Indicators for Environmental Monitoring in International Development Cooperation
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Indicators for Environmental Monitoring in International Development Cooperation June 2002 SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AGENCY Department for Natural Resources and the Environment Indicators for Environmental Monitoring in International Development Cooperation Including examples for sectors covered by the Sida EIA guidelines This report is produced in cooperation between Sida’s En- vironmental Policy Division and the Swedish EIA Centre at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala. The text has been produced by Lisa Segnestam, at Stock- holm Environment Institute (SEI), with contributions by Ann Jennervik, Gun Lövblad and Markus Åhman at the Swedish Environmental Research Institute Ltd. The development of indicators is a work in progress and therefore this publication will be a living document Table of Contents Introduction....................................................................................................1 Sida, the counterpart and local stakeholders.......................................................... 1 Selecting indicators for project monitoring......................................................3 Considering cause and effect links.......................................................................... 3 Necessary indicator features ................................................................................... 4 Direct link to potential environmental impacts.................................................................. 4 Relevance to the whole project cycle................................................................................. 5 Clear definitions........................................................................................................... 7 Realistic collection or development costs........................................................................... 8 Focus on indicator developer and user ............................................................................. 8 Data collection ...............................................................................................9 Interpreting the results .................................................................................10 Indicators according to sectors.....................................................................12 Agriculture (including livestock farming) and forestry.......................................... 12 Water-related activities ......................................................................................... 14 Dams..................................................................................................................... 16 Activities related to coastal zones ......................................................................... 18 Transport and communication............................................................................. 21 Waste management .............................................................................................. 23 Mining activities.................................................................................................... 24 Energy................................................................................................................... 26 Industry................................................................................................................. 27 Tourism ................................................................................................................ 29 Health and medical care....................................................................................... 30 Humanitarian assistance....................................................................................... 32 Education sector ................................................................................................... 33 Institutional development and capacity building.................................................. 35 Research ............................................................................................................... 35 Private sector development................................................................................... 36 Annex 1. Projects reviewed in the selection of indicators ...............................38 Annex 2. Additional environmental indicator information................................39 References ..................................................................................................40 List of figures, boxes, examples and tables Example 1. Environmental performance monitoring................................................... 1 Example 2. Efficient data collection.............................................................................. 9 Example 3. Interpreting monitoring results ................................................................ 10 Figure 1. Elements of an environmental issue............................................................... 3 Figure 2. Monitoring environmental impacts of a project – a framework.................... 6 Box 1. Indicators and the EIA process.......................................................................... 7 Box 2. Sector activities with potentially high impact on the coastal environment...... 19 Table 1. Proposed indicators – agriculture and forestry ............................................. 13 Table 2. Proposed indicators – water-related activities............................................... 15 Table 3. Proposed indicators – dams .......................................................................... 17 Table 4. Proposed indicators – activities related to coastal zones............................... 19 Table 5. Proposed indicators – transport and communication................................... 22 Table 6. Proposed indicators – waste management.................................................... 23 Table 7. Proposed indicators – mining activities......................................................... 25 Table 8. Proposed indicators – energy........................................................................ 26 Table 9. Proposed indicators – industry...................................................................... 28 Table 10. Proposed indicators – tourism .................................................................... 29 Table 11. Proposed indicators – health and medical care .......................................... 31 Table 12. Proposed indicators – humanitarian assistance .......................................... 32 Table 13. Proposed indicators – education................................................................. 34 Table 14. Proposed indicators – institutional development and capacity building .... 35 Table 15. Proposed indicators – research ................................................................... 36 Table 16. Proposed indicators – private sector development ..................................... 37 Acronyms and abbreviations EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment LFA – Logical Framework Approach Introduction According to Sida’s Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessments in International Develop- ment Cooperation (Sida, 1998), “Sida requires monitoring of the actual environmental impact of the project and that planned measures have really been taken.” To be able to fulfill this requirement, it is necessary to work with indicators of environmental change. Indicators are bits of information that summarize the characteristics of sys- tems or highlight what is happening in a system. They simplify complex phenomena, and make it possible to gauge the general status of a system. It is important to note that indicators are only supposed to indicate various trends, not reveal the whole truth. An indica- tor is thus seldom “perfect” in the sense of it revealing all information needed for decisions to be taken. Rather it provides signals for further investigations. In the project context, environmental indicators are used as a management tool to help the project manager predict environmental change, mitigate or promote those changes, and follow the development in order to be able to manage the project in an optimal way from an environmental perspective. For that reason, the indicators chosen need to be project specific. The “method” to identify and develop indicators is therefore more important in the project context since generalized indicators are difficult to establish. These guidelines do include examples of indicators, however, in order to give some ideas about relevant indicators. The overall objective of environmental performance monitoring is to identify pre- dicted and unanticipated changes to the environment brought about by a project. Example 1 presents a number of elements that an environmental performance moni- toring program should consist of in order to be effective. Example 1. Environmental performance monitoring An effective environmental performance-monitoring program should consist of the following elements: • Monitoring objectives; • Description of performance indicators, which provide linkages to impacts and mitigation measures identified in the EIA; • Description of parameters to be measured, methods to be employed, sampling locations, frequency of measurements, and definition of targets to aim for or thresholds that will signal the need for re- medial actions (where appropriate); • Institutional responsibilities, timing and timescales for monitoring; and • Reporting arrangements (to the regulatory authorities, Sida, and the implementing party). Source: Adapted from World Bank (1996) These