Seminar on the results of the ESS Sponsorship
Group on Measuring Progress, Well-being and
sustainable development
– Presentation background and main results
– Panel discussion: controversial issues, follow up
and developments in other regions
– Discussion
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Measuring Progress, Well-Being and
Sustainable Development: Results of the European
Statistical Systems’ Sponsorship Group
Pieter Everaers
Director: Cooperation in the European Statistical System, International mcooperation,
resources, Eurostat
UN Statistical Commission, 43rd Session
1 March 2012
1-Mar-12
Overview of the presentation
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Some basic orientation on European Statistics
Why is Europe looking at this now?
The EU response to the well-being & sustainability agenda
Topic 1: Strengthening the household perspective &
distributional aspects Better assess inequalities and
disparities (intra-generational)
– Topic 2: Quality of life – agreement on the (multi) dimensions
– Topic 3: Environmental sustainability – first priority actions
Take into account environmental issues and sustainability
(inter-generational)
– Challenges and Need to bring all elements together
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Focus on European statistics: some basic orientation
 What is a Sponsorship?
– Consultative and deliberative review taken by the European
Statistical System, with political leadership (Eurostat/France)
– Carried out by a high level Task Force
 What is the European Statistical System (ESS)?
– Partnership between all the statistical agencies across the EU &
associated countries (e.g. EFTA)
 What is Eurostat?
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1-Mar-2012
New York
Statistical agency of the European Commission
Collates data transferred from the EU Member States
Disseminates comparable data in support of European policies
Co-ordination/leadership role for the ESS
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Why is Europe looking at this now? (1)
 Increasing dissatisfaction with our reliance on GDP
as the sole measure of societal progress
– Overall awareness of the need to complement GDP to
measure the progress of societies
– Measure well-being of people
(importance of subjective well-being)
– Better assess inequalities and disparities (intra-generational)
– Take into account environmental issues and sustainability
(inter-generational)
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Why is Europe looking at this now? (2)
 Intensifying & broadening political interest within Europe
– Broadening list of active Member States & personal interest of
political leaders (Germany, France, UK)
– Commission adopts GDP & Beyond communication (2009)
– France commissioned influential Stiglitz Sen Fitoussi Report
(2009)
 Given fresh impetus as a result of the on-going financial
crisis
– Would a broader range of indicators have foreseen the crisis?
– How have some key population groups fared as a result of the
crisis (e.g. children, or those in lowest socio-economic
brackets)?
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
The EU response to the well-being &
sustainability agenda
Major European conference involving broad participation
(statisticians, environmentalists, social policy makers)
(Nov 2007)
Commission produces political roadmap for actions in the
short/medium term (Aug 2009)
Sponsorship Group launched by the European Statistical
System (Feb 2010)
Stiglitz
Report
1-Mar-2012
New York
Sponsorship Group Reports (November 2011)
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Priorities set out in the European Roadmap 2009
1. Complementing GDP with environmental and social indicators
 A comprehensive environmental index
 Quality of life and well-being
Europe
2. Near real time information for decision-making
2020
 More timely environmental indicators
 More timely social indicators
3. More accurate reporting on distribution and inequalities
4. Developing a European Sustainable Development Scoreboard
5. Extending National Accounts to environmental and social issues
Towards
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
The Stiglitz Report: among the 12 recommendations
Emphasise
household
perspective
Look at income and
consumption rather
than production
Measures of both objective
and subjective well-being
provide key information about
people’s quality of life
Income and
consumption
jointly with
wealth
Statistical offices should provide the information
needed to aggregate across QoL dimensions,
allowing the construction of different indexes
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Measure the
distribution of income,
consumption and wealth
How did the “Sponsorship Group” work?
