Key Indicators 2003 – Denmark's National Strategy for Sustainable Development A shared future – Balanced development

Key Indicators 2003

What are indicators used for?

Efforts have been made to present the indicators so they are technically comprehensive yet easy to understand. Hopefully, the indicators can be of use to politicians, business organisations, trade unions, researchers, green organisations, and citizens alike.

To an increasing extent, indicators are being used and developed as a tool for decision-makers and the general population. The development of environmental indicators, sector indicators and indicators for sustainable development is going on at international, regional, as well as local levels. Some of the most important actors at 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, World Resources Institute, Worldwatch Institute, Baltic 21 Institute for Sustainable Industry, the Nordic Council of Ministers, and a number of NGOs.

The Danish set of indicators is inspired by international indicator sets, which means it is possible to compare developments in Denmark with developments in other countries within relevant areas. Work will be carried out regularly to incorporate indicators developed at international level where relevant, and Denmark will strive to ensure that international indicators for sustainable development are meaningful, from a Danish point of view. However, the Danish Government places great importance on Denmark having its own set of indicators linked to the Danish Strategy for Sustainable development.

In Denmark, several counties and municipalities are in the process of establishing indicators for sustainable development as part of local Agenda 21 efforts. The national indicator set can serve as useful inspiration for these regional and local efforts. Thus, the opportunity for comparison of developments at local and national levels is improved.

The indicators contain information in a less detailed and often a more aggregated form than data and statistics. Well-known examples of indicators often used to describe developments in society are gross national product or the unemployment rate, which can describe a country's economy and labour market. Within the environment field, a well-known indicator is, for example, application frequency for pesticides, which can describe the impact of pesticides on the environment. Indicators for sustainable development are broader in perspective than traditional economic or environment indicators, because they also shed light on e.g. consumption, resources, genuine saving, and the decoupling of environmental degradationfrom economic growth.

The Danish indicators are based on a solid scientific foundation. Assumptions and the method used are well documented, and the underlying data basis is available. Data has been adjusted in accordance with accepted practice. For instance, a number of indicators must be adjusted using weather indices. The set of indicators will be developed in step with improvements in the data basis or as new targets and activities become important in achieving sustainable development.