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United Nations Economic Commission for Africa African Centre for Statistics Regional Workshop on Environment Statistics and Accounts 7 - 11 March 2011 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Page 1: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa African ...

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa African Centre for Statistics

Regional Workshop on Environment Statistics and Accounts

7 - 11 March 2011 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Organization of the Workshop

1. The Workshop on Environment Statistics and Accounts was organized by the African Centre for Statistics (ACS) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from March 7 to 11 2011.

2. The participants to the environment statistics and accounts workshop were mainly from

national statistical offices (NSOs) of member States in Eastern and Southern African sub-regions. In total 17 participants attended the workshop and they were from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The workshop was also attended by the representatives of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The resource persons at the workshop were from ACS and the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of ECA.

3. The list of participants is attached as Annex 1.

Opening Session

4. Opening remarks were made by Ms. Dorothée Ouissika, Principal Statistician at the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Mr. Dimitri Sanga, Director of the African Centre for Statistics (ACS) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) officially opened the workshop.

Opening remarks by the representative of AfDB

5. In her opening remarks, Ms. Dorothée Ouissika welcomed all the participants and acknowledged the existing cooperation between AfDB, ECA and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). She recalled the fact that environmental issues were mainstreamed at the international and national levels for properly addressing socio-economic policies. She stated that as environmental statistics and indicators have not been well developed in Africa, AfDB is ready to play a key role by providing financial and technical support to African countries in the area of statistics, including environmental statistics and accounts, in order to improve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) monitoring as well as other development policies and programs. She hoped that the outcomes of the workshop would bring improvements in the development of environment statistics and accounts.

Opening Statement by the Director of ACS, ECA

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6. Mr. Dimitri Sanga, the Director of ACS welcomed all participants to Addis Ababa, the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. He requested a minute of silence in memory of Ms. Maria Ferreira, the Director General of the National Statistical Office of Angola.

7. The Director said that environment statistics and accounts is an area that is still

underdeveloped in many parts of the world. He indicated the challenges that the Environment Initiative of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) identified and pointed out that it is imperative for policy makers to design appropriate policies aimed at addressing environmental problems, and countries have to produce quality statistical information that would help them monitor progress in their policy implementation as well as some of their commitments at regional and international levels.

8. He informed the participants about the objectives of the workshop and also indicated that

the Joint African Statistical Yearbook includes environment indicators on carbon dioxide emissions per capita in metric tons; percentage of protected area to total surface area; and proportion of population using improved sanitation facilities and a quick look at the series on the above indicators clearly shows that there still remains a lot to be done in reporting on environment indicators.

9. Furthermore, he pointed out the work which is currently underway to revise the framework

for the development of environment statistics where some African countries are also participating. He said that in the future, workshops in the area of environment statistics will take into consideration the latest agreements reached during this revision process.

10. He assured the participants that ACS will continue to work closely with UNSD, the

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), AfDB, the African Union Commission (AUC) and other partners in capacity building activities as well as to provide technical assistance in the area of environmental statistics and accounts in Africa. In addition, the Centre will work closely with the Food Security and Sustainable Development Division (FSSD) and ACPC of ECA to assist African countries in addressing environment and climate change issues. Finally, he indicated that ACS will assist the regional statistical training centres in order to include environment statistics in their curriculum, and declared the workshop officially opened.

Adoption of the programme of work

11. The programme of work was adopted as presented. It is attached as Annex 2.

12. The participants agreed that the following countries chair the sessions on the below indicated dates and time:

a. March 7, 2011, morning session Kenya

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b. March 7, 2011, afternoon session Lesotho c. March 8, 2011, morning session Mauritius d. March 8, 2011, afternoon session Mozambique e. March 9, 2011, morning session Rwanda f. March 9, 2011, afternoon session Zimbabwe g. March 11, 2011, afternoon closing session ECA

13. The participants attended the Workshop on Sustainable Development Indicators

Framework (SDIF) for Africa that was organized by FSSD of ECA on 10 and 11 March 2011.

Introduction to the objectives of the workshop

14. The main objectives of the regional workshop on environment statistics and accounts were indicated to be: to train staffs of the national statistical offices (NSOs) and environment ministries of member States on the concepts of environment statistics, and the system of environmental and economic accounting as well as to agree on a core set of environmental indicators for national, sub-regional and regional reporting. Furthermore, for the participants to share their country experiences in environment data collection, compilation and dissemination, and to establish a network of environmental statisticians among the countries as recommended by the Action Plan of the Environment Initiative of NEPAD.

Session 1: Need for environment statistics and indicators

15. The presentation was made by Negussie Gorfe from ECA. He said that environment statistics and indicators are required at national, sub-regional, regional and global levels. The data are used to follow-up on global conferences, to report to international and regional conventions, to respond to thematic international data as well as comprehensive international environment statistics data collections. Environment statistics and indicators are required at national level in order to monitor progress of policies and programmes related to environment protection and other sustainable development initiatives. The data are also required to monitor progress on the main global and regional conferences and initiatives such as the MDGs, Conference on Sustainable Development (CSD), NEPAD’s Environment Initiative, and other development conferences. He indicated that coordinated environment statistics collection activities help in avoiding duplication of requests and other related problems, the consistency between questionnaires is maintained and international and regional organizations could be able share data among themselves.

16. During the discussions in was indicated that the low response rate to the environment

statistics data collections might be linked to the need for capacity building at national level. It was indicated that the capacity building activities should be provided not only to

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the staffs of NSOs and ministries of environment, but also to other departments and agencies that are directly involved in environment statistics data collections. Furthermore, the specific need for the provision of technical and financial assistance in the field of environment statistics and accounts to member States was raised and agreed upon.

