Abstract
After reviewing the current achievements and “Strategic Gaps” of sustainable development indicators, this chapter tries to develop an indicator system to facilitate the sustainability performance evaluation in government. Based on the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC) developed in Chapter 4 that outlines a framework for translating an organization’s mission and strategy into a set of performance objectives and measures, a new indicator system named “Sustainability Performance Indicators” (SPIs) will be proposed as one consequence of this research. Finally, some barriers of the SPIs and E-government as solutions will be discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
See the homepage of SDinfo at http://www.sdinfo.gc.ca/s1_e.cfm.
- 2.
DEFRA is the abbreviation of Great Britain Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
- 3.
See the homepage of UK Parliament, “Welcome to the Environmental Audit Committee”, from http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/environmental_audit_committee/eac_remit.cfm.
- 4.
It is the successor of "Greening Government Annual Report” to reflect the full range of policy and operational issues for which ENV(G) is responsible.
- 5.
In German: Umweltbundesamt, or UBA as abbreviation.
- 6.
See the mission and vision of UK National Audit Office, from the website http://www.nao.org.uk.
- 7.
See its homepage at http://www.sdinfo.gc.ca.
- 8.
See its homepage at http://www.defra.gov.uk.
References
Anthony, R. N. (1998). Management control systems (9th ed.). New York: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Bundesrechnungshof (2005). 2005 – Annual Report on Federal Financial Management (abridged version). Supreme Audit Institution of the Federal Republic of Germany (in German: Bundesrechnungshof). Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.bundesrechnungshof.de/publications/annual-reports/annual_report_2005.pdf.
Chen, D., Huang, T., & Hsiao, N. (2004). Citizen Participation, E-government, and Public Management: A case of Taipei City Mayor’s E-mail Box. Paper presented at International Symposium of Digital Divide and Digital Opportunity, Feb. 2004, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan, pp. 157–176. Retrieved August 2007, from http://weber.infosoc.yzu.edu.tw/conferenc/paper/6_02Public%20Participation%20E-government%20and%20KM_draft_.pdf.
Coelho, J. F. G. M. (2005). Sustainability performance evaluation management systems model for individual organizations and supply chains. Dissertation, Central Queensland University, Australia. Retrieved August 2007, from http://library-resources.cqu.edu.au/thesis/adt-QCQU/uploads/approved/adt-QCQU20060720.094327/public/02whole.pdf.
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD). (2006). Chapter 4: Sustainable development strategies. In OAG, 2006 Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/c20060904ce.html.
Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCPC). (2005). The proposal of 11th five-year plan for national economy and social development. Retrieved August 2007, from http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2005-10/18/content_3640318.htm.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). (1999a). A better quality of life: A strategy for sustainable development in the UK. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080530153425/http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/publications/uk-strategy99/index.htm.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). (1999b). Quality of life counts. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080530153425/http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/progress/indicators/qolc99.htm.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). (2002). Sustainable development in government: First annual report. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080530153425/http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/publications/report2002/index.htm.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). (2004). Sustainable development indicators in your pocket 2004. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080530153425/http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/progress/documents/sdiyp04a4.pdf .
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). (2005). Securing the Future – UK Government sustainable development strategy. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080530153425/http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/publications/uk-strategy/index.htm.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). (2006). Sustainable development indicators in your pocket 2006. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080530153425/http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/progress/documents/sdiyp2006_a6.pdf
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). (2007). Sustainable development indicators in your pocket 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080530153425/http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/progress/data-resources/documents/sdiyp2007_a6.pdf
Dunleavy, P., Margetts, H., Bastow, S., & Tinkler, J. (2006). New public management is dead—Long live digital-era governance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 16(3), 467–494.
Epstein, M. J., & Wisner, P. S. (2001). Using a balanced scorecard to implement sustainability. Environmental Quality Management, 11(2), 1–10, Winter 2001.
