Environment Statistics

UNSD has implemented the Development Account project "Supporting Member States in developing and strengthening environment statistics and integrated environmental-economic accounting for improved monitoring of sustainable development". This project, which took place from 2015 to 2017, included two modules. The Environment Statistics Section was responsible for Module A, which focused on strengthening environment statistics in the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and its five member states, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda. One of the outputs of Module A is the regional EAC Compendium of Environment Statistics.

Module B focused on the implementation of selected environmental-economic accounts in two Asian countries and two EAC countries.

DOCUMENTATION AND PRESENTATIONS FOR THE WORKSHOP

The opening workshop of the project gathered participants from the five EAC countries, regional and international organizations (UNSD, UNECA,UNEP, EAC, COMESA) and training institutions (School of Statistics and Planning (SSP), Makerere University, Eastern Africa Statistical Training Centre (EASTC). The key purpose of this mission was to build national capacities for the implementation of the FDES, to provide statisticians and experts from ministries of environment (or equivalent institutions) with detailed knowledge and understanding of contemporary approaches to environment statistics, and to discuss the development of a programme on environment statistics for the EAC region. The implementation of the FDES will help countries address the increasing demand for integrated information in support of integrated policies in the follow-up to Rio+20 and the post-2015 development agenda through the strengthening of environmental statistics and indicators.

The mission was composed of two activities, bilateral consultations and a workshop. During the bilateral consultations with the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) on the first day the main environmental issues, priorities and data gaps in the country were discussed. The future work of UBOS to develop environment statistics in the country was discussed during bilateral discussions on the last day.

The purpose of the three-day workshop was, inter alia, to reunite the different stakeholders so that they could discuss the availability of environment statistics in the country, assess the need of and uses for environment statistics, and develop a national work plan for the way forward. In order to achieve this goal, the Environment Statistics Self-Assessment Tool (ESSAT) Part II was used by the participants in group work, so that they could then use it in their own institutions to have a complete view of the state of environment statistics in the country. Moreover, EAC was invited to anchor the mission in the region by making a presentation on the needs for environment statistics in the region, drafting a common national work plan to be applied to the five EAC member states and starting to think about a common set of environmental indicators to monitor regional policies.

The mission was composed of two activities, bilateral consultations and a workshop. During the bilateral consultations with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on the first day the main environmental issues, priorities and data gaps in the country were discussed. After the meeting with KNBS, UNSD visited the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. During the meeting with the counterpart at the Ministry, his expectations regarding the meeting as well as his future plans concerning environment statistics were discussed. UNSD then met the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Water and Natural Resources and discussed the goals of the project. The future work of KNBS to develop environment statistics in the country was discussed during bilateral discussions on the last day.

The purpose of the three-day workshop was, inter alia, to reunite the different stakeholders so that they could discuss the availability of environment statistics in the country, assess the need of and uses for environment statistics, and develop a national work plan for the way forward. In order to achieve this goal, the Environment Statistics Self-Assessment Tool (ESSAT) Part II was used by the participants in group work, so that they could then use it in their own institutions to have a complete view of the state of environment statistics in the country. Moreover, EAC was invited to anchor the mission in the region by making a presentation on the needs for environment statistics in the region, drafting a common national work plan to be applied to the five EAC member states and starting to think about a common set of environmental indicators to monitor regional policies. The representative of Statistics Sweden, which has a project including a module on environment statistics in Kenya, took part in all the mission's activities, including the drafting of the national work plan. This close collaboration between UNSD and Statistics Sweden will improve the coordination of their complementary activities and enhance the outcomes of the two projects in the country.

As per the other country missions, this one was also composed of bilateral consultations and a workshop. However, the content of the activities was different. Indeed, after the Opening regional workshop in Arusha, Tanzania (6-10 July 2015), Rwanda organized a national workshop by itself gathering the main stakeholders of environment statistics in the country. They used the Environment Statistics Self-Assessment Tool (ESSAT) Part II to assess the state of environment statistics in the country and define the priority for the development of new statistics. Therefore, during the discussions with the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) the way forward will be examined and steps to be taken to streamline the production of environment statistics will be identified. Concerning the national workshop, participants will be asked to come with data and metadata to identify clearly the data gaps and align the national definitions to the international ones. EAC was invited to participate in the workshop and present the National Action Plan that it has developed for the countries.

As per the other country missions, this one was also composed of bilateral consultations and a workshop. The contents of both the bilateral consultations were similar to what had been done in the other countries; however, the content of the workshop changed. As Tanzania had already created a working group on environment statistics and had completed the Environment Statistics Self-Assessment Tool (ESSAT) Part II, the workshop focused on linking the statistics of the Basic Set of Environment Statistics to the indicators of the National Environment Action Plan to facilitate their production. The participants also went through the environmentally-related SDG indicators metadata to familiar themselves with it and which statistics they already had and which statistics they needed to produce them. As for the other missions EAC was invited to participate in the workshop and present the National Action Plan that it has developed for the countries.

As per the other country missions, it was also composed of bilateral consultations and a workshop. The contents of the workshop were similar to what had been done in Uganda and Kenya. However, the assessment of the state of environment statistics in the country went a little bit further as Burundi had just launched its first compendium of environment statistics. EAC was also invited to participate in the workshop and present the National Action Plan that it has developed for the countries. Regarding the bilateral discussions, in addition to talk with the National Statistical Office as in the other countries, UNSD also met on the first day with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Planning and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment. During these meetings, the goals of the project were explained and both Permanent Secretaries expressed their strong appreciation of the work being carried out by UNSD as regards the project.