Activities in environment statistics at AfDB

17. The presentation was made Dorothée Ouissika of the AfDB. The presenter said that the commitment of AfDB to the environment has been reflected by the adoption of the environment policy in 2004 and by the provision of assistance to countries in capacity and institutional building for sustainable development. She pointed out that AfDB has been involved in several regional and international initiatives like African Carbon Program, Africa Commission on Sustainable Energy Initiative, African Water Facility, etc. There has therefore been mobilization of substantial resources by the Bank in the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building Program for activities in environment statistics. She further presented some key budget lines of the Department of Statistics in the 2011-2012 Program that are related to the area of environment statistics. She concluded by saying that AfDB is willing to integrate the recommendations of the workshop in its activities.

18. The discussions after the presentation were mainly focused on the allocation of the

resources provided by AfDB Statiscal Capacity building (SCB). The following proposals were made by the participants on this regard:

a. Allocation of resources to environment statistics and accounts following the design of the International Comparison Program (ICP); and

b. Allocation of resources under each specific project by creating a special budget line that cover data collection activities.

19. Furthermore, as the resources allocated by statistical capacity building (SCB) are

managed at national level, it was indicated that allocations to statistics should be done through the national statistical councils (NSCs) that should address environmental statistics issues and give it a priority (NSDS). Moreover, the NSCs may create a special committee under it that focuses on environmental issues. It was also pointed out that the funding of capacity building activities and the one on recurrent activities at national level are incompatible.

Activities in environment statistics at UNEP

20. Mr. Frank Turyatunga, the representative of UNEP recalled that environment does cover many sectors. Therefore, responsible entities in these sectors should collect primary data for managing their administrative purposes. International organizations that work in the area of environment have a coordination role to play in order to mainstream information coming from all sectors. Thus, he stressed the need to establish an agreed core list of

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indicators and to coordinate stakeholders’ activities in the domain of data collection and compilation. He raised the issue regarding the role of NSOs by saying that it is not their role to directly collect environment data but that they rather they should play a role in compiling the data. NSOs should also play a coordinating role by identifying the right partners, core list of indicators, exchange data with sectors in charge of data collection and to agree on the methodology and the timing. He also addressed the necessity of developing methodology sheets for some of the indicators. He mentioned the activities accomplished since 2003 in the area of environment statistics with the participation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other international organizations and the way forward. He concluded by saying that the present workshop should be a follow-up on the work done during the previous years.

21. During the discussion it was indicated that there is a need to determine the boundaries

with regard to the role of the NSOs in the area of environment statistics data collection; the importance of developing methodology sheets; and the harmonization of environment statistics data collection activities under an agreed framework.

Session 2: Environment Statistics and Indicators: Concepts and Methods

22. The presentation was made by Negussie Gorfe from ECA. The presentation covered frameworks of environmental statistics and indicators, global indicator sets such as the MDGs and the Indicators for Sustainable Development (ISD), and the regional indicator set of NEPAD. The frameworks covered were the UNSD Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES); Pressure-State-Response (PSR) framework for environment indicators of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); the three frameworks of the CSD, namely, Driving force-State-Response (DSR) framework, Thematic/sub-thematic framework for indicators of sustainable development, and Thematic/sub-thematic framework – 3rd set; Driving force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework of Eurostat and the European Environment Agency (EEA); and the NEPAD / African Environment Outlook (AEO-2) Theme-Issues-Indicator-Data matrix framework. The presentation also covered the most politically important indicator sets at the global level such as Goal 7 of the MDGs that deals with ensuring environmental sustainability and the CSD Thematic / sub-thematic framework third set which has 14 themes, 44 sub-themes, and 96 indicators of which about 41 indicators deal with environmental issues. Furthermore, the presentation covered the NEPAD / AEO-2 Indicators (May, 2005) which has 11 thematic areas, 47 priority issues and 154 indicators.

23. During the discussions it was pointed out that: a. The choice of environment statistics development frameworks depends on the

circumstances of countries, i.e. it is country specific. It was also indicated that the frameworks are not mutually exclusive as they have some common features; and

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b. The need for assistance from development partners especially through the exchanges of best practices from the ECOWAS sub-region and its pilot countries was raised.

Session 3: Introduction to Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting

24. The presentation was made by Xiaoning Gong of ECA. The main topics that were covered during the presentation included sustainable development and the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA); structure and application of SEEA; country experiences from Canada and China in implementing SEEA; SEEA and DPSIR framework; SEEA and set of environmental statistics and indicators; the system approach to environmental information; SEEA and the ecosystem approach; as well as SEEA and FDES. The main points raised were that SEEA is a satellite account of the System of National Accounts (SNA) that describes stocks of environmental resources and their flows within and between the environment and the economy in physical and monetary terms. Besides, SEEA is the conceptual framework for environmental information as well as for measuring sustainable development. SEEA has four categories of accounts which are physical and hybrid flow accounts of materials and energy (e.g. emissions accounts for greenhouse gases), economic accounts and environmental transactions (e.g. expenditures made to protect the environment), asset accounts in physical and monetary terms (e.g. timber stock accounts showing opening and closing and the related changes) and extending SNA aggregates to account for depletion, defensive expenditure and degradation (e.g. depletion, defensive expenditures, degradation) where each category of account has strong applications. It was indicated that the implementation of SEEA is flexible and some countries have good experiences, and the presentation cited Canada and China as examples. The relationships between SEEA and DPSIR demonstrate that they are closely related and complement each other while SEEA has distinct advantages.

25. The following key issues were raised during the discussions: a. The problems of focus on the difficulties of valuation techniques which may

require combination of skills, modeling and measurement issues; b. While there are some practices that already exist on the implementation of certain

modules of the SEEA from Canada and China, these are mostly physical accounts and there are very few examples of linking environmental accounts to the SNA in monetary terms;

c. Participants expressed the need for capacity building in this area. Some countries suggested that the valuation may start on easy sectors like water and waste; and

d. The participants requested ECA, AfDB, and UNEP to document best practices from African countries on the valuation techniques especially on water and waste management.

