Lisa Waselikowsi explains the INCA project and discusses the importance of natural capital and ecosystem services accounting (20/09/2019)
Lisa Waselikowski is a Statistical and Scientific Analyst at Eurostat. She works for the European Commission INCA (Integrated Natural Capital and ecosystem services Accounting) project and is also part of the team responsible for Eurostat’s annual monitoring on the EU’s progress towards achieving the SDGs.
Lars Hein introduces the MAIA project and draws on its experience with the UN SEEA-EEA Framework (20/09/2019)
Lars Hein is Professor in Ecosystem Services and Environmental Change and deputy chair of the Environmental Systems Analysis Group at Wageningen University. He is one of the main contributing authors of the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Experimental Ecosystem Accounting Framework. He is currently coordinating the H2020 project MAIA (Mapping and Assessment for Integrated Ecosystem Accounting).
Global Sustainable Development Report 2019 (20/09/2019)
The Global Sustainable Development Report 2019 “Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development”, was prepared by an independent group of scientists appointed by the United Nations. The report was commissioned by the Member States of the United Nations in 2016 and will be officially launched at the UN SDGs Summit.
New Zealand's Living Standards Framework Dashboard (20/09/2019)
The Living Standards Framework (LSF) is a wellbeing framework developed by the New Zealand (NZ) Treasury since 2011. In 2018, the Treasury released the LSF Dashboard, a tool to measure and track changes in well-being outcomes based on three sections: ‘our people’, ‘our country’, and ‘our future’.
Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2019: Ambitions beyond growth (20/09/2019)
The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) released the 2019 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, published annually since 1947. The 2019 Survey consists of four chapters.
Monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in the EU context 2019 (20/09/2019)
Eurostat published the 2019 Report on “Sustainable Development in the EU”. The report monitors the EU’s progress towards the SDGs. The analysis builds on the EU SDG indicator set which comprises 100 indicators across all 17 SDGs.
The Good Life - Measuring inclusive growth across countries (20/09/2019)
The Centre for Progressive Policy (CPP), a UK-based think tank, has published a report introducing the new CPP Inclusive Growth (IG) Country Index, the first major output of its recent partnership with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Inclusive Growth.
"Policy interest in natural capital accounting is growing significantly." (20/09/2019)
“Policy interest in natural capital accounting is growing significantly. The global statistical community is responding by developing the SEEA for Ecosystem Accounting, a statistical framework which can inform national policy-making and environmental conventions, such as the UN Convention on Biological Diversity”.
Bram Edens, Senior Statistician Environmental-Economic Accounts Section - United Nations Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs
ES Conference - Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services: Challenges in a global environmental context (01/07/2020)
The conference will review and share the best practices and novel methods for mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, as well as identify related challenges. The conference is organized within the frame of the LINESAM project.
Beyond Growth Conference: Indicators and politics for people and planet (28/10/2019)
The conference is organized by Finnish Development NGOs – Fingo, together with Finland's National Commission on Sustainable Development. The aim of this multi-stakeholder gathering is to advance the ongoing discussions on developing measures of wellbeing and sustainability and improving their use in integrated policy processes. The conference will build upon the processes of the OECD and the search for pathways and indicators initiated by EU member states and the European Parliament.
Accounting for natural capital - recognising the contribution of nature to human welfare and well-being (05/11/2019)
The contribution and value of nature to human welfare and well-being – in other words, our natural capital - tends to be overlooked in many policy decisions and business choices. As a result, ecosystems are being degraded and natural resources are being used in an unsustainable way. Accounting for natural capital allows us to collect and systematise information on the stocks and flows of natural resources and trends over time. In doing so, natural capital accounting informs sustainable policy decision making and business choices. The concept of natural capital includes non-renewable resource stocks (e.g. fossil fuels, minerals and metals), renewable natural resource flows (e.g. solar and wind energy) and the ecosystems that provide humans with vital ecosystem services (e.g. water, forests, wetlands and grasslands).
World Biodiversity Forum (23/02/2020)
The World Biodiversity Forum is a 5-day scientific conference aiming to provide a platform for exchange and explore the future of biodiversity. The forum will gather leading researchers, practitioners, representatives from different sectors, decision-makers and societal actors.
