Key indicators 2004 – Indicators as benchmarks

Key indicators 2004

Indicators as benchmarks

This is the third time Denmark publishes indicators for sustainable development. The indicators for 2004 show that, in a number of areas, Denmark is on the right track with its work towards more sustainable development. For example, the increasing rate of economic growth has been decoupled from energy consumption, and the number of products with ecolabels is rising. In other areas, developments continue to present challenges. For example, emissions of greenhouse gases from the transport sector and the industrial sectors must still be reduced, and work to classify chemicals must be further intensified.

Annual updates will maintain focus

The original indicators were prepared up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002. The indicators have been selected in order to reflect objectives and activities in Denmark's National Strategy for Sustainable Development, "A shared future – balanced development". The annual updates of the indicators are an important element in ongoing reporting, and they show trends in developments and results compared with the overall objectives and principles of the strategy. The results are used to make regular adjustments to objectives and initiatives in work for sustainable development.

Set of indicators in two parts

This publication presents an overall set of key indicators which describes developments and results in relation to the Strategy's eight overall objectives and principles. This year, the set comprises 13 indicators.

There is a detailed set of indicators with 88 indicators, describing developments and results in relation to some of the Strategy objectives and activities for each action area. These are available on www.mst.dk/indikator/bu/ default.asp?sprogid=2

Indicators are used internationally

Indicators are increasingly being used and developed as a tool for decision-makers and the general population at international, regional, and local levels. Some of the most important players at the international level are: the OECD, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), and the European Commission (Eurostat and the European Environment Agency).

Other important actors in the development of indicators for sustainable development include the World Bank, the World Resources Institute, the Worldwatch Institute, the Baltic 21 Institute for Sustainable Industry, the Nordic Council of Ministers, and a number of NGOs.

The Danish set of indicators has been inspired by the international indicator set, which means it is possible to compare developments in Denmark with developments in other countries. However, the Danish Government places great importance on Denmark having its own set of indicators linked to the Danish Strategy for Sustainable Development.

What are indicators for sustainable development?

The indicators for sustainable development contain information in a less detailed and often a more aggregate form than data and statistics. Well-known examples of indicators for developments in society are:

Gross domestic product
Rate of unemployment

As regards the environment, one indicator could be the application frequency, which can be used to describe the impact of pesticides on the environment. Indicators for sustainable development are wider in scope than traditional indicators. For example, they focus on:

Consumption
Resources
Decoupling the link between growth and environmental impacts

Trends 2003-2004

The Danish vision of sustainable development is based on eight objectives and principles:

The welfare society must be developed and economic growth must be decoupled from environmental impacts
There must be a safe and healthy environment for everyone, and we must maintain a high level of protection
We must secure a high degree of biodiversity and protect ecosystems
Resources must be used more efficiently
We must take action at international level
Environmental considerations must be taken into account in all sectors
The market must support sustainable development
Sustainable development is a shared responsibility and progress must be measured

The 13 key indicators in this publication have been selected to sketch out an overall picture of developments and results for each of the eight objectives. The eight objectives and developments in the associated indicators are described very briefly below.

1. The welfare society must be developed and economic growth must be decoupled from environmental impacts

Danish economic development remains stable. From 1990 to 2003, GDP per capita grew by approximately 24 per cent. This corresponds to an average rate of increase of approximately 1.7 per cent per year. Within a number of areas, the link between economic growth and consumption of resources has been successfully decoupled, eg. for emissions of greenhouse gases and acidifying substances.

Society's "Genuine Savings" (ie. the value of economic, social and environmental resources) have been increasing since 1994, and amount to between 4 and 7 per cent of GDP. However, there was a drop between 2002 and 2003 due to a smaller contribution from savings in human capital (because of a new method of calculation).

With regard to employment, over the past 10 years this has increased by almost 200,000 persons. It is important to maintain the growth in employment in order to underpin the Government's growth strategy, but this can be difficult because, looking at the change in population in isolation, the workforce will fall in the years to come. Generally speaking, things are moving in the right direction with regard to welfare developments, while at the same time not impacting the environment.