Eurostat. (2004). EU member state experiences with sustainable development indicators. European Communities, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Retrieved August 2007, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-AU-04-001/EN/KS-AU-04-001-EN.PDF.
Eurostat. (2005a). Sustainable development indicators to monitor the implementation of the EU sustainable development strategy. Retrieved July 2007, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_DS_SUSTDEVIND/PGE_DS_SUSTDEVIND_01/TAB47437058/SEC(2005)161%20SDI%20COMMUNICATION%20EN.PDF.
Eurostat. (2005b). Final report of the SDI task force to the statistical programme committee. CPS/2005/57/20. 57th Meeting of the Statistical Programme Committee, 29 and 30 NOVEMBER 2005, Luxembourg. Retrieved July 2007, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_DS_SUSTDEVIND/PGE_DS_SUSTDEVIND_01/TAB47437058/CPS%202005-57-20%20%20EN%20FINAL.PDF.
Forschungsstelle für Umweltpolitik (FFU). (2004a). Germany case study: Analysis of national strategies for sustainable development. Environmental Policy Research Centre, Freie Universität Berlin. IISD research report. Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2004/measure_sdsip_germany.pdf.
Forschungsstelle für Umweltpolitik (FFU). (2004b). China case study: Analysis of national strategies for sustainable development. Environmental Policy Research Centre, Freie Universität Berlin. IISD research report. Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2004/measure_sdsip_china.pdf.
Gallopín, G. C. (1997). Chapter 1: Indicators and their use: Information for decision-making. In B. Moldan, S. Billharz, & R. Matravers (Eds.), Sustainability indicators: Report of the project on indicators of sustainable development (SCOPE58), Scientific Committee On Problems of Environment. Chichester and New York: John Wiley. Retrieved August2007, from http://www.icsu-scope.org/downloadpubs/scope58/ch01-introd.html.
German Federal Government. (2002). Perspectives for Germany: Our strategy for sustainable development (short version). Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de/service/download_e/pdf/perspectives_for_germany_short_version.pdf.
Gou, T., & Chen, L. (2004). Ten problems that are presented in applying BSC to be analysis. Value Engineering, 6, 86–88, China.
Government of Canada. (1995). A guide to green government. Retrieved July 2007, from http://www.sdinfo.gc.ca/reports/en/ggg/Default.cfm.
Government of China. (1994). The priority programme for China’s agenda 21 (First Version). Retrieved April 2007, from Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA21) website: http://english.acca21.org.cn/acca21/news/priority.htm.
Government of China. (1997). National report on sustainable development (1997). Retrieved August 2007, from Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA21) website: http://english.acca21.org.cn/acca21/news/report1997.htm.
Government of China. (2002). National Report on Sustainable Development (2000). Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA21), China.
Government of China. (2005). Report on the work of the government (2005), delivered at the Third Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress on March 5, 2005. Retrieved August 2007, from http://english.gov.cn/official/2005-07/29/content_18351.htm.
Government of China. (2006). Report on the work of the government (2006), delivered at the Fourth Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress on March 5, 2006, Beijing. Retrieved August 2007, from http://english.gov.cn/official/2006-03/14/content_227248.htm.
Government of China. (2007). Report on the work of the government (2007), delivered at the Fifth Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress on March 5, 2007, Beijing. Retrieved August 2007, from http://english.gov.cn/official/2007-03/16/content_552995.htm.
Government of USA. (2003). E-government strategy: Implementing the President’s management agenda for e-government. Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/2003egov_strat.pdf.
Gruening, G. (2001). Origin and theoretical basis of new public management. International Public Management Journal, 4(1), 1–25, Spring 2001.
Gueorguiev, I., Dimitrova, S., Komitska, M., Traykov, H., & Spassov, K. (2005). Balanced scorecard based management information system – A potential for public monitoring and good governance advancement. Electronic Journal of E-government (EJEG), 29–38. Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.ejeg.com/volume-3/vol3-iss1/v3-i1-art3-gueorguiev.pdf.