 Broad participation of EU Member States including key
partners (e.g. OECD, UNECE, ECB) led by Eurostat and
INSEE (France)
 3 Task Forces reflecting the topics highlighted by the
Stiglitz Report (plus a co-ordinating Task Force)
(1) On households, (2) Environmental sustainability,
(3) multi-dimensional quality of life
 Mandate: Consider what should be EU statistical priorities
& actions for the short to long term
 Approach: Build on existing frameworks
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Topic 1: Strengthening the household perspective
& distributional aspects
 Promoting existing national accounts data on household
income & consumption
 Providing information on distribution of income,
consumption & wealth
 Encouraging compilation of balance sheet accounts for
households
Emphasising concrete actions in the short – long term
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Key actions to strengthen household &
distributional aspects include
Short
Medium
Long term
Publish additional headline
figures on household
income & consumption
Publish consumption
figures
Develop
measurement of
household liabilities
Reconciliation
exercises between
social statistics &
national accounts data
Publication of annual
data on distribution
Consider whether/how
to change EU level
household surveys to
better record social
transfers in kind
Increase coverage
of assets for
household sector
1-Mar-2012
New York
Increase coverage
of household wealth
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Topic 2: Quality of life – agreement on the (multi)
dimensions
Material living
Economic &
physical activity
Governance &
basic rights
Experience
of life
1-Mar-2012
New York
conditions
(income, wealth
and consumption)
Education
Quality of
life
Leisure & social
interactions
(inclusion/
exclusion)
Natural & living
environment
Productive and
valued activities
(including work)
health
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Topic 2: Multi-dimensional measures of quality of
life
 Use EU Statistics on Income & Living Conditions as the
core instrument
 Complement the coverage of the dimensions with
additional data sources
 Deepen and improve the analysis
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Topic 2: Multi-dimensional measures of quality of
life
Short
Medium
Add subjective well-being
questions in the 2013 SILC
ad-hoc modules
New & revised surveys
will add to QoL (e.g.
European Health Interview
Survey), changes to LFS
Add further dimensions
to EU SILC, e.g. trust in
institutions, social
participation
Household Finance &
Consumption Survey to
yield new data
Compile indicators based on
existing data
Develop synthetic indicators to
go alongside a scoreboard of
primary indicators
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Long term
Further develop EU
SILC as core
instrument of QoL
measurement
Extend and develop
Time Use survey &
Household Budget
Survey
Topic 3: Environmental sustainability – first
priority actions
 Develop energy flows accounts and derive indicators (e.g. energy use by
economic activity)
 Further develop indicators related to climate change
 Develop early estimates of CO2 emissions based on monthly energy
statistics
 Derive “footprint indicators” using Supply and Use Input/Output Tables
(SUIOT) to look at the “consumer perspective” of global climate change
 Explore production of a “raw material consumption” indicator
All by 2014
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Different approaches to deriving footprint indicators
11.0
10.0
imports,
exports,
1.7
tonnes CO2 per capita
9.0
1.6
capital formation,
1.6
8.0
7.0
6.0
5.0
domestic
industries, 7.2
consumption
expenditure 5.6
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
1-Mar-2012
New York
direct by private
households 1.9
direct by private
households 1.9
Production perspective
Consumption perspective
2006
2006
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Topic 3: Environmental sustainability second priority actions
Short
Medium
Develop environmental goods
and services sector (EGSS)
Consolidate & simplify the
environmental protection
expenditure accounts (EPEA)
Develop asset accounts for natural
resources, including sub-soil assets
and energy assets
Use Land Use/Land Cover data to
build relevant indicators on
landscape and biodiversity
Seek to merge both the above
with existing framework for
European environmental
accounts
1-Mar-2012
New York
Long term
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Topic 3: Environmental sustainability - third
priority actions
Short
Medium
Harmonise presentation and
meta-data of existing waste
indicators
Improve data coverage & quality of
existing water statistics & develop
indicators for pressures on regional
water resources
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Long term
Develop water
accounts to map use
of water according to
economic activity
Develop waste
accounts based on
existing waste
statistics
Challenges
 Implementation
 Giving broader society time to “catch up” with the statisticians
– Openness to the results of a broader societal reflection, e.g. civil
society reflection with the EU
– Still evolving picture at national level
 Moving forward but keeping some flexibility
 Selecting a dashboard of indicators
 Getting political acceptance and use of the data (long term)
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Need to bring all elements together
Consistency with theory
Stiglitz
Europe 2020
GDP&Beyond
Political relevance
1-Mar-2012
New York
The OECD
Triangle for
Quality of
Indicators (QoL)
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Measurability
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development
Reference documents
 The Sponsorship Report
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/pgp_ess/0
_DOCS/estat/SpG_progress_wellbeing_report_after_ESSC_a
doption_22Nov1.pdf
 “GDP and Beyond” (Communication of the Commission)
http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2009:0433
:FIN:EN:PDF)
 „Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi-Commission“ (France)
http://www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr/en/index.htm)
 „Measurement of Progress“ (OECD)
http://www.oecd.org/pages/0,3417,en_40033426_40033828_1
_1_1_1_1,00.html
1-Mar-2012
New York
UNSC meeting: Results of the Sponsorship Group on Measuring
Progress, Well-Being and Sustainable Development