DEPARTMENT FOR
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (232/07) issued by
The Government News Network on 27 July 2007
A free
pocket-sized booklet published by Defra today provides an overview
of the country's progress in tackling key economic, social
and environmental issues.
The 68 indicators it contains - covering a wide range of topics
of everyday concern such as health, housing, jobs, crime,
education, and our environment - all affect whether we can live
more sustainably in the future. For the first time this edition
includes some provisional measures of wellbeing which show how
satisfied people are with their lives. (See the separate
statistical release also issued by Defra today.)
Individually these 'sustainable development' indicators
highlight those issues for which recent and longer-term change has
been for the better or for the worse. Collectively they can
provide an overview of progress, overall and for four priority areas:
* Sustainable consumption and production
* Climate change and
energy
* Natural resource protection and environmental
enhancement
* Creating sustainable communities
as set out in the UK Government's Sustainable Development
Strategy, Securing the Future.
The aim of this booklet is to make the indicators easily
accessible to a wide audience and to enable everyone to judge
where progress is being made and where the challenges are. It
should be a useful reference to experts but also to others less
familiar with the concept of sustainable development or
indicators. Around 60,000 copies of the booklet are distributed
annually and are particularly popular with schools and colleges.
Sustainable development indicators in your pocket 2007 is a Defra
National Statistics compendium publication, which has drawn on
indicators and other National Statistics from across Government.
Key results
The 68 indicators comprise 127 measures and using these it is
possible to get an overview of change compared with earlier years,
based on the number of measures showing improvement, little
change or deterioration. However it is essential to look at the
individual indicators too as this does not take account of the
relative importance of particular indicators.
Based on 101 of 127 measures, comprising the 68
indicators
(see notes)
Compared with the position in 1999, 50 measures show improvement
(representing over half of those for which it is possible to make
an assessment), and 11 show a deterioration.
A wide range of measures show improvement including:
* renewable electricity
* emissions of air pollutants
*
manufacturing, service and public sector emissions
* waste
recycling
* agricultural emissions and land stewardship
*
biodiversity loss
* river water quality
* land recycling
for development
* community participation
* vehicle crime
and burglary
* fear of crime
* various poverty
measures
* death rates from circulatory disease, cancer and
suicides
* people killed or seriously injured in road
accidents
* housing conditions, fuel poverty and rough
sleepers
* local environmental quality.
The eleven measures showing deterioration since 1999 are specifically:
* aviation emissions of greenhouse gases
* fossil fuels used
in electricity generation
* nitrogen oxide emissions from
electricity generation
* energy supply (consumption exceeding
UK production)
* water loss through leakages
*
robbery
* differences in life expectancy between local
authorities
* childhood obesity
* walking and
cycling
* ozone pollution in urban areas
* households
living in temporary accommodation
Summaries for priority areas
The indicators can be grouped, in a similar way, to provide an
overview for the four priority areas, though there is some overlap
in the messages where some indicators support more than one of the
priority areas.
Sustainable consumption and production
Indicators for sustainable consumption and production mainly
cover emissions, resource use and waste.
Based on 30 of 49 measures,
comprising 25 indicators
(see notes)
Nineteen measures (over half) show improvement compared with
1999. Those showing improvement include emissions of air
pollutants from the manufacturing, service and public sectors,
waste recycling, agricultural emissions, and land recycling.
Measures showing deterioration since 1999 are greenhouse gases
from aviation and water leakage.
Climate change and energy
Indicators for climate change and energy mainly cover greenhouse
gas emissions, electricity generation and energy supply.
Based on 14 of 23 measures,
comprising 14 indicators
(see notes)
Six measures show improvement since 1999 and four show deterioration.
Those showing improvement since 1999 include renewable
electricity, sulphur dioxide emissions from electricity
generation, carbon dioxide emissions from manufacturing and the
public sector, and methane emissions from agriculture.
Those showing deterioration are aviation emissions of greenhouse
gases, energy supply, fossil fuels used in electricity generation
and nitrogen oxide emissions from electricity generation.
Natural resource protection and enhancing the environment
Indicators for natural resource protection mainly cover wildlife
and biodiversity, farming, land use, fish stocks, air pollution
and rivers.
Based on 24 of 29 measures, comprising 16 indicators
(see notes)
Sixteen measures show improvement since 1999 and none deterioration.
Those showing improvement since 1999 include biodiversity loss,
fish stocks, river water quality, farming management and
emissions, land recycling, air pollution, and the impact of
acidification from air pollution. Bird populations and area of
sensitive habitats affected by nitrogen showed little change.
Compared with 1990, farmland bird populations show a decline.
Creating sustainable communities and a fairer world
Indicators for creating sustainable communities mainly cover
poverty, health, crime, access, mobility, and local and domestic environments.
