English Abstract Work on indicators is critically reviewed, focusing on
a number of key issues ; air and water pollution ; natural resources and
biodiversity ; climate change ; ozone depletion ; public health;
demography ; production ; consumption ; and technology ; waste ; and
costs of environmental protection measures. Indicators have an added
significance as compared to the underlying statistics and are tied to a
specific purpose. For simplicity the number of indicators can be reduced by
aggregating them into an index. A conceptual framework is proposed for the
selection, development and analysis of indicators. This framework comprises
three interrelated sub-systems: the human population ; production,
consumption and technology ; and the environment. An integrated analyses
of the state of the environment requires indicators that capture not only
the quality of the environment, but also the forces that change the
environment, and the responses to these changes by human society. These
crucial interactions can be better understood if a conceptual or
computational modelling framework is developed and used. The
characteristics of indicator systems have been determined mainly by the
producers of the information rather than by its users. Furthermore, the
present sets of environmental indicators have been mainly selected by the
industrialized countries, for their own needs. Indicators should be
developed according to their envisaged applications. These applications
include early warning and evaluation of policy performance. As countries
develop, priorities shift over time, requiring adjustments of indicator
systems. The reliability of indicators is mainly determined by the
reliability of the underlying statistics and raw data. Harmonization of
definitions and measurements methods and the development of standards should
be further pursued.