Session 4: Statistics on water resources, treatment and quality

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26. Jeremy Webb of ECA made the presentation on water statistics, accounts and indicators. He started his presentation by defining water as colourless, tasteless and odourless chemical substance composed of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms with the chemical formula H2O. In water statistics, water refers to water and any dissolved, suspended or other chemicals or materials carried in it. It was indicated that water has a number of special properties that made it essential for life, sanitation, and many industrial processes. Water has a high specific heat capacity, and a high thermal conductivity making it suitable for use as a coolant. During the presentation it was indicated that the distinction between freshwater and saltwater is an important consideration in water statistics. He said that the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for water (SEEA-W) was developed by UNSD and the Water Subgroup of the London Group on Environmental Accounts. The SEEA-W was adopted as an Interim International Statistical Standard at the 38th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) in 2007. He also said that the International Recommendations on Water Statistics (IRWS) was developed by an Expert Group on Water Statistics where Part 1 of the IRWS was adopted as international recommendations at the 41st Session of the UNSC in 2010 and Part 2 of the IRWS was endorsed as supplementary guidance at the same Session. IRWS classifies water data items and shows the link between these data items and the standard tables of the SEEA-W international water indicators. The SEEA-W provides a framework for organizing water statistics and using a systems approach classifies data in terms of stocks and flows.

27. During the discussions member States pointed out the status of water statistics and

accounts in their respective countries: a. Mauritius indicated that river water quality by selected physico-chemical

parameters and in several rivers is being monitored and these data are available in yearly reports. Furthermore, data on surface and ground water are also available;

b. Ethiopia indicated that water data are not available at the Central Statistical Agency and a survey has to be conducted in order to collect the information;

c. Uganda produces a directory of water resources although there are still data gaps in the report;

d. Mozambique indicated that the Ministry of Environment in the country collects water data and publishes it in a compendium;

e. Lesotho indicated that the Water Commission in the country monitors water quality and quantity from time to time but the data is rarely accessible; and

f. Zimbabwe indicated that Water Authority in the country collects data on water use. In the rural areas per household water consumption is used to estimate total water consumption. On the other hand, in urban areas the authority issues water permits on the quantity to be used by industries, the water levels in dams are constantly measured on a weekly bases, and the country is currently working with UNSD and GTZ in the area water statistics and accounts.

g. It was indicated that in general water data collection is an expensive venture and may be difficult to handle. Furthermore, there may be conflict of interest among the major stakeholders when it comes to data access;

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h. The countries were advised to seek technical support in the area of water statistics and accounts from UNSD where there is an inter-regional advisor in the area. The request could be made by a group of neighbouring countries that are at different stages of development in water statistics and accounts;

i. It was indicated that during such workshops it is important to bring together participants from national statistical offices and water ministries and compare the data of the two institutions;

j. It was also pointed out that there is not any methodology that relates water borne diseases to water accounts.

Session 5: Statistics on air emissions and air quality

28. Negussie Gorfe of ECA made the presentation on the statistics of air emissions and air quality. During the presentation it was indicated that air emissions arise from combustion of fossil fuels that are used for transport, power plants, refineries, etc. Air pollutants include CO2, SO2, NOx, NM-VOCs, etc. that are emitted from industrial and agriculture processes and also other pollutants such as N2O and CH4. It was pointed out that transportation and metal industries are the main sources of lead (Pb), and transportation as well as energy production affects ambient air quality in most cities of the world today. Apart from the above, the presentation covered fugitive emissions which could threaten human as well as environmental health and contribute to the degradation of the Earth’s atmosphere. It was indicated that emissions of pollutants affect local air quality, contribute to regional and global environmental problems such as acidification, eutrophication and climate change. Air emissions data are calculated according to international methodologies consisting of estimates based on national statistics on energy balances, industrial and agricultural production, waste management, land use, etc. The most accepted methodologies are the revised guidelines of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and these methodologies are the basis for reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The air indicators that are included in the UNSD/UNEP questionnaire, ISD, MDGs and in the NEPAD/AEO indicators framework were covered during the presentation.

29. In the discussions that followed this presentation emphasis was made on compiling the

indicators included in the UNSD/UNEP questionnaires that are sent to NSOs and environment ministries. Some participants complained about the lack of data to fill the questionnaires while others indicated that they have not seen the questionnaires. It was indicated that remote sensing methods could be used to collect pollution data as satellites with payloads have sensors to detect pollutants and could provide data related to environmental pollution. Some country delegates indicated problems with regards to measuring instruments to be used in gathering pollution data.

30. During the discussions Zimbabwe indicated that it has been working closely with GTZ on

suspended particulate matter; it has some data on ozone depleting substances, persistent

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organic pollutants, on biodiversity indicators; and air pollution monitoring is mainly done for Harare. Mauritius also indicated that it compiles emissions data by using IPCC guidelines and the work is done in collaboration with all stakeholders.

Session 6: Statistics on Waste

31. The presentation was made by Negussie Gorfe from ECA. The presentation indicated that waste refers to materials that are not prime products for which the generator has no further use for his own purpose of production, transformation or consumption, and which he discards, or intends or is required to discard. It excludes residuals directly recycled or reused at the place of generation and waste materials that are directly discharged into ambient water or air. There are two types of wastes called municipal wastes and hazardous wastes. Municipal waste are collected by or on behalf of municipalities and their composition include paper, paperboard, textiles, plastics, glass, metals, inorganic material, organic material consisting of food and garden waste. The presentation also covered from where the municipal wastes originate and their data sources. Furthermore, the presentation mentioned the Basel Convention on the control of trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal which was adopted in Basel in March 1989 and entered in force on May 5, 1992; the definitions of hazardous wastes, their data sources and treatment; and the International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC Rev. 4) that is used to classify waste by source. In addition, waste indicators those are included in the UNSD/UNEP questionnaire, ISD, MDGs and in the NEPAD/AEO indicators framework were covered during the presentation.