Guo, X., & Gao, L. (1997). Application of indicators of sustainable development in China. In B. Moldan, S. Billharz, & R. Matravers (Eds.), Sustainability indicators: Report of the project on indicators of sustainable development” (SCOPE58), Scientific Committee On Problems of Environment. Chichester and New York: John Wiley. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.icsu-scope.org/downloadpubs/scope58/box4e.html.
Hao, Q., & Zhao, G. (2005). Performance measurement based on balanced scorecard. Chinese Business Review, 4(3) (Serial No.21), 67–69, March 2005. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.china-review.org/show.asp?articleid=1977.
Hardi, P. (1997). Box1A: Measurement and indicators program at the international institute for sustainable development. In B. Moldan, S. Billharz, & R. Matravers (Eds.), Sustainability indicators: Report of the project on indicators of sustainable development (SCOPE58). Scientific Committee On Problems of Environment (SCOPE). Chichester and New York: John Wiley. Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.icsu-scope.org/downloadpubs/scope58/box1a.html.
Hardi, P., & Pintér, L. (1995). Models and methods of measuring sustainable development performance, revised draft discussion paper prepared for the Sustainable Development Coordination Unit, Executive Council, Government of Manitoba. Winnipeg: IISD. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.iisd.org/pdf/measure_models_methods_sd.pdf.
Hardi, P., & Zdan, T. (1997). Assessing sustainable development: Principles in practice. International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Canada. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.iisd.org/pdf/bellagio.pdf.
Hass, J. L., Brunvoll, F., & Hoie H. (2002). Overview of sustainable development indicators used by national and international agencies. OECD Statistics Working Papers, 2002/2. OECD Publishing. Retrieved April 2007, from http://fiordiliji.sourceoecd.org/vl=16665462/cl=31/nw=1/rpsv/cgi-bin/wppdf?file=5lgsjhvj7p8v.pdf.
Jänicke, M., Jörgens, H., Jörgensen, K., & Nordbeck, R. (2001). Governance for sustainable development in Germany: Institutions and policy making, Forschungsstelle für Umweltpolitik (FFU), OECD. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/27/32/1828117.pdf.
Karpen, U. (Ed.) (2005). E-government as a topic of the European Association of Legislation (EAL). In E-government (pp. 23–27), Proceeding of the Fifth Congress of the European Association of Legislation in Athens in 2002, Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellsachaft.
Kerr, A. (1997). Box 4A: The development of indicators of sustainability in Canada. In B. Moldan, S. Billharz, & R. Matravers (Eds.), Sustainability indicators: Report of the project on indicators of sustainable development (SCOPE58). Chichester and New York: John Wiley. Retrieved August 2007, from Scientific Committee On Problems of Environment (SCOPE) website: http://www.icsu-scope.org/downloadpubs/scope58/box4a.html.
Kuhndt, M., Geibler, J. von, & Eckermann, A. (2002). Developing a sectoral sustainability indicator set taking a stakeholder approach. A conceptual paper including business case presentation to be presented at the 10th International Conference of the Greening of Industry Network, 23–26 June, 2002, Göteborg, Sweden. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.sustainability-compass.net/custom/user/compass/GIN_2002_-_COMPASS_in_a_Sector.pdf.
Li, H. (2006). Critique of the balanced scorecard. Science and Management, 26(3), 43–44, China.
Liu, D., Wang, B., & Chen, J. (2002). Actual status, development tendency and technique of environmental auditing in government. Audit Research, 2002(6), 17–23, China.
Liu, Y. (2004). Performance indicators of local governments—Governments of the British, The U.S. And Japan As Reference To Us. Master’s thesis of National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan.
Luo, M., & Yu, M. (2004). Web-based integrated dynamic performance measurement system. Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems, 10(Special Magazine), 158–162, December 2004, China.
