1. Climate Change and Official Statistics Basics, Agenda + System
Walter Radermacher
President of the Federal Statistical Office, Germany
UNCEEA Meeting
New York, June 2008

2. My First Question: „Mainstreaming“???
Only a tribute to a fashion / politically correct terminology? or
A real message?
27/11/2018

3. Basics in Environment Statistics I
DPSR-Ansatz (Friend/Rapport):
Driving Forces
Pressures
State
Response
Official Statistics
Environmental Sciences
Official Statistics
27/11/2018

4. Basics in Environment Statistics II
Decomposition of Pressures:
pressures = population ( → demography)
x activity / population ( → life style)
x pressure / activity ( → efficiency)
27/11/2018

5. A Need for Change Industrial Society Globalisation
Prices of natural goods
natural goods + services: low costs + productivity
labour: high costs + productivity
taxes + social costs: based on income and labour
innovation: reduction of labour input + increase labour productivity
lifestyle: high consumption of material and energy
Demography
Unemployment
Limitation of inputs from nature
Degradation of environment
Economic growth
Poverty + migration
27/11/2018

6. Change Management Information Society Innovation strategy
natural goods + services: high costs + productivity
labour: low costs + productivity gains with low material flows (e.g. information)
taxes + social costs: based on income, labour + input from nature
innovation: reduction of nature input + increase nature productivity
lifestyle: low consumption of material and energy
Review of tax structure
Manoeuvre towards a sustainable information society
Limitation of inputs from nature
Focus on knowledge and information flows
27/11/2018

7. My Second Question: Organisation of Work ??
Sequence? or
Systematic Approach?
27/11/2018

8. A Sequence of Themes: Outcome of the Oslo Conference
Sectoral statistics
Emission inventories
Impact analyses
Emission trading
SEEA
GIS
Indicators
Modelling
Governance
27/11/2018

9. Reductionism + Holism: Complementary Views
Synthetic indices signalling a high-level
governance
Overview
Indicator sets or aggregates with a single unit of measure
Quantitative indicators with a multiple dimension space of measures
Accounting data supplemented by satellite systems
From a conceptual and measurement point of view, the relevant information sets run across a continuum from ‘detail’ to ‘overview’ or from ‘simple’ to ‘complex’ in a kind of hierarchy of information. One can look at problems with a holistic or a reductionistic approach.
Five ‘bands’ of information can be identified:
Highly aggregated indices and indicators (first 2 bands) as proposed for example with HDI or EDP and others. They always include a number of assumptions and underlying background that often is not or can not be made explicit. They have a kind of “invisible load” of methodology that usually can not be communicated in an adequate way when using these indices.
That is why official statistics with their claim to offer data of high quality (see for example the European Code of Practice) should not engage in this kind of reporting. They should instead concentrate on the provision of data according to the “lower” 3 bands.
Details
Basic statistical data from surveys etc.
27/11/2018

10. How to get beyond GDP? Basic data Basic data Basic data Modelling
Scenarios for environmental adjusted economies
Basic data
Basic data
Accounting
cooperation
Valuation?
OFFICIAL STATISTICS
RESEARCH INSTITUTES
27/11/2018

11. Communication + advocacy
A Systematic Approach
Information
Application
Communication + advocacy
Indicators
Emission trading
SEEA =
Framework
Modelling
Sectoral statistics
Impact analyses
GIS
Emission inventories
German Statistical Office’s reporting on EEA and sustainability indicators might serve as an example of what statistical offices can do to improve the measures. And it shows at the same time what is outside their mission.
For the question of taking the environment into account we have the following steps: Apart from the basic data traditional accounting data are supplemented for example by physical data on the environment (tonnes of material use, joule of energy consumption, m2 of land used for settlement and traffic).
Additional indicators are derived from these satellite data, e.g. intensity of energy use on the level of branches.
Finally headline indicators are formulated and targets are given by politics (e.g. productivity indicators on an economy-wide level). These headline indicators are published by FSO and underlying analyses are presented as to back up the experienced developments or effects of measures.
In addition the results are used as an input for the modelling of scenarios conducted by research institute, not by FSO!
Technical coefficients
Ecosystems integrity
Classifications + Metadata
Governance
27/11/2018

12. Toolbox Environment Statistics
Basic Statistics
Geograph.
Information
Systems
Accounting
(SEEA: MFA, Valuation,…)
Modeling
Indicators
(Ind. Sets, Composite Ind.)
Collection x
Systematisation
Analysis
Aggregation
Communication
27/11/2018

13. The Activity Level Make sure that necessary basic data is available
Provide resources for adequate quality of official statistics
Broaden the accounting systems: environment, sustainability, R&D, human capital; core system and satellite systems
Agree on indicator sets, based on available information
Develop standard SEEA
Build up databases to analyse transboundary flows
Improve communication tools
27/11/2018

14. Thank you for your attention!
Walter Radermacher