32. During the discussions it was indicated that:

a. The UNSD/UNEP questionnaires are voluminous to fill and some countries even indicated that they have not received the 2010 questionnaires on water and waste statistics;

b. Waste data could not be compiled in most countries due to lack of collaboration with the municipalities and / or due to the absence of data collection mechanism; and

c. The emergence of electronic wastes was raised and UNEP is working on the rules and regulations to be used by African countries to manage these wastes.

Session 7: Statistics on land use and land degradation

33. There were two presentations during this session, the first one covered land use, land cover and land accounts while the second was devoted to land degradation and indicators.

34. The first part was presented by Xiaoning Gong of ECA. It was indicated that land use

reflects the degree of human activities directly related to land in making use of its resources and requires field and ground information such as surveys and censuses. On the

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other hand, land cover is the observed (bio)-physical cover of the earth’s surface. Such an observation can be made by the human eye, aerial photographs, satellite sensors, or by existing maps. Since land cover is easier to map, it is used as a proxy of ecosystems. The presentation also covered distribution of land use, major global land use datasets, as well as land registration and cadastral systems as sources of information on land ownership and rights. The need for land use information at local, national and international levels was pointed out and land use is indicated to be the single most important driver of land degradation. It was indicated that the Global Land Cover Network (GLCN) is used for global monitoring of land cover. It was also indicated that land use, land cover, and land accounts are covered in the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) 2003, Chapter 8. In SEEA 2003 there are 4 main classifications, namely land use, land cover, land cover flows and land functions. Furthermore, the structure and features of the proposed land use classification, and the rules and principles observed by the proposed classification were indicated. In addition, the presentation also dwelt on the land cover classification system.

35. The second part was presented by Negussie Gorfe of ECA. The presentation defined what degraded land, vegetation degradation, soil degradation, salinization, and desertification are. It was indicated that land degradation is caused by; water erosion, salinization, and rangeland degradation due to overgrazing, sand dune encroachment, and loss of biodiversity and it is a serious problem in Africa. Key issues of land degradation in Africa include escalating soil erosion, declining fertility, salinization, soil compaction, pollution by agro-chemicals and desertification. Desertification in Africa threatens the lives of millions of persons and seriously affects 39 percent of the total area. It was also indicated that all the sub-regions of the continent are affected by land degradation. To address the problem of land degradation in Africa activities under NEPAD focus on sustainable land use, integrated management of water resources, development of new and renewable energy sources, development of sustainable agriculture, management of rangelands, integrated natural resources management, reforestation, ecological monitoring, natural resources mapping, remote sensing and early warning systems. Finally the presentation covered indicators on land use which are included in the UNSD/UNEP questionnaire, ISD, MDGs, and in the NEPAD/AEO indicator framework.

36. The discussions in this session were focused on the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing in mapping land use and land cover. The discussions ranged from the concepts to the applications of the technology to generate data to monitor these phenomena, and the case of soil degradation was simulated to indicate the capture and dissemination of data using this method. The following key issues were also raised:

a. The information on land cover is available from satellite imagery and remote sensing but is costly and technical skills are demanding;

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b. The indicator on rehabilitated land is not included in the core list of indicators; c. GIS and remote sensing are important for data collection, visualized graphs,

combining data with location, and for complex analysis; however adequate budget allocation is required to implement them;

d. Remote sensing and GIS are useful for agricultural statistics especially in the study of crops; remote sensing takes the signals of different crops and GIS presents the signals in data format and for analysis purposes. However, the use of remote sensing for mixed crops may not be accurate as some crops may have similar signals and ground truthing is required to verify the accuracy of the signals obtained by remote sensing;

e. It is essential to integrate data requests from United Nations and other organizations into country requirements;

f. The turnover of staff at NSOs may be a problem. However, documentation can alleviate the problem to some extent; and

g. There are various manuals on statistical methodologies posted on the websites of international organizations that are of help to countries.

Session 8: Role of GIS and Remote Sensing to Environment Statistics

37. The session was presented by Chukudozie Ezigbalike of ECA. The presentation defined what environment statistics is, its scope and the integrative nature that brings human activities, natural events, impacts of activities and events on environment, social responses to impacts, and the quality and availability of natural assets. He also mentioned interdisciplinary modelling problems, the difference between framework and system, different approaches for environment statistics, and the UNSD framework for the development of environment statistics. He said that environmental phenomena are location-based and better presented as maps. He pointed out the use of GIS for visual presentation, GIS richer content for more detailed analyses and GIS provides better data modelling for environmental phenomena. He further said that location of each point is stored in GIS and attributes of each point stored in relational databases. He indicated that even though the framework for the development of environment statistics organizes data in categories, there is still a need to combine and integrate them for visualization and policy analysis. The common criterion for selection of data for such combination is location and the tool that can select and combine data on the basis of location is GIS. He said that satellites can detect a wide range of reflected or emitted frequencies of electromagnetic radiation and remote sensing can be used for more detailed data capture such as evapotranspiration, temperature, and soil moisture. He concluded by saying that remote sensing allows the collection of detailed data about bio-physical characteristics that cannot be collected by questionnaires; and GIS allows the data, even questionnaire

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data to be visualized graphically, and combines data based on their location, as well as answer complex spatial queries.

