Title: A survey of national sustainable development indicators

Authors: Tomohiro Tasaki, Yasuko Kameyama, Seiji Hashimoto, Yuichi Moriguchi, Hideo Harasawa

Addresses: Research Centre for Material Cycles and Waste Management, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan. ' Centre for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan. ' Research Centre for Material Cycles and Waste Management, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan. ' Research Centre for Material Cycles and Waste Management, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan. ' Social and Environmental Systems Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan

Abstract: We surveyed sustainable development indicators (SDIs) adopted by 28 national governments, regions, and international organisations and compiled them into a database. The aims of this study were to understand the elements of sustainable development (SD), examine SDIs developed in certain fields and countries, and determine future tasks to improve SDI development. A total of 1,790 indicators were surveyed and classified into 77 subcategories in four categories. Most of the indicators measured various SD elements, and the indicators reflected each country|s developmental stage and specific concerns. Several advanced or unique indicators were also identified. Five major tasks in the future development of SDIs were identified: 1) creating time-conscious indicators; 2) measuring interactions between elements of a system; 3) dealing with transboundary issues in a national SDI system; 4) measuring SD quality (including subjective elements); 5) including ordinary citizens by showing the relationships between SDI and everyday life.

Keywords: sustainable development; national indicators; database; environmental information; statistics; categorisation; sustainability; social indicators; environmental indicators; economic indicators.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSD.2010.038173

International Journal of Sustainable Development, 2010 Vol.13 No.4, pp.337 - 361

Published online: 20 Jan 2011 *

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