Based on 52 of 68 measures, comprising 39 indicators
(see notes)
Twenty-two measures show improvement since 1999, eighteen show
little or no change, and six show deterioration.
Those showing improvement include poverty and housing conditions,
rough sleepers, local environment quality, community
participation, vehicle crimes, burglary, fear of crime, mortality
rates, and road accidents.
Those showing deterioration are robbery, the difference in life
expectancy between local authority areas, the number of households
in temporary accommodation, child obesity, walking and cycling,
and ozone pollution in urban areas.
UK Framework Indicators
Twenty of the indicators are also 'UK Framework
indicators' covering key impacts and outcomes that reflect
the priority areas shared by the UK Government and the devolved
administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
These include:
Greenhouse gas emissions: emissions of carbon dioxide, the main
greenhouse gas, were about 5 per cent lower than in 1990.
Emissions increased by about 1.2 per cent between 2005 and 2006,
owing to an increase in energy consumption combined with increased
use of coal in electricity generation.
River water quality: between 1990 and 2005 the percentage of
rivers of good biological quality in England rose from 60 to 71
per cent and in 2005, 56 per cent of rivers in Northern Ireland
and 80 per cent of rivers in Wales were of good biological
quality. In 2005, 64 per cent of English rivers were of good
chemical quality (up from 43 per cent in 1990), this figure was 63
per cent in Northern Ireland (up from 44 per cent in 1991). In all
years since 1993 over 90 per cent of rivers in Wales have been of
good chemical quality. In Scotland, the percentage of rivers of
good quality has remained stable at around 87 per cent between
2000 and 2005, based on a combined chemical, biological and
aesthetic assessment.
Bird populations: Farmland bird populations fell by 42 per cent
between 1970 and 1993, but remained fairly stable thereafter.
Woodland bird populations in 2005 were about 20 per cent lower
than the peak of the early 1970s but remained fairly stable from
1991. The UK's breeding coastal bird populations increased
between 1970 and 1987 by 37 per cent and have remained stable
since then.
Crime: In England and Wales, from the British Crime Survey
(BCS), vehicle thefts fell by 56 per cent and burglary fell by 47
per cent between 1991 and 2006-7. Of the crimes recorded by the
police, vehicle crime fell by 46 per cent, and burglary in
dwellings fell by 45 per cent between 1990 and 2006-7. The number
of robberies recorded by the police increased from 36,195 in 1990
to 103,370 in 2006-7. However, trends in crime have been
influenced by counting rule changes in both 1998 and 2002, all of
which have tended to increase the number of crimes recorded.
Recorded burglary increased in Northern Ireland between 1990 and
2006-7 by 4 per cent while recorded vehicle theft and robbery
decreased by 45 and 3 per cent respectively over this period.
Health inequality: In 1991-3 the difference in average life
expectancy for men between local authority areas in the UK with
the highest and lowest average life expectancy was 9.7 years. This
widened to 12.3 years in 2003-5. For women the difference was 7.5
years in 1991-3 and widened to 9.5 years in 2003-5.
Environmental equality: For the first time some preliminary
analysis is presented on environmental equality which provides
evidence on the extent to which people live in areas with multiple
environmental conditions that are in relative terms 'least
favourable'. This analysis has so far only been undertaken
for England and needs to be further developed.
International data
Some international data have been compiled to enable some
comparisons to be made for the UK and other countries for some of
issues covered by the national indicators. International data are
available for 32 of the 68 national indicators, and cover of 45
individual measures. The data are presented on the UK Government
sustainable development website (see notes.)
International data are presented for the UK and twelve other
countries: France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark,
Sweden, Norway, Canada, Japan, Australia and the United States of
America. However owing to data availability not all countries are
included in every international measure. The choice of countries
was partly driven by data availability but also assumptions about
comparative levels of development.
It should be noted that the international data have been used as
provided by the originating organisation (for example Eurostat for
the European Union, the Organisation for Economic Development and
Cooperation (OECD), and others) and reliance has been placed upon
these organisations' efforts to ensure that the data are as
comparable as possible. Defra statisticians are not responsible
for reliability or comparability of the international.
International data are in many cases much older than data
available nationally. So the position in the UK and other
countries may well have changed compared with the situation
presented by the international data.
International comparisons should be always treated with extreme
caution as definitions and measurement methods differ between
countries (despite considerable efforts by Eurostat and OECD in
particular, to ensure consistency in coverage between countries).
The measures presented are the nearest available international
equivalent measure to that included in the national indicators.
However definitions and coverage may different from the national measure.
An attempt has been made to summarise the international data and
to do so a number of criteria have been applied:
(i) Data should be available for the UK and all the 12 other
selected countries.