38. The discussions after the presentation were based on the concerns of participants on the

application of space technology in generating different types of datasets. Emphasis was made on the power of space technology to generate measurements that the questionnaire cannot collect. It was mentioned that the process of data collection using this method required ground truthing and accuracy assessments before the results can be effectively used.

Session 9: Dissemination of environment Statistics

39. Negussie Gorfe of ECA made the presentation. The presentation indicated that Principle 1 of the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics is on the importance of statistical data dissemination. The Principle states that “Official statistics provide an indispensable element in the information system of a democratic society, serving the government, the economy and the public with data about the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation. To this end, official statistics that meet the test of practical utility are to be compiled and made available on an impartial basis by official statistical agencies to honour citizens' entitlement to public information”. Dissemination of statistics is the release to users of data and information obtained through statistical processes that include data collection, processing, storing, retrieving and analysis. Statistical data are disseminated to satisfy the needs of policy makers, and other users. Various release media are used to disseminate the data such as paper publication, faxes, public speeches, CD-ROMs, flash disks, or electronic format via the internet and emails. The ongoing developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have provided statistical offices with new opportunities in providing statistical data and information to users. The importance of disseminating metadata together with data was also stressed and the data that are disseminated should fulfil quality characteristics. It was pointed out that ACS uses publications and electronic media such as CD-ROMs, flash disks, emails, and website to disseminate its data and information. Publications include the Joint African Statistical Yearbook, Pocketbook, Compendium of intra-African trade and related statistics, African Statistical Newsletter, etc. ACS also posts data on its Statistical database (StatBase) which is also available online.

Session 10: Sharing the experiences of environment statistics and accounts from countries

40. Presentations were made by the country delegates on the status of environment statistics and in their respective countries. The country presentations were based on the report format that was prepared by ACS of ECA. The contents of the report format covered

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background information on the development of environment statistics and accounts; the existence of a unit or section in the NSO that is involved in environment statistics work; the main stakeholders that collect, compile and disseminate environment data in the country and the cooperation mechanism among stakeholders in environment data sharing; methods used to collect environment statistics; environment indicators which are compiled and their data availability; dissemination methods used; whether or not environment statistics are included in the latest national strategy for the development of statistics; assistance obtained by the environment statistics unit; the main challenges faced in the development of environment statistics and how they were addressed; the relevance of the compiled environment indicators and the main data users; the compilation of environmental economic accounts; and the way forward.

41. The session proceeded with presentations on the experiences of countries. Although it was agreed that all countries should present their national situation with regards to environmental statistics and accounts based on the indicated format, most countries managed to make their presentations. These included Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It appeared from the different presentations that the situations of the countries are diverse: Some countries have started compiling environmental accounts as early as 1990s while others have only plans to begin doing so in the near future. However, all statistical offices seem to have understood the importance of environmental statistics and accounts and the necessity to integrate them in the national statistical systems.

42. The main issues that came out of the countries’ presentations were:

a. Problems of coordination and harmonization: environmental data come mainly from secondary sources. When there is no coordination mechanism with NSOs, the collection of the data becomes difficult. Even when the data are received from the secondary sources the absence of harmonized definitions and classifications hinders the reconciliation and aggregation of the data.

b. Lack of resources: many countries do not have in their NSOs correctly staffed unit dedicated to the compilation of environment statistics. There are in general no sufficient funds allocated to the work of environment statistics.

c. Lack of technical capacity: even the countries that are relatively advanced in the compilation of environmental accounts have stressed the lack of local technical capacity. The work done so far was the result of cooperation with external expertise.

43. The representative of UNEP highlighted the fact that some institutions did not like to

share their data with the NSOs. But he indicated that this was not really in their interest. He said that institutions that would like to secure funding for their activities should be proactive and try to have their data used in relevant development plans. This would raise the interest in their work and as a result, these institutions would get the attention of policy makers and other funding institutions. The representative also mentioned the

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existence of environmental information networks in some African countries and advised NSOs to be become part of these networks.

44. After the presentations, the organizers of the workshop requested country delegates to

give them some insights in the directions in which the international organizations could help countries in improving the production of environmental statistics and accounts and on what could be done in order to move forward.

45. Throughout the discussions, it was stressed that countries are at different levels of

development in their environmental statistical systems and accounts and therefore, they may have different needs. It was also mentioned that, given that environmental data come from secondary sources, the stakeholders doing the data collection should be consulted before coming up with projects for the development of environment statistics.

46. The three important points of actions that emerged from the discussions were raising the

profile of environment statistics by making advocacy directed toward high level decision makers, capacity building, and funding.

47. Summarizing the different interventions, the UNEP representative proposed the following

steps: a. It is recognized that countries are at different stages, but this does not mean that a

project on the development of environmental statistics and accounting should leave some countries out;

b. To agree on the core list of environment indicators to compile; c. There should be some dialogue between data producers at the national level in

order to better coordinate the collection of the data necessary for production of the indicators selected in the previous step;

d. The countries should strengthen the coordination function of the national statistical offices;

e. The countries should move progressively to the compilation of environment statistics; and

f. Finally, the regional product that may come out of this process should be identified.

48. Two other important interrelated points were also raised. These include the importance of

the responsibilities at the national level where countries should support the development of environment statistics by, for example, staffing correctly the units responsible for the work and identifying a person who would act as national coordinator. On the other hand, international organizations should raise the awareness of political leaders on the resource requirements of the international agreements they are signing.

49. When concluding the session, the chairperson said that countries welcome the offer of

help from ECA, AfDB and UNEP. But the details of the project that should be initiated will be developed later. One possibility is to develop a questionnaire and send it to the

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countries in order to identify the priority areas where actions should be taken. Alternatively, countries can develop concept notes and send them to the organizers of the meeting.