Ricardo Fuentes-Nieva draws on his experiences with inequality and Oxfam’s Even it Up Campaign (29/06/2018)
Ricardo Fuentes-Nieva is the Executive Director of Oxfam Mexico, an independent affiliate of the Oxfam confederation. Before his current role, Ricardo was the Head of research of Oxfam Great Britain, where he was in charge of doing the analysis, writing the papers and setting up the intellectual framework for the “Even it up” global campaign, which aims at tackling extreme inequality and addressing issues such as wages, gender justice, fiscal and tax reform. The success of this campaign is reflected in the publication of its annual report at World Economic Forum in Davos. Now, Oxfam Mexico are also campaigning for policy developments that would lead to a reduction in inequality that feeds the global campaign.
Lucas Chancel discusses the different forms of inequality and global trends from the World Inequality Database (29/06/2018)
Lucas Chancel is a social scientist with expertise on the economics of inequality and environmental policies. He is the Co-Director of the World Inequality Lab, along with Thomas Piketty, Facundo Alvaredo, Gabriel Zucman, and Emmanuel Saez. The goal of the project is to produce, harmonise, analyse, and disseminate data on global inequality, whether it is income, wealth, environmental or gender inequality, as well as non-strict measures of income wealth inequalities. In December 2017, the Lab published the World Inequality Report 2018. This report, updated every two years, aims to become the reference global report on inequality and to attract extensive coverage in the international media. Lucas is also a Senior research fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. He lectures at Sciences Po in the Master of Public Policy.
"To meet all people's needs within the means of the living planet, rich countries must overcome their dependency on GDP growth and develop economies that are regenerative and distributive by design". (09/07/2018)
Kate Raworth, Senior Visiting Research Associate and lecturer at Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute
French Wealth Indicators 2017 (09/07/2018)
The French Government and the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) published the report on the new wealth indicators (Nouveaux Indicateurs de richesse). The indicators are also included in the progress report on French economy.
UN SDG Progress Report 2018 (09/07/2018)
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued an advanced and unedited version of the results of the yearly report on progress towards the SDGs, The report is based on selected SDG indicators for which data were available, using the latest data as of 10 May 2018. The report aims to inform the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2018.
World Health Statistics 2018: Monitoring health for the SDGs (09/07/2018)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) released the report “World Health Statistics 2018: Monitoring health for the SDGs”. The report, covering 194 member countries, provides health data, including health coverage and access to services and expenditures.
Global Partnership's Dashboard (09/07/2018)
Established in 2011, the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation is a project led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in concert with 161 countries, 56 international organisations, and additional partners across the public and private sectors.
Green Growth and Sustainable Development (GGSD) Forum 2018 (27/11/2018)
The 2018 Green Growth and Sustainable Development Forum will be held by the OECD in conjunction with the Annual Conference of the Green Growth Knowledge Platform,Global Green Growth Institute, UN Environment and the World Bank. The theme will be “Inclusive solutions for the green transition: Competitiveness, jobs/skills and social dimensions”.
6th OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy (27/11/2018)
The aim of the 6th OECD World Forum is to look ahead to the Future of Well-being, and to ask what are the trends that will re-shape people’s lives in the decades to come. Particular emphasis will be put on three important trends-the digital transformation, the changing role of governance, and the emergence of the private sector as an important actor for ensuring sustainable and inclusive well-being.
Ending gender inequalities 2018: Evidence to Impact (08/10/2018)
The conference, hosted by RTI International, will gather world-renowned gender equality leaders to share innovative
and timely evidence-based research and practice to eliminate gender disparities.
Post-Growth Conference 2018 (18/09/2018)
Post-Growth 2018 Conference is a multi-stakeholder gathering organized by ten Members of the European Parliament representing six political groups. The aim is to re-think future policies and discuss alternatives respecting the environment, human rights and viable economic development.
Measuring and understanding inequality (18/07/2018)
Inequality describes the variations in status, rights and opportunities which exist across populations. Addressing inequality is a key policy objective within the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Union’s Pillar of Social Rights. New tools and data to measure and capture inequality in its different forms are fundamental to form debates and shape the policy agenda on inequality in Europe and beyond.
Bing Zhu discusses the development of China's Circular Economy Indicator System (30/03/2018)
Dr. Bing Zhu is Director and Professor of the Institute for Circular Economy at Tsinghua University, China as well as a Guest Research Scholar at Energy Program of International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria. Now a Member of the Inter-Ministerial Panel of P. R. China on Circular Economy, he works with his team to actively provide scientific support for China's circular economy and resource efficiency. Prof. Zhu is also the Member of UN Environment Programme's International Resource Panel (IRP), the Member of Advisory Panel of National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NSFC) on Cooperation with International Organizations, and Vice Chairman of Circular Economy Committee of Chinese Ecological Economics Society.
