General Instructions:

Please download and save the Comment Form. Complete it and submit it to: envstats@un.org

To complete the Yes/No responses, please hold cursor over the box containing “Yes” or “No” to make your selection.

Background:
The Statistical Commission at its forty-first session in 2010 endorsed the programme of work for the revision of the Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES) including the development of a Core Set of Environment Statistics. Subsequently, at its forty-third session in 2012, the Statistical Commission requested that the revised FDES and the Core Set undergo a Global Consultation with Member States before being submitted for final adoption at its forty-fourth session in 2013.

Objective:
The revision has been carried out by UNSD together with an Expert Group that brought together producers and users of environment statistics from countries at different stages of development from all regions as well as experts from international organizations. The Expert Group discussed the drafts at three meetings and provided several rounds of comments. In addition, the draft Core Set of Environment Statistics (Chapter 4) has also been subjected to a Pilot Testing by more than 20 countries from all regions of the world. The present Draft for Global Consultation is the result of this process. After the Global Consultation, UNSD will finalize the document prior to its presentation to the Statistical Commission.

The objective of the Global Consultation is to achieve and strengthen a wide consensus with regard to the contents of the FDES and the Core Set of Environment Statistics, taking into consideration the comments based on experience, priorities and requirements of the Member States.

Comment Form:
The present Comment Form has been designed to facilitate the submission and analysis of comments and consists of 4 sections.
Section I includes the identification details of the responder.
Section II seeks general opinions about the FDES as a whole.
Section III contains specific questions and provides space for general comments about the Introduction and Chapters 1-5 of the draft FDES.
Section IV includes questions regarding the Annexes.

Timeline for submission:
22 October 2012

For background information, see http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/fdes/fdes_egm.htm

(Translations of the Core Set of Environment Statistics into other official UN languages are not available due to limited resources).