1. The Sustainable Development Indicators (SDG)
Policy Group on Statistical Cooperation October 2016, Zadar, Croatia
The Sustainable Development Indicators (SDG)
Point 6 of the Agenda

2. The SDG indicators
The SDG indicators are a backbone of monitoring progress towards the SDGs at local, national, regional and global levels
The framework of indicators is a management tool to help countries develop implementation strategies and allocate resources
The SDGs are a report card to measure progress towards sustainable developement and help ensure accountability of all stakeholders

3. The SDG indicators – general context
Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly 25/09/2015
Successor to the Millennium Development Goals defined in year 2000 with targets for 2015
SDG has 17 goals, 169 targets, 241 indicators and covers all countries in the world
Monitoring of the progress needed in all countries – SDG indicators will be used
Statistical offices will be involved in the provision of SDG indicators, where possible
Need to enhance the capacity of statistical systems around the world
UN Statistical Commission 47th meeting in March 2016 agreed on a global indicator framework
Inter-Agency and Expert Group (IAEG-SDG) of the UN prepared the SDG indicators and is currently refining the list of indicators
High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

4. Tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 indicators
The SDG indicators have been classified by the IAEG-SDG into 3 groups (tiers) depending on their availability in national statistical systems (in general). Latest version is from 19 July 2016.
Tier 1: Indicator conceptually clear, established methodology and standards available and data regularly produced by countries.
Tier 2: Indicator conceptually clear, established methodology and standards available but data are not regularly produced by countries.
Tier 3: Indicator for which there are no established methodology and standards or methodology/standards are being developed/tested.
The number of indicators is tentatively distributed as follows:
Tier 1: 89, Tier 2: 59, Tier 3: 84. For 9 indicators, there is no tier class.

5. Few SDG indicators collected
Eurostat collects around 10 SDG indicators from the enlargement countries
This refers to cases where the definition of indicators collected by Eurostat corresponds to the definition of SDG indicators
Availability is lower, around 5 SDG indicators on average in the enlargement countries
If the definition of collected indicators is allowed to be only approximate to the SDG definition, around 50 'SDG' indicators are collected from enlargement countries.

6. SDG indicators and official statistics
How many SDG indicators are official statistics?
The question is simple, but there is no simple answer!
The nature of many SDG indicators is such that they are out of scope for official statistics. Examples: many SDG indicators are about official development assistance (ODA), for which OECD compiles data.
Some SDG indicators could potentially be official statistics, but are not relevant for EU. Example: Number of people requiring interventions against neglected tropical diseases (indicator 3.3.5)
Other SDG indicators are relevant, but not available. Example: Direct disaster economic loss in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP)
Definitions of SDG indicators are many times similar to definitions of official statistics, but the difference in definition must be judged case by case
Some complex SDG indicators are partially, but not fully, available at Eurostat
A number of SDG indicators have a title, but no specific methodology is provided, so it is not possible to judge if it is official statistics. Example: "Macro-economic dashboard" (indicator )

7. Eurostat’s coverage of global SDG indicators
Potentially available – see next slide
Potentially in scope but not relevant for the EU> for instance Rural population living within 2 km of an all-season road
In scope and relevant but not available> examples comprise Change in water-use efficiency over time, Tourism direct GDP as a proportion of total GDP and in growth rate, Proportion of traded wildlife that was poached or illicitly trafficked
Out of scope of official statistics> the indicator is not of statistical nature. Examples comprise many indicators of the type "number of countries with XX".
Out of scope indicators are also many indicators where Official Development Assistance (ODA) is the topic. OECD compiles such information.

8. Potentially available SDG indicators at Eurostat
Total tier 1 tier 2 tier 3 n.a.
Identical definition
Similar definition
Partially available
Sum "Potentially available"
Identical definition> no need for Eurostat to collect more data. Example> mortality rate for children under 5 years old
Similar definition> 'very close' definition, but the wording is not the same and further analysis would be needed
Partially available> cases where several indicators are packed into one SDG indicator, for instance 'number of deaths and missing persons in natural disasters' – Eurostat has the deaths in the statistics of causes of death, but not the missing persons, hence partial availability.

9. Questions to NSIs
How will the countries coordinate the compilation and delivery of Sustainable Development Goal indicators?
What initiatives been taken to set up a coordination mechanism for SDG in your countries?
Which SDG indicators your country can deliver / cannot deliver?
What other initiative have you taken to prepare for the SDG indicators?

10. Thank you for your attention!