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4.1 Indicators Module

Indicators are what make data relevant for society and for policy making. They help us make decisions
or plans because they help us understand what is happening in the world around us. As a society, we 4
tend to choose measures that reflect our values. On the other hand, the information we receive also
shapes what we value.

Indicators have an important role in both informing and assessing policy (UNEP 1994). The World
Bank (1997) stated that, “The development of useful environmental indicators requires not only an Abu Dhabi, UAE
understanding of concepts and definitions, but also a thorough knowledge of policy needs. In fact,
the key determinant of a good indicator is the link from measurement of environmental conditions

to practical policy options.” Practical policy options imply a relationship between environmental and
societal affairs. As any decision has a price, whether it is environmental or social, a policy’s impact
ultimately depends on the priority of the decision-maker as influenced by the perceived priorities
of that person’s constituents. Thus, the integration of policy areas must provide a solid platform for
supporting the path toward sustainable development (Gutierrez-Espeleta 1998).

The value of indicators in policy making can be summarized as:
1. Providing feedback on system behaviour and policy performance;

2. Improving chances of successful adaptation;

3. Ensuring movement toward common goals;

4. Improving implementation; and

5. Increasing accountability.

Selecting good indicators
Because indicators influence decision making, it is important that the measures we use are proper ones.

Poor indicators provide inaccurate and misleading information about what is being measured. An example
of a poor indicator might be a measure that reflects change over a very long time scale when decision
makers require knowledge about change over in a short time scale. In order to know the impact of
fertilizer on land quality, it would be insufficient to measure and present just the soil organic matter, which
changes on a decade long time scale. Inaccurate indicators could lead to policy actions that are over or
under-reactive.

One of the challenges of selecting good indicators is that it may be easier to choose indicators based
on ease of measurement or data availability, rather than what needs to be measured. As mentioned
previously, filling data gaps can be a resource intensive process, which means that options in terms of

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