Overall, the decoupling between growth and environmental impacts is on track in a number of areas.

2. There must be a safe and healthy environment for everyone, and we must maintain a high level of protection

With regard to the health of Danes, both men and women are living for much longer than they have previously. The average life expectancy of Danish men has gone up from 70.3 years in 1960 to 74.9 years in 2003, while on average in 1960 women lived for 74.1 years compared to 79.5 years in 2003.

Another aspect that illustrates the relationship between environment and health is Danish emissions of greenhouse gases. In 2002 the total emissions corresponded to slightly less than 1990 levels, after having peaked in 1996. Emissions from agriculture, households and the waste sector have fallen, while emissions from the transport and industrial sectors have increased.

Another important component in work carried out to ensure a healthy and safe environment is the classification of chemicals. The number of classified substances has more than doubled since 1993. At the end of 2004, approximately 8,000 substances had been classified out of the total of 100,000 substances available on the European market; 1,000 more than last year.

These indicators show that work is taking place for a safe and healthy environment for all. However, great challenges remain, eg. to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from the transport and industrial sectors, which are still far too high. A large proportion of the many thousand chemicals in society still need to be examined.

3. We must secure a high degree of biodiversity and protect the ecosystems

Since 1950, the forest area in Denmark has been stead ily increasing. This harmonises well with the objective to increase the extent of Danish woodland areas so that forests cover 20-25 per cent of Denmark. The area of original forest has fallen, while the area of deciduous forest is now once again rising, after having fallen for some time. The efforts to increase the area of the open natural habitats: meadow, dry grassland, and heath have not had any discernable impact in the latest inventories. Meeting the objective of a high degree of biodiversity and protection of ecosystems will be a long and hard haul, and this must be continued.

4. Resources must be used more efficiently

Danish resource consumption compared with grown in GDP varies with regard to energy, drinking water and waste. Things are moving in the right direction for all three factors. The growth in waste arisings since 1999 has corresponded to the growth in GDP. Consumption of drinking water fell considerably from 1993 to 2003 by about 30 per cent, while energy consumption has fallen relative to 1996, but with a slight increase from 2001. There has been a relative decoupling of energy and drinking water consumption, as well as waste arisings, from economic growth, and this indicates that resources are being exploited better.

5. We must take action at international level

During the period 1992 to 2003, Denmark contributed international assistance of approximately 1 per cent of its GNI every year, which is far more than the UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNI. In 2003, Danish environment assistance amounted to about 0.07 per cent of GNI, and it has been rising since 1998. Therefore Denmark is meeting the UN international development target and contributing to the objective of combating poverty globally. On the basis of these indicators, Denmark is making active international efforts.

6. Environmental considerations must be taken into account in all sectors

Despite economic growth in society, energy consumption has only increased marginally. The decoupling of energy consumption and emissions from economic growth is the result of a significant drop in energy intensity.

The reduction in the relative CO₂ emissions over the 1990s and up to the present is partly due to the use of natural gas and renewable energy. From 1990 to 2002, CO₂ emissions fell by 86 per cent, and in 2002 emissions of NO_x were 29 per cent lower than in 1990.

In the energy area, efforts to integrate environmental considerations have been successful, but in many other areas, Danish emissions of greenhouse gases still need to be reduced so that the average level of emissions in the years 2008-2012 is 21 per cent lower than the annual emissions in 1990.

7. The market must support sustainable development

The number of ecolabelled products increased steadily from 1998 to 2004, both for the Nordic Swan label and the EU Flower label. In particular, the Flower is making good progress. In 1999, only two products carried the Flower label, in 2004 this figure had risen to 210.

The increase shows that there is a market for ecolabelled products, and this may help support sustainable development.

8. Sustainable development is a shared responsibility and progress must be measured

Since 1994, the number of enterprises with certified environmental management systems in the form of EMAS and ISO 14001 has increased year by year. Denmark is one of the European countries with the greatest number of EMAS registered enterprises in relation to the size of the population.

The positive development in the number of EMAS and ISO 14001 registered enterprises shows that it is possible to compete on the basis of environmental initiatives, and that we can promote work to make sustainable development a shared responsibility.