of the indicator and takes notes of

misinterpretation pitfalls that she had not considered. She adds the indicator to

her new collection, which she saves under the name “Target 12.4”.

19 ::

With her co-worker, she will make a final indicator selection for her presentation

and retrieve the data through the direct links to data that are provided on the

website. She recommends the website to her co-workers who are preparing

presentations on the other SDGs.

6 :: Conclusion

The international community has received a detailed strategy to work towards a

healthier and fairer planet: the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Naturally,

these ambitious targets come with a set of challenges, particularly in regard to

monitoring. Different countries have profoundly different realities which will

affect their approach towards the SDGs and consequently their indicator needs.

Measuring-Progress.eu, an interactive online tool, aims to solve this problem by

allowing users to build their own indicator selections that will fit their unique

policy issues.

Measuring-Progress.eu was designed with a time-proof, flexible structure. Users

are free to suggest indicators, keywords and topics that they think would

complement the database. These will be integrated and connected to the

existing web of connections. Therefore, Measuring-Progress.eu will remain

relevant as the environmental policy landscape evolves with time.

7 :: References

European Commission - Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2015, from

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/beyond_gdp/index_en.html

Jeffery and Seaford. 2014. Report on definitions of the Green Economy and progress towards it:

Deliverable 2.1. WP2 Deliverable. NEF.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (OECD). 2011. Towards

Green Growth: Monitoring Progress. Paris: OECD.

Sustainable Development Solutions Network. 2015. Indicators and a Monitoring

Framework for Sustainable Development Goals: Launching a data revolution for the

SDGs. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2015, from

http://unsdsn.org/resources/publications/indicators/

SDSN. 2015. Indicators and a Monitering Framework for the Sustainable Development

Goal: Launching a data revolution for the SDGs. Final Report. Sustainable

Development Solutions Network.

United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development

Knowledge Platform. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html.

26/05/2015.

UNEP. 2014. Using Indicators for Green Economy Policymaking. Working paper.

“United Nations Millennium Development Goals.” Accessed July 14, 2015.

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/global.shtml

21 ::

8 :: Annex B: NETGREEN Thematic Policy

Workshop Agenda

Thematic Policy Workshops (TPW) are organized to ensure the work carried out

within NETGREEN is practical and of relevance for targeted stakeholders. These

workshops will allow for discussion of NETGREEN’s findings and the usability of

the indicator database and website to advance four potential policy fields. The

workshops are addressed at 20-30 invited experts from policy making, research

and civil society active in the respective policy field. International experts are

invited as appropriate to share best practices. The consultative nature of the

workshops will be underscored by facilitating cross-cutting discussions with

actors from several very distinct areas of work. Workshop inputs will be used to

refine the outputs of NETGREEN. At the same time, the workshops will serve to

present NETGREEN’s methodologies, progress and results to key stakeholders,

thus adding to the dissemination activities of the project.

The discussion of the workshop on 8 May was based on UN SDG. The objective

of this workshop was to showcase www.measuring-progress.eu as a repository

of green economy and sustainable development indicators, as well as to seek

perspectives from experts specialized in different European countries’ policies

that would help expand the website’s impact. UN Sustainable Development

Goals, particularly Goal 11, 12 and 15, are employed to demonstrate

NETGREEN’s relevance in the context of EU countries’ progress toward green

and sustainable economy.

23 ::

Agenda - 8 May 2015 – 9 am -14 pm

Location: Ecologic Institute , Pfalzburger Straße 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany

NETGREEN, short for ‘’Network for Green Economy Indicators’’, is an EU-funded project designed to facilitate the

adoption of policies that will advance progress towards a green economy. The key output of the project is an open

access, interactive website called www.measuring-progress.eu, which provides information on indicators that can

be used to measure progress towards a green economy.

The UN sustainable development goals (currently in discussion) are an important cross point for the future of

sustainable development and the workshop will focus on how these goals can be measured in practice and what

implications these goals could have in different countries of central Europe.

09.00– 09.30 Welcome Coffee and Reception

09.30-09.45 Introduction

Introduction to the objectives of the workshop by Lucas Porsch, NETGREEN project leader.

09.45-10.15 Introduction to Measuring-Progress.eu

Lucas Porsch, the project leader of NETGREEN, will provide a short introduction to the website

for green economy indicators (www.measuring-progress.eu) and will demonstrate how it can be

used to identify and interpret the right indicators. He will use the UN sustainable developments

goals as a practical example.

10.15-10.45 The UN sustainable development goals and the Czech sustainable development strategy

Anna Kárníková (Head of Sustainable Development Unit - Office of the Government of the Czech

Republic)

10.45-11.15 Progress towards green economy from the perspective of local authorities of the city of Slupsk

Beata Maciejewska (Commissioner of the Mayor of the City of Słupsk (Poland) for Sustainable

Development and Green Modernization of the City), followed by a plenary discussion.

11.15- 11.45 How to measure the success of the German energy transition (Energiewende)

R. Andreas Kraemer (Ecologic Institute), followed by a plenary discussion.

11.45-12.45 Panel discussion – What are the key measurements for meaningful UN sustainable

development goals in Central Europe?

R. Andreas Kraemer (Ecologic Institute) - chair

Klaus Jacob (FFU Berlin)

Dorothee Braun (German Council of Sustainable Development)

Jan Bakkes (PBL Netherlands environmental Assessment Agency)

12.45-13.00 Final conclusions of the chair and plenary discussion

13.00– 14.00 Networking lunch

9 :: Annex A: NETGREEN Thematic Policy

Workshop Participant List

Name Surname Organisation

1 Bakkes Jan

Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency

(PBL)

2 Behrens Arno Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

3 Bourgin Cécile

Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale

Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

4 Braun Dorothee German Council for Sustainable Development

5 Brouwer Floor LEI Wageningen UR

6

Ferreira

Mattos Thaís Vanessa

University for Sustainable Development

Eberswalde

7 Fischer Marlene

8 Gay Agustina University of Potsdam

9 Jacob Klaus Freie Universität Berlin

10 Kafyeke Terri Ecologic Institute

11 Kárníková Anna Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

12 Koch Charlotte 4 Green Architecture Ltd.

13 Koch Juergen 4 Green Architecture Ltd.

14 Kraemer R. Andreas Ecologic Institute

15 Landgraf Richard Umweltbundesamt (UBA)

16 Maciejewska Beata City of Sł upsk, Poland

25 ::

17 Marten Franziska Germanwatch

18 Paulot Sylvia Ecologic Institute

19 Porsch Lucas Ecologic Insititute

20 Ramasamy Ashvin Ecologic Insititute

21 Rizos Vasileios Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

22 Schmidt Stefanie Ecologic Institute

23 Schwegmann Claudia Open Knowledge Foundation

24 Sparks

Wilhelmina

Jewell On The Green Carpet (OTGC)

25 Šteg Jiř í Initiative for Equality

26 Tomei Veronica European Economic and Social Committee

27 Vedder Alois WWF Germany

28 Wilenkin Stacey NRG4SD

29 Woltjer Geert LEI Wageningen UR