Session 11: Streamlining the core list of environment indicators in Africa

50. The presentation covered the main activities that were undertaken in order to develop the core list of environment indicators for Africa. It was indicated that the indicators were developed under the coordination work of the Inter-secretariat Working Group on Environment Statistics (IWG-ENV) with some of its objectives being to firmly anchor environment statistics as part of official statistics at all levels by improving and strengthening basic environment data, to harmonize international data and their collection, and coordination of training. The African region has benefited from the work undertaken by the IWG-ENV through training and capacity building activities. Since 2005 four workshops have been organized in the area of environment statistics in Africa where the training workshops were organized by UNSD in collaboration with ECOWAS, ECA, UNEP and other development partners. One of the objectives of the training workshop held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in July 2007 was to agree on a core set of environmental indicators and statistics for national, sub-regional and regional reporting. The workshop bearing in mind the critical role of environment issues in sustainable development policies and programmes, was concerned by the scarcity of data and information to assess the state of the environment in Africa. At the end of the training workshop a core list with 109 environmental indicators, taking into account the revised list of MDGs indicators, was developed on the following 11 thematic areas: Natural Disasters and Environmental Performance; Air (Atmosphere); Land use; Agriculture; Forests and Woodlands; Coastal and Marine Resources; Freshwater; Biodiversity; Energy and Minerals; Waste; and Health and Environment.

51. The participants of the workshop went through all the indicators developed during the

2007 Addis Ababa workshop and agreed that the indicators are relevant to the countries and should be compiled on a regular basis. The participants also noted that some countries will be faced with constraints in compiling the indicators, and should therefore be supported by development partners in terms of capacity building activities as well as provision of technical assistance.

Workshop on Sustainable Development Indicator Framework for Africa

52. The participants to the environment statistics and accounts workshop have also attended another workshop on Sustainable Development Indicator Framework for Africa that was organized by FSSD of ECA on 10 and 11 March 2011. There were presentations and discussions on the experiences in the development and use of indicator frameworks relevant to sustainable development at global and regional levels, the African

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Environment Outlook (AEO) publication, and on the proposed indicator framework for measuring and tracking progress on sustainable development in Africa. Furthermore, focus group sessions were held on the proposed compendium of indicators for assessing sustainable development in Africa.

Conclusions and Recommendations The participants of the Workshop on Environment Statistics and Accounts held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 7 to 11 March 2011,

53. Recalling the recommendations of the environment statistics workshop that was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 16 to 20 July 2007 on the regional programme for the development of environment statistics, including a core set of environmental indicators and statistics for national, sub-regional and regional reporting;

54. Having considered the issues on the agenda, as well as country presentations on the

activities of environment statistics and accounts: (i) Need for environment statistics; (ii) Concepts and methods of environment statistics and indicators; (iii) Introduction to the system of environmental and economic accounting; (iv) Statistics on water resources and accounts; (v) Statistics on air emissions and air quality; (vi) Statistics on waste; (vii) Statistics on land use, land cover and degradation; (viii) Role of GIS and remote sensing to environment statistics; (ix) Dissemination of environment statistics; (x) sharing of country experiences in environment statistics and accounts; and (xi) Development of the core list of environment indicators;

55. Appreciative of the assistance provided by ECA, AfDB, UNEP, and other development

partners in building environment statistics and accounts capacities in Africa;

56. Bearing in mind the role environment statistics play in sustainable development and other policies and programmes, as well as challenges posed by environment data collection, compilation, processing, analysis and dissemination, and the necessity for coordination and networking;

57. Aware of the NEPAD Initiative on the Environment and the action plan for

implementation;

58. Aware of the critical needs for capacity building in environment statistics and accounts in Africa.

Conclude and Recommend that:

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59. Advocacy: National statistical systems make necessary arrangements to create awareness of the high level decision makers on the importance of environment statistics and indicators for monitoring national sustainable development and other policies and programmes.

60. Coordination: Member States develop and strengthen collaboration mechanisms between

the various stakeholders involved in environment statistics data collection and sharing. National Statistical Offices (NSOs) should take an active role in the coordination with concerned line ministries in the implementation of the environmental statistical activities and programmes,, including the environmental component of the Statistical Capacity Building programme of AfDB and those supported by other development partners.

61. Data harmonization: Member States adopt available international statistical concepts,

definitions, classifications, and standard methodologies in data collection, compilation, and dissemination of environment statistics and accounts to produce harmonized and comparable environment statistics, accounts and indicators and to complete the biennially administered UNSD/UNEP environmental questionnaires.

62. Resource allocation: Member States in collaboration with development partners to

support environmental statistics programmes by providing adequate human and financial resources as well as any other required facilities, including establishing functional environment statistics units if there is not one yet.

63. Core indicators: The core list of environment indicators that were proposed in the Addis

Ababa workshop in July 2007 are relevant to countries and therefore agreed to compile them on a regular basis. Indicators on mining to be included in the proposed core list of indicators. UNSD, ECA, UNEP and AfDB to prepare methodology sheets for the indicators where the sheets are not yet developed in consultation with member States.

64. Training: Regional statistical training centres, universities and other specialized training

centres to include in their curriculum environment statistics and accounts programmes and train the necessary manpower in the area.

65. Capacity building: AfDB, ECA, and UNEP have reaffirmed to work closely together

along with other development partners to provide technical assistance and capacity building to the national statistical offices and other related line ministries in countries, through exchange of experiences and best practices so that countries are able to produce quality data and respond to growing data demand in the field of environment statistics and accounts.

Evaluation of the workshop

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66. Out of the seventeen participants who attended the workshop, fifteen responded to the evaluation questionnaire, a response rate of 88.2%. The majority of the participants agreed or strongly agreed on the workshop contents (93.3%); on the design of the workshop (79.3%); on workshop facilitators (88.9%); on workshop results (84.3%); and on workshop organization (62.7%). In general, most of the participants (80.3%) were of the view that they agree or strongly agree with the overall activities undertaken in organizing the workshop.

