Implementating the International Development Target on Strategies for Sustainable Development: Some Preliminary options for International Information-Sharing

The development and implementation of strategies for sustainable development is a commitment entered into by all countries at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, and it has become one of the IDTs. Acting on this commitment is a national responsibility, but progress will also need to be addressed in appropriate international fora, in particular in the context of preparing for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.

This section provides some preliminary ideas for monitoring the IDT on strategies for sustainable development. The current proxy, the existence of a National Environmental Action Plan, is not useful for measuring progress towards sustainable development. The OECD/UN/World Bank indicator for sustainable development strategies agreed in "A Better World for All - Progress Towards the International Development Goals" is the existence of "effective (strategic planning) processes for sustainable development". Adapting Box 29 could be useful in reviewing progress towards the achievement of this IDT at a country level. To assist further discussion, this section makes some observations on issues that will need to be considered in devising a system for sharing information on the implementation of the IDT on strategies for sustainable development. The ideas and suggested options are based on the analytical work on strategies for sustainable development carried out during the preparation of this guidance. To be effective, any such system must be designed through international consensus so as to satisfy the needs of both industrialised and developing countries.

Before even addressing issues of potential monitoring, a vital first step is to achieve greater international understanding about and consensus on what is actually implied by the term "national strategy for sustainable development". It is hoped that the definition of such a strategy offered in this guidance, and the accompanying principles for developing and implementing strategies, will provide a basis for discussion and consensus. On this basis, it is clear that no two strategies will ever be the same. Indeed, individual countries will have different views about what issues and actions area crucial to contributing to sustainable development. Any system for monitoring the implementation of the IDT on strategies must take this into account. In fact, any international monitoring must be grounded by in-country monitoring.

The purpose of international information-sharing on the implementation of strategies for sustainable development

Notwithstanding the above, there is much to gain from sharing information internationally on the implementation of strategies. The overall objective should be to learn lessons from the experiences of different countries in order assist continuous improvement. This guidance underscores the point that effective strategies require genuine country ownership and, therefore, any form of "policing" or conditionality in relation to following up on the implementation of the target could be very counter-productive.

Scope and types of indicators

An international information-sharing framework on the IDT on strategies for sustainable development is likely to be most effective if it focuses on the following elements:

• Key component processes and mechanisms which are considered by the country in question to be part of its strategy for sustainable development - whether under the umbrella of a single strategy or the sum of a number of initiatives and processes. It is worth emphasising that the starting point for collecting this information must be a country’s own perception of what constitutes its national strategy for sustainable development. Examples of relevant components and processes include efforts in areas such as: communication and awareness; civil society participation in sustainable development debate and action; capacity-building for sustainable development; co-ordination between sectoral ministries; monitoring systems and indicators.

• The quality of these processes and mechanisms in terms of their contribution to effective change towards sustainable development. This could be measured in terms such as changes in civil society awareness of sustainable development issues; changes in representation in relevant fora; changes in attitudes or skills connected to capacity-building efforts; the extent to which there have been shifts in decisions of key bodies during the strategy period; changes in public and private sector investment plans, allocations and disbursements; etc.

• Progress against key sustainable development indicators, i.e. impact of the strategy processes. This should build on ongoing international work such as that carried out under the programme of work on indicators of sustainable development approved by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.

• Suggestions for improvement and strengthening of national planning processes for sustainable development.

For learning purposes, disaggregated data are useful, as they allow the identification of specific areas where policy changes may be recommended. In this form, rather than providing definitive answers to specific questions, monitoring would seek to position progress in each component process or mechanism on a scale from no progress to very good progress.

There may also be a benefit in seeking to establish an aggregate index reflecting progress in strategies for sustainable development in a country. Such an approach should build on on-going work on indices of this type such as the Human Development Index which has the advantage of being easy to communicate and publicise.

Options for international management of information in relation to implementation of the IDT on strategies

There is a range of options for the international management of information in relation to the implementation of the IDT on strategies for sustainable development:

• United Nations: An important role for the UN in the context of monitoring strategy implementation would be the centralisation and dissemination of information provided by individual countries. This could be the task of the Commission for Sustainable Development (UNCSD) and could, for example, be linked to the regular voluntary country reporting to this body. The current use of questionnaires to steer country reporting could be expanded to include specific queries relating to strategy principles and approaches. This could be done so as to ensure approximately comparable reporting, on an annual basis, on a smaller number of processes and approaches agreed by the international community as key to effective strategies.

Another option could be to place, every year, a stronger focus on certain specific aspects of strategies for sustainable development. This would increase the scope for in-depth analysis of those aspects.

A benefit of having this information managed by the CSD is that conclusions relating to constraints or contributions that are embedded in the activities of other international organisations could be immediately channelled to those organisations. This assumes, of course, that there is a continued mandate for such CSD activities.

• International peer review: A more active approach to the international gathering of information could be embedded in some form of international peer review system. This would have to be carried out in a mutually trusting relationship by a team drawn from peer group countries. This system may initially be most acceptable within regional agreements which already include some form of co-operation for sustainable development.

• International panel: A third option is information-gathering and analysis by a team drawn from an international panel of individuals with recognised experience and expertise in developing, implementing and/or assessing strategies for sustainable development. It may be difficult to gain broad acceptance for such an approach until there is broad acceptance of the principles contributing to effective strategies for sustainable development.

Time frames

Consideration should be given to the periodicity of any independent domestic or international follow up of the implementation of IDT, and of reporting by countries. The first ‘round’ could be undertaken in 2002-2006, and then maybe every five years. The reporting of the IDT on strategies for sustainable development should be co-ordinated with that related to other IDT monitoring.