(ii) For assessing the position for the
latest year, data should be available for 2002 or later.
(iii)
For assessing the recent change, data need to be available for the
mid to late 1990s and for 2002 or later.
Applying these criteria, for only 17 of the 45 measures for which
there are international data are there data for 2002 or later for
the UK and all 12 other countries.
Similarly for only 12 of the 45 measures are there sufficient
data to assess progress from a year in the mid to late 1990s to
2002 or later.
Summaries are presented below based on the measures that meet the
criteria. The measures that are included do cover issues across
all the UK Government's priority areas for Sustainable
Development, but they are inevitably extremely limited in the
extent to which they present a representative summary of the
UK's or any other country's progress towards sustainable development.
UK's position compared with 12 other countries in latest
available year *
* Out of 17 measures for which data were available for the UK and
the 12 other selected countries for 2002 or later, 3 measures
showed the UK positioned as one of the 4 countries with the most
favourable conditions. These measures were: energy consumption,
water abstractions, and road fatalities. The UK's highest
position was 2nd, for water abstractions.
* For 7 measures the UK was positioned as one of the bottom 4
countries, with the least favourable conditions. These were:
carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels,
renewable energy production, infant deaths per 1,000 live births,
average life expectancy, deaths from cardio-vascular disease and
cancer, and incidences of obesity. Of these measures the UK was
positioned 13th for renewable energy production and 12th for
incidences of obesity.
* For the remaining 7 measures the UK was in the middle range
(5th to 9th position) in relative terms. These measures were
greenhouse gas emissions, threatened bird species, protected land,
gross domestic product per capita, fishery products landed per
capita, and percentage of adults with tertiary (higher) level
education qualifications.
Change since mid to late 1990s for the UK and 12 other countries
* For the 12 measures for which assessment of progress could be
made for change from the mid to late 1990s to 2002 or later, the
UK showed an improvement for 7 measures (58 per cent). These were
greenhouse gas emissions, fishery products landed per capita,
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, social expenditure as a
proportion of GDP, adults with tertiary (higher) education
qualifications, infant deaths per 1,000 live births, and road fatalities.
* Both the United States of America and Denmark showed an
improvement for 8 measures (67 per cent). Canada had the fewest
measures showing improvement with 4 (33 per cent).
* The UK, France, Germany, Belgium and Canada had none of the 12
measures showing deterioration, and none of the remaining
countries had more two measures showing deterioration. The
measures showing improvement, little or no change, or
deterioration were not necessarily the same for each country.
* The 5 measures (48 per cent) showing little or no change in the
UK were carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels,
renewable energy production, energy use per capita, protected land
area, and average life expectancy.
* These assessments of change do not take account of the
different baselines for each country, only the extent to which a
change has occurred relative to the individual country's
status in the mid to late 1990s.
Notes to editors
1. The publication is a Defra National Statistics compendium
publication, which has drawn on indicators and other National
Statistics from across Government. Free copies of Sustainable
development indicators in your pocket 2007 are available from
Defra Publications, Admail 6000, London, SW1A 2XX (tel: 08459
556000, e-mail: defra@cambertown.com), quote product codes PB12683
(A6 size) or PB12683A (A4 size). The publication and associated
data will be also presented on the sustainable development
website: http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk.
2. For the indicator pie-chart summaries a number of indicators
support more than one priority area, so there is some overlap in
the messages the summaries convey. Indicator measures do not
contribute to the summaries if (a) they are used in another
indicator and are already counted within the same summary; (b)
their trends are strongly influenced by or directly reflect other
measures within the same summary; or (c) they are for contextual
purposes. For more details see the sustainable development website.
3. The measures of wellbeing currently presented in the
publication are provisional and include:
* Selected existing
sustainable development indicators.
* Some related measures to
support existing sustainable development indicators.
* New
survey results on life satisfaction, which in due course may be
developed into measures of wellbeing.
* Measures of
participation in sport and culture, access to green space, and an
outline for a proposed measure of positive mental
wellbeing.
See the separate Defra statistical release on life
satisfaction also issued today.
4. The international data presented are not National Statistics,
but have been provided for illustrative purposes, and as a first
attempt to show the UK's progress in an international
context. Defra statisticians are not responsible for the
reliability or comparability of the international data used. The
number of measures for which it was possible to make assessments
for the UK and the 12 other selected countries consistently is
very small compared with the number of measures in the national
set of indicators. The international summaries presented are
therefore very limited and should be treated with caution. They
should not be regarded as representative of the UK's or any
other country's progress towards sustainable development.
National Statistics publication
National Statistics are
produced to high professional standards set out in the National
Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality
assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They
are produced free from any political interference.
GRAPHS AND TABLES AVAILABLE IN DOC FILE.