ABSTRACT
Agenda 21 called for indicators of sustainable development, and UNEP, through the UN System-wide Earthwatch, helped to take this forward. Experts and diplomats met to lay a framework for an indicators process at the Commission on Sustainable Development, producing three sets of indicators and country testing for initial implementation. Two SCOPE projects and a Consultative Group on Sustainable Development Indicators addressed the conceptual development of indicators. After 15 years, 66 countries were using indicators in national environmental reporting. The UN-led process combined research and development sensitive to political context, policymakers convinced of the usefulness of indicators, and capacity building sharing innovative approaches.