67. On the other hand, some participants were of the view that there is a need for

improvement on workshop organization, especially on travel arrangements as well as protocol reception and assistance at the airport.

68. With regards to measures that should be taken in order to improve in the future, sixty

percent of the participants were of the view that better information be provided before the workshop; forty percent suggested improvement in workshop organization; 33.3% were of the view that more clarifications about the objectives of the workshop be provided; and 26.7% suggested that the workshop activities should be more stimulating and the contents of the workshop should be updated.

Closing of the workshop

69. The representative of AfDB thanked ECA for organizing the workshop. She indicated that in the future AfDB will work together with partners and countries in the development of environment statistics.

70. The representative of UNEP on his part thanked ECA for organizing the workshop and

indicated that UNEP has been in the forefront in the development of environment statistics. He also indicated that although UNEP has slowed down for sometimes now, it will be picking up. He promised to take the recommendations of the workshop to UNEP and further said that his organization will engage with the national statistical systems and ministries of environment in the implementation of the recommendations.

71. In his closing statement, the Director of ACS of ECA indicated that countries as well as

statisticians are at different stages of development in the area of environment statistics thus the workshop was a good opportunity to learn from the experiences of each other. He mentioned the paucity of environment data and said that the recommendations of the workshop are a good way forward. He is of the view that the objectives of the workshop are achieved as there were exchanges of ideas between the participants and partners; participation in discussions on the sustainable development indicators framework; and the partners had discussions among themselves on how to work together.

72. On the way forward, he indicated that there is a need to strengthen the established

network, implement and follow up on the recommendations, and the need for creating a

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working group on environment statistics that will be used as a platform to exchange information and experiences.

73. He informed the participants that ECA, AfDB, and UNEP agreed to assess the status of

environment statistics at the national level through questionnaires. Furthermore, he indicated that it is for member States to compile environment statistics while partners are facilitators. Finally he reminded participants to get committed to improving environment statistics and wished them a safe return back home.

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Annex 1

List of Participants

Botswana 1. Mr. Kakanyo Fani Dintwa Central Statistics Office Senior Statistician Tel. 267 71 699 261 Fax. (267) 395 2201 Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Ethiopia 2. Mr. Biratu Yigezu Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia Director, Agriculture, Natural Resource and Environmenta Statistics Directorate Tel. 251 911 64 03 90 Fax. (251) 11 155 0334 Email: [email protected]

3. Mr. Jemal Ali Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia Senior Statistcian Tel. 251-911021294 Fax. 251-550334 Email: [email protected]

4. Mr. Dawit Kalu Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia Senior Statistcian Tel. 251917811849 Email: [email protected]

5. Mr. Habekiristos Beyene Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia Senior Expert Tel. 251 911146178 Email: [email protected]

Kenya 6. Mr. Paul Nderitu Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Manager, Environment Statisics Tel. 254-722848190 Fax. 254-020-315977 Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Lesotho 7. Mr. Thabo Samson Thobei Bureau of Statistics Principal Statistician Tel. 266-58-772 351 Fax. 266-222 65 914 Email: [email protected]

Malawi 8. Mr. Dikani Chibwe Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Enviroment (MoNREE) Assistant Statistician Tel. 265 999 662 042 or 265 884 282 542 Fax. 2651 788 689 Email: [email protected]

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Mauritius 9. Ms. Bibi Sadhna Banoo Sham-Jacmohun Central Statistics Office Senior Statistical Officer Tel. (230) 737 5283 Fax. (230) 210 5751 Email: [email protected]

Mozambique 10. Ms. Eliza_Mónica Magaua National Institute of Statistics Head of Department of National Accounts Tel. 258-82-7953930 Fax. (258-21) 490930 Email: [email protected]

Namibia 11. Mr. Joseph Minnaar Central Bureau of Statistics Head: Agriculture and Industrial Statistics Tel. 264 81 376 2232 Fax. 264-61-239-376 Email: [email protected]

Rwanda 12. Mr. Sébastien Manzi National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) Acting Director of Economic Statistics Tel. 250 78 876 2655 Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Sudan 13. Ms. Faiza Idries Mohamed Elnaim Central Bureau of Statistics Statistician Tel. 249-9126 17347 /249 121 18 19 70 Email: [email protected]

Uganda 14. Mr. Samuel Echoku Okorom Uganda Bureau of Statistics PRVO STAT-Head Environmental Stat & Accounting Tel. 256-751 814108/ 712 809 400 Fax. 256 414 237 553 Email: [email protected]

Zambia 15. Mr. Joseph Mutemwa Central Statistical Office Head - Environment Statistics Tel. 097-750705 Fax. (260-211) 253 468 Email: [email protected]

Zimbabwe 16. Mr. Manasa Viriri Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (AIMSTAT) Principal Statistician Tel. 263-772-947673 Fax. (263-4) 728529 Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

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17. Mr. Tinashe Njovana Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management Environmental Administrative Officer Tel. 263-773 671 461 Fax. (263-4) 252 673 Email: [email protected]

AfDB 18. Ms. Dorothee Ouissika African Development Bank (AfDB) Principal Statistician Tel. 216 71 10 34 56 Fax. 216 71 10 37 43 Email: [email protected]

UNEP 19. Mr. Frank Turyatunga United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Coordinator, Africa Assessments & Early Warning Tel. 254 (20) 7625058 Fax. 254 (20) 7624309 Email: [email protected]

ECA 20. Mr. Xiaoning Gong Chief, Economic Statistics & National Accounts Section African Centre for Statistics Tel. 251-11-544 5425 Fax 251 11-551 0389 Email: [email protected]