3rd International Circular Change Conference (10/05/2018)
The 3rd International Circular Change Conference is a two-day interactive stream of indoor and outdoor events, covering circular economy roadmaps, strategies, indicators and creative industries.
Circular Economy Conference (30/05/2018)
The conference is hosted by SINTEF, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Nord University and focuses on how to create value for businesses and society.
6th International Degrowth Conference - Dialogues in turbulent times (21/08/2018)
This conference aims at expanding the geographical and thematic scope of degrowth discussions, as well as building dialogues with critical social theories, sciences and social movements.
Measuring Circular Economy in the Netherlands (15/01/2018)
Statistics Netherlands, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) have jointly published the report “The circular economy: starting progress measurement in the Netherlands”.
The Thriving Places Index (19/04/2018)
The Thriving Places Index was developed by Happy City, a UK based charity with the mission of “making what matters count”, in cooperation with the New Economics Foundation and with support from Triodos Bank. The index, building on the Happy City Index, aims at providing local decision-makers in England with information on the factors that determine wellbeing, based on a participatory approach.
The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018 (30/01/2018)
The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018: Building a Sustainable Future is part of the World Bank’s effort to measure national wealth and changes in wealth, building on two previous books: Where is the Wealth of Nations? Measuring Capital for the 21st century (2006) and The Changing Wealth of Nations: Measuring Sustainable Development in the new Millennium (2011).
EU Monitoring Framework for a Circular Economy (16/01/2018)
The European Commission has adopted the EU monitoring framework for the circular economy (presented jointly with other initiatives on circular economy, including the Europe-wide strategy on plastics). The framework, based on the Circular Economy Action Plan, aims to measure progress and to assess the effectiveness of action towards the circular economy in the EU and Member States.
Manfred Rosenstock explains the structure and the role of the EU Circular Economy Monitoring Framework (20/04/2018)
Dr Manfred Rosenstock joined the European Commission in 1993 and is currently Deputy Head of Unit of the Sustainable Development, Green Finance & Economic Analysis Unit of DG Environment. His main fields of work concern questions relating to the availability of private and public finance for investments in circular economy and resource efficiency projects and to the use of market-based instruments in environmental policy. His previous assignments were in the State aids Directorate of DG Competition and the Socio-Economic Analysis Unit of DG Regional Policy. Before joining the Commission, he studied economics at the Goethe-University of Frankfurt, Germany, and the London School of Economics, UK from 1982-1987. Thereafter, he worked as a graduate research assistant at the Institute for Public Sector Economics of the University of Frankfurt until 1993, where he obtained a Ph.D. in Economics.
Monitoring the circular economy (23/04/2018)
"Monitoring the circular economy is not easy. It is important to cover all aspects of the circular economy cycle: eco-design, extension of product lifespan, responsible consumption and waste recycling."
Celine Magnier, Head of Unit - Pressures on the Environment, The Ministry for an Ecological and Solidary Transition, France.
Measuring circular economy - new metrics for development? (24/04/2018)
The concept of circular economy is gaining growing attention, presenting an approach to address increasing scarcity of resources and environmental pressures linked to the current linear economic model. A shift towards a circular economy will impact different sectors of the economy and at different scales. This poses questions about how different stakeholders might effectively assess the transition and monitor progress towards long term goals of circularity.
EU Green Week - Greener cities for a greener future (21/05/2018)
EU Green Week 2018 will explore ways in which the EU is helping cities to become better places to live and work. Showcasing policy developments on air quality, noise, nature and biodiversity, waste and water management, it will promote participatory approaches to urban development, networking schemes, and tools for sharing best practices, engaging local authorities and citizens, and encouraging them to share their vision of a sustainable future.
Rob Hopkins discusses efforts to understand, measure and build resilience across the Transition Network (22/08/2017)
Rob Hopkins is the cofounder of the Transition Town Totnes and of the Transition Network. He has published a number of books on the subject of Transition, and is widely respected for his research into localisation and creating resilience at the local level. Today, the Transition Network has grown into a movement of thousands of groups and projects in more than 50 countries working to build resilience across the globe.
7th International Conference on building Resilience: Using scientific knowledge to inform policy and practice in disaster risk reduction (27/11/2017)
The participants will discuss how the science community will best support the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
Building resilience requires us to re-think our science and policy, and to move away from business-as-usual to identify, negotiate and shape sustainable futures (19/09/2017)
Building resilience requires us to re-think our science and policy, and to move away from business-as-usual to identify, negotiate and shape sustainable futures
Building and measuring Europe's resilience (03/11/2017)
The concept of resilience is increasingly being applied in Europe to a range of policy areas, from development aid and climate change to economic and financial policy. Different initiatives aim to tackle uncertainties, pressures and fragility in our social, economic and environmental systems. Developing indicator frameworks on resilience attempt to measure resilience in concrete terms across these applications. However, the inherent complexity of a system’s resilience implies that its measurement is not straightforward.
