Environment Statistics

It is now accepted unequivocally that climate change takes place and is caused by the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released to the atmosphere as a result of human activities (Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC],Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. These emissions are changing the chemical composition of the atmosphere with increased concentration of three main gases: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O). According to the IPCC report on the Physical Science Basis which covers the period 2000-2010, the atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ have increased by 40% and of CH₄ by 150% since pre-industrial times. These amounts have further increased since then.

Building on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, Parties reached a new universal agreement in Paris, in 2015, to reduce emissions, keep global warming to 2^oC below pre-industrial levels (i.e. about 1850) and mobilize resources to finance adaptation, as societies move towards a low-carbon economy base. The session and its outcome, the Paris Agreement, were of critical importance, given that it was the first time that all countries have agreed to GHG reductions in their national economies, not only those listed in Annex I Parties of the UNFCCC. The landmark Paris Agreement sets the path to enable humanity to combat climate change and boost the transition towards resilient, low-carbon societies and economies around the globe. The agreement includes provisions on mitigation, adaptation and capacity-building that directly relate to the information going forward and addresses the capacity-building needs of developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing States.

There was no underlying framework linking the reporting requirements stemming from the Paris Agreement and the necessary statistics or indicators to support climate policy action. The science and policy framework developed by IPCC summarises the complexity of climate change as a sequence of events: drivers, impacts, vulnerability, mitigation and adaptation, however internationally applicable indicators and statistics needed more attention. On the other hand, many countries produce statistics and indicators across these areas in all possible ways. Therefore, a statistical framework was needed both to streamline international reporting and better inform national climate change policies.

Currently, only GHG reporting (part of drivers and mitigation) is standardized (in the IPCC 2006 guidelines). The areas of adaptation and vulnerability to climate change are particularly challenging to express in internationally comparable and agreed indicators. The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) published the Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES 2013), which addresses climate change as a cross-cutting theme in Chapter 5. The chapter provides a set of environmental topics and individual statistics based on the IPCC framework that are important when informing any country on climate change.

Accurate statistics on climate change drivers, impacts, vulnerability, mitigation and adaptation are of critical importance to support global environmental policies, foremost on climate change and ocean acidification abatement; likewise, for regional and nationally relevant policies, for example carbon sequestration enhancement policies (REDD+), urban air quality improvement, etc. At present, the availability of relevant statistics in most countries varies across the above mentioned five areas. UNSD in collaboration with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other international bodies, as well as the Expert Group on Environment Statistics (EGES) has developed the Global Set of Climate Change Statistics and Indicators based on a systematic review of country-based practices and close link between global climate change negotiations and reporting and national statistics.