21. Mr. Chukwudozie Ezigbalike Senior Geo-Information Officer African Centre for Statistics

Tel. 251-11-544 4569 Fax 251 11-551 0389 Email: [email protected]

22. Mr. Andry Andriantseheno Statistician African Centre for Statistics Tel. 251-11-544 3603 Fax 251 11-551 0389 Email: [email protected]

23. Mr. Jeremy Webb Statistician African Climate Policy Centre Tel. 251 115 44 3236 Email: [email protected]

24. Mr. Ayenika Godheart Statistician African Centre for Statistics Tel. 251-11-544 5472 Fax 251 11-551 0389 Email: [email protected] 25. Mr. Negussie Gorfe Statistician African Centre for Statistics Tel. 251 11 544 3209 Fax 251 11-551 0389 Email: [email protected]

26. Mr. Steve Gui-Diby Associate Statistician African Centre for Statistics Tel. 251 11 544 5201 Fax 251 11-551 0389 Email: [email protected]

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27. Mr. Tesfaye Belay Statistical Assistant African Centre for Statistics Tel. 251 11 544 3461 Fax 251 11-551 0389 Email: [email protected]

28. Mr. Elias Fisseha Statistical Assistant African Centre for Statistics Tel. 251 11 544 3479 Fax 251 11-551 0389 Email: [email protected]

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Annex 2

African Centre for Statistics

Regional Workshop on Environment Statistics and Accounts 7 - 11 March 2011

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME OF WORK

Monday, 7 March 2011

08:30 - 09:30 Registration of participants

09:30 - 10:00 Opening Session • Remarks by AfDB • Opening statement by ECA

10:00 - 10:15 Adoption of the Agenda and Programme of Work 10:15 - 10:30 Introductions of Participants

10:30 - 11:00 Tea/Coffee break 11:00 - 11:15 Introduction of the objectives of the workshop

11:15 - 13:00 Session 1: The need for environment statistics and indicators

Regional situation International needs Activities in environment statistics at AfDB Activities in environment statistics at ECA Activities in environment statistics at UNSD Discussions

13:00 - 14:30 Lunch break

14:30 - 15:30 Session 2: Environment Statistics and indicators: Concepts and

methods Framework for environment statistics and indicators Development of environment indicators Data linkages to environment accounting

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15:30 - 16: 00 Tea/Coffee break 16:00 - 16:30 Discussions 16:30 - 17:30 Session 3: Introduction to integrated environmental and

economic accounting Tuesday 8 March 2011 9:00 - 10:30 Session 4: Statistics on water resources use, treatment and

quality Indicators on water Sources of water resources and use statistics Sources of waste water treatment statistics Discussions 10:30 - 11:00 Tea/Coffee break 11:00 - 12:00 Session 5: Statistics on air emissions and air quality Statistics on air emissions Discussions 12:00 - 13:00 Session 6: Statistics on waste Environmental policy issues of waste Sources of waste statistics Discussions 13:00 - 14:30 Lunch break 14:30 - 15:30 Session 7: Statistics on land use and land degradation Sources of land use and land cover statistics Land degradation concepts, sources of statistics 15:30 - 16: 00 Tea/Coffee break 16:00 - 16:45 Session 8: Application of GIS and remote sensing to

environment statistics 16:45 - 17:30 Session 9: Dissemination of environment statistics

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Wednesday 9 March 2011 9:00 - 10:30 Session 10: Sharing the experiences of environment statistics

from selected countries Presentation from Malawi Presentation from Namibia Presentation from…….. 10:30 - 11:00 Tea/Coffee break 11:00 - 13:00 Session 11: Streamline the core list of environment indicators in

Africa Introducing the core list of indicators

Discussion on the indicators 13:00 - 14:30 Lunch break 14:30 - 15:30 Session 11: Streamline the core list of environment indicators in

Africa (continued) Introducing the core list of indicators

Discussion on the indicators 15:30 - 16: 00 Tea/Coffee break 16:00 - 17:30 Session 11: Streamline the core list of environment indicators in

Africa (continued) Discussion on indicators Thursday 10 March 2011

08:30 - 09:30 Registration of participants

09:30 - 10:30 Opening of the Workshop

• Remarks by ECA • Remarks UNEP, UNDP and AfDB • Opening statement by the African Union Commission

10:30 - 10:50 Introduction of Participants

10:50 - 11:05 Tea/Coffee break

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11:05 - 11:10 Adoption of the Agenda and Programme of Work 11: 10 - 11: 30 Introduction and Objectives of the Workshop

11:30 - 13: 00 Presentation and discussions on the development of sustainable

development indicators at global level: experience, challenges and lessons learned

13:00 - 14:30 Lunch break 14:30 - 15:30 Presentation and discussions on the development and application

of core environment indicators for the Africa Environment Outlook (AEO) process: experience, challenges and lessons learned

15:30 - 15: 45 Tea/Coffee break 15:45 - 17:45 Presentation and discussions on the proposed sustainable

development indicator framework for measuring and tracking progress on sustainable development in Africa

Friday 11 March 2011 09:00 - 10:30 Presentation and discussions on the proposed compendium of

indicators for assessing sustainable development in Africa 10:30 – 11:30 Focus Group discussion on the proposed compendium of indicators

for assessing sustainable development in Africa 11:30 - 11:45 Tea/Coffee break 11:45 - 13:00 Focus Group discussion on the proposed compendium of indicators

for assessing sustainable development in Africa - continued 13:00 - 14:30 Lunch 14:30 - 15:30 Focus Group presentations and discussions on the proposed

compendium of indicators for assessing sustainable development in Africa

15:30 - 17:00 Discussions on conclusions and recommendations 17:00 – 17:30 Closing