Garry Peterson draws on his experiences in assessing resilience in the Arctic and beyond (24/10/2017)
Garry Peterson is a professor in environmental sciences with an emphasis on resilience and social-ecological systems. He is head of the PhD program in Sustainability Science at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and he recently co-edited the Arctic Council’s Arctic Resilience Report.
SDSN publishes the SDG Index and Dashboards (30/10/2017)
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) released the 2017 edition of the SDG Index and Dashboards Report. The report assesses the progress of 157 UN member states with regard to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and complements the official SDG monitoring from the UN.
EcoVadis Global CSR Risk & Performance Index 2017 (30/10/2017)
EcoVadis, a platform for environmental, social and ethical performance ratings in global supply chains, has published the first edition of its Global CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Risk and Performance Index. The index assesses companies’ CSR performance based on 21 different indicators across four areas.
2017 Key sustainable development indicators for Asia and the Pacific (30/10/2017)
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) published the 48th edition of the Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific series, which provides a comprehensive set of economic, social, environmental, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators for its 48 regional members.
China's Urban Sustainability Index 2016 (14/04/2017)
The 2016 Urban Sustainability Index (USI) report has been published by the Urban China Initiative, a joint initiative of School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University, and McKinsey & Company. The report ranks 185 Chinese cities of different sizes and stages of development according to their sustainability scores between 2006 and 2014.
UN PAGE releases the Green Economy Progress measurement framework (30/10/2017)
The UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), a joint initiative of UNEP and other UN agencies, published the Green Economy Progress (GEP) measurement framework. This is a tool for countries to evaluate their progress towards an inclusive green economy, which addresses three main challenges: persistent poverty, overstepped planetary boundaries, and inequitable sharing of prosperity.
The Bertelsmann Stiftung published the Sustainable Governance Indicators 2017. The SGI 2017 is the third edition of the publication, with previous publications in 2011 and 2014. It is based on 69 quantitative and 67 qualitative indicators, including inputs from a questionnaire distributed to more than 100 experts.
The Economist's 2017 Global Liveability Report (30/10/2017)
The Economist Intelligence Unit has published the findings of the latest Global Liveability Report. The report assessed 140 cities against 30 factors across five categories: stability; culture and environment; healthcare; education; and infrastructure.
Capitalising on CLLD Experiences – Building Resilient Local Communities (08/11/2017)
The event will discuss how CLLD (Community-led Local Development) is applied in rural and coastal areas, how it can be used to promote inclusion, as well as its new urban and social dimensions. It will specifically focus on how to better use European programmes and funds in supporting local capacity building and bottom-up local initiatives.
Sixth meeting of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal indicators (IAEG-SDGs) (11/11/2017)
The IAEG-SDGs was established by the Statistical Commission to develop an indicator framework for the monitoring of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development at the global level, and to support its implementation.
2017 World Forum on Natural Capital (27/11/2017)
The Forum will once again provide an opportunity for senior decision makers to explore how risk can be turned into opportunity by putting natural capital at the heart of their strategy.
Third session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (04/12/2017)
The third UN Environment Assembly is focused on addressing the global threat of pollution, with the objective of moving towards a pollution-free planet.
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2018 (23/01/2018)
The 48th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is focused on Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World.
UN Climate Change Conference 2017 (06/11/2017)
The UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn is the next step for governments to implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Building greater climate resilience is one of the the topics covered this year.
Identifying indicators of progress for cities and sustainable urban development. (08/03/2017)
More than half of the world’s population and three quarters of Europeans live in an urban area. Cities are nuclei for socio-economic and cultural activity, but they also present acute risks to society, from poverty and social exclusion, to excessive air pollution and flooding. Therefore, cities provide an important scale of analysis, presenting both challenges and opportunities for sustainable development.
Dr Robert Ndugwa describes the UN’s work on city data and the New Urban Agenda (08/03/2017)
Dr. Robert Ndugwa is Head of the Global Urban Observatory (GUO) Unit at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)....
"Our function is to lead the global monitoring of the urban aspects of the SDGs, as well as the objectives of the New Urban Agenda, and other UN initiatives linked to cities."
Carolien Gehrels explains the Sustainable Cities Index and its applications (08/03/2017)
"As European Cities Director, I work with Arcadis’ clients to improve the quality of life in cities. We combine local leadership with global expertise. For example, if a city has pressure on its mobility system, we try to find solutions to make mobility smarter and more sustainable. My role is to connect clients with the right specialists, and one approach is through city-to-city learning."
Ramon Canal Oliveras talks about the use of city data and urban indicators in the city of Barcelona (08/03/2017)
Ramon Canal Oliveras is the Director of the Technical Programming Cabinet of Barcelona City Council......
"My role is to direct the Technical Programming Cabinet. It gathers municipal statistics, carries out public surveys on a variety of topics and elaborates studies on socio-economic aspects as well as on the performance of Barcelona City Council."
Belgium Complementary Indicators to GDP 2017 (10/03/2017)
The Belgian Bureau Fédéral du Plan (BFP /Federal Planning Bureau) has published its report on Complementary Indicators to GDP, which aims at measuring people’s wellbeing and societal development at the federal level, as requested by the Law adopted on 14th March 2014. The 2017 report illustrates trends for 67 indicators grouped in 13 themes, and the aim is to show their evolution over time.
"Many urban policies are formulated without access to the right data. Without knowledge of the drivers of their development, cities face the risk to find themselves in unintended destinations". (20/03/2017)
Many urban policies are formulated without access to the right data. Without knowledge of the drivers of their development, cities face the risk to find themselves in unintended destinations.
61st World Statistics Congress of the International Statistical Institute (16/07/2017)
ISI2017 will feature a rich scientific programme focusing on the latest knowledge and innovation in Statistics.
Fifth Meeting of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on the Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) (28/03/2017)
The meeting will be hosted by Statistics Canada.
15th Annual Meeting International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) (20/03/2017)
ISQOLS conferences provide a space for scholars to present their research findings on quality of life, well-being, and happiness, as well as to discuss their relevance for policy making.
OECD Global Forum on Development: Working together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (05/04/2017)
OECD Global Forum on Development: Working together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
Adoption of SDGs indicator framework at the 48th Session of UN Statistical Commission (10/03/2017)
Adoption of SDGs indicator framework at the 48th Session of UN Statistical Commission
The Inclusive Growth and Development Report 2017 (20/03/2017)
The World Economic Forum has published the 2017 Inclusive Growth and Development Report which aims at assessing progress towards a socially inclusive economic growth in 109 countries. The report presents a new set of national Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), covering growth and development, inclusion, and intergenerational equity and sustainability.
The new German Sustainability Strategy explicitly aligns the country’s development ambitions with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as part of the country’s commitment to 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The strategy builds on the revision of a draft report launched in May 2016 and the results of a public consultation.
Assessing progress towards the SDGs in the Netherlands (21/03/2017)
CBS (Statistics Netherlands) has conducted a baseline measurement of Netherlands’ progress in achieving the targets set by the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It represents the first attempt of measuring progress towards the SDG indicators in the Netherlands, setting a starting point for a debate between different parties, including policy assessment organizations, knowledge institutions etc.
WCCD Global Cities Summit adopts the Dubai Declaration 2017 (07/03/2017)
2017 Dubai Declaration: A Commitment to City Data as the Universal Language
2016 Reform of Italy's Budget Law (21/03/2017)
Italy’s Chamber of Deputies introduced a reform of the Budget Law, approved in September 2016, to include in the Document of Economics and Finance the development in the past three years of a selected set of fair and sustainable well-being (BES/Benessere equo sostenibile) indicators.
Monitoring the Goals of the 2030 Agenda: a first contribution from Switzerland (21/03/2017)
The Swiss Federal Statistical Office published a selection of 48 MONET indicators, presenting a first attempt to monitor the 17 SDGs in Switzerland. Progress towards the goals is based on a positive, negative or neutral indication of change across a total of 48 indicators for the 17 goals.
Ole Lund Hansen and Eric J. Hespenheide discuss environmental and societal impacts of business practices (15/12/2016)
Ole Lund Hansen and Eric J. Hespenheide discuss environmental and societal impacts of business practices
ESG reporting: Making the societal impacts of businesses transparent (15/12/2016)
ESG reporting: Making the societal impacts of businesses transparent
“In our opinion, it may be a breach of fiduciary duties to fail to take account of Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) considerations that are relevant and to give them appropriate weight." (15/12/2016)
“[...]In our opinion, it may be a breach of fiduciary duties to fail to take account of Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) considerations that are relevant and to give them appropriate weight[...]."
The 2016 Canadian Index of Well-being: how are Canadians really doing? (15/12/2016)
The 2016 Canadian Index of Well-being: how are Canadians really doing?