Moldan, B. (1997). Chapter 4: National level indicators. In B. Moldan, S. Billharz, & R. Matravers (Eds.), Sustainability indicators: Report of the project on indicators of sustainable development (SCOPE58). Chichester and New York: John Wiley. Retrieved August 2007, from Scientific Committee On Problems of Environment (SCOPE) website: http://www.icsu-scope.org/downloadpubs/scope58/ch04-introd.htm.
Morrey, C. (1997). Box 4: Indicators of sustainable development in the United Kingdom. In B. Moldan, S. Billharz, & R. Matravers (Eds.), Sustainability indicators: Report of the project on indicators of sustainable development (SCOPE58). Chichester and New York: John Wiley. Retrieved August 2007, from Scientific Committee On Problems of Environment (SCOPE) website: http://www.icsu-scope.org/downloadpubs/scope58/box4c.html.
Mortensen, L. F. (1997). Box ID: The driving force-state-response framework used By CSD. In B. Moldan, S. Billharz, & R. Matravers (Eds.), Sustainability indicators: Report of the project on indicators of sustainable development (SCOPE58). Chichester and New York: John Wiley. Retrieved August 2007, from Scientific Committee On Problems of Environment (SCOPE) website: http://www.icsu-scope.org/downloadpubs/scope58/box1d.html.
Monssen, M. (2005). Environmental innovations in the chemical industry- case studies in a historical perspective. In J. Horbach (Ed.), Indicator systems for sustainable innovation, series of Sustainability and Innovation, Heidelberg, Germany: Physica-Verlag.
Nair, M. (2004). Essentials of balanced scorecard. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Niven, P. R. (2003). Balanced scorecard: Step-by-step for government and nonprofit agencies. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE). (2003). Environmental and sustainable development indicators for Canada. In series of State of the Debate. Retrieved July 2007, from NRTEE website: http://www.nrtee-trnee.ca/Publications/PDF/Report_Indicators_E.pdf.
OECD (1993). OECD core set of indicators for environmental performance reviews. OECD Environment Monographs No. 83. Paris: OECD. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/dec/toolbox/Refer/gd93179.pdf.
OECD (2000a). Frameworks to measure sustainable development. Paris: OECD.
OECD (2000b). Sustainable development and its economic, social and environmental indicators. In Towards Sustainable Development: Indicators to Measure Progress, Proceedings of the OECD Roma Conference, OECD.
OECD (2002). Governance for sustainable development: Five OECD case studies. OECD Publication. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.ulb.ac.be/ceese/nouveau%20site%20ceese/documents/oecd%20governance%20for%20sustainable%20development%205%20case%20studies.pdf.
OECD (2003). Annex II. The pressure-state-response (PSR) model. In OECD environmental indicators: Development, measurement and use, OECD. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/7/47/24993546.pdf.
OECD (2006a). Good practices in the national sustainable development strategies of OECD countries. Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/58/42/36655769.pdf.
OECD (2006b). Environmental performance review of China: Conclusion and recommendations (Final). Beijing, 8–9 November 2006. Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/58/23/37657409.pdf.
Onsman, H. (2003). Measuring performance: KPIs and the balanced scorecard. In Management powertools (pp. 32–41). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Pintér, L., Hardi, P., & Bartelmus, P. (2005). Sustainable development indicators: Proposals for the way forward. Discussion Paper Prepared under a Consulting Agreement on behalf of the UN Division for Sustainable Development, IISD. Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2005/measure_indicators_sd_way_forward.pdf.
Platt, G. (2002). Smart objectives: What they mean and how to set them. Training Journal, 23–26, August 2002.
Ranganathan, J. (1998). Sustainability rulers: Measuring corporate environmental & social performance (p. 2). Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. Retrieved August 2007, from http://pdf.wri.org/sustainability_rulers.pdf.
Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (RNE). (2006). Factsheet: The German council for sustainable development. Retrieved August 2007, from the website of RNE: http://www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de/service/download/pdf/RNE-Factsheet_English.pdf.
Roy, J. (2006). E-government in Canada: Transformation for the digital age. Ottawa, Canada: University of Ottawa Press.
Segnestam, L. (2002). Indicators of environment and sustainable development: Theories and practical experience. Paper No. 89, World Bank Environment Department. Retrieved April 2007, from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTEEI/936217-1115801208804/20486265/IndicatorsofEnvironmentandSustainableDevelopment2003.pdf.
Smith, P. (1990). The use of performance indicators in the public sector. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society), 153(1), 53–72.
Spangenberg, J. H., Pfahl, S., & Deller, K. (2000). Elaboration of institutional indicators for sustainable development. Final Report of A Research Project of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy Division for Material Flows and Structural Change, Sustainable Societies Program. Commissioned by The German Federal Environment Agency (UBA).
Stratos Inc. (2004a). Canada case study: Analysis of national strategies for sustainable development. Retrieved August 2007, from IISD website: http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2004/measure_sdsip_canada.pdf.
Stratos Inc. (2004b). United Kingdom case study: Analysis of national strategies for sustainable development. Retrieved August 2007, from IISD website: http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2004/measure_sdsip_uk.pdf.
Stylianidis, E. (2005). E-democracy and the role of the citizens in the decision making. In U. Karpen (Ed.), E-government (pp. 57–63). Proceeding of the Fifth Congress of the European Association of Legislation (EAL) in Athens (Greece). Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellsachaft.
Swanson, D., Pintér, L., Bregha, F., Volkery, A., & Jacob, K. (2004). National strategies for sustainable development: Challenges, approaches and innovations in strategic and co-ordinated action. Retrieved August 2007, from IISD website: http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2004/measure_nat_strategies_sd.pdf.
Umweltbundesamt (UBA). (1998). Sustainable development in Germany: Progress and prospects. Federal Environment Agency of Germany. Berlin, Germany: Erich Schmidt Verlag.
UN (1992). Agenda 21. Retrieved August 2007, from United Nations website: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/english/agenda21chapter40.htm.
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). (2001). Indicators of sustainable development: Guidelines and methodologies. New York: United Nations Publications. Retrieved August 2007, from United Nations website: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/isdms2001/isd-ms2001isd.htm.
UN Division for Sustainable Development (UNDSD). (2007). Third revised CSD indicators of sustainable development – Fact sheet. Retrieved August 2007, from United Nations website: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/factSheet.pdf.
US Agency for International Development (USAID). (1996). Performance monitoring and evaluation. Center for development information and evaluation, USAID, USA. Retrieved April 2007, from http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABY214.pdf.
Warhurst, A. (2002). Sustainability indicators and sustainability performance management, working paper No. 43, Institute for Environment and Development, London. Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.iied.org/mmsd/mmsd_pdfs/sustainability_indicators.pdf.
Wathey, D., & O’Reilly, M. (2000). ISO14031: A practical guide to developing environment performance indicators for your business. London: Stationery Office.
Wetter, M., Roy, J., & Olve, N. (2000). Performance drivers: A practical guide to using the balanced scorecard. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Williams, D. W. (2002). Before performance measurement. Administrative Theory and Praxis, 24(3), 457–486.
Williams, D. W. (2003). Measuring government in the early twentieth century. Public Administration Review, 63(6), 643–659, November/December 2003.
Williams, D. W. (2004). Evolution of performance measurement until 1930. Administration & Society, 36(2), 131–165, May 2004.
World Bank. (2000). Selected world development indicators. In Entering the 21st century: World development report 1999/2000. Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.worldbank.org/wdr/2000/fullreport.html.
World Bank. (2007). World development indicators 2007. Retrieved August 2007, from http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/DATASTATISTICS/0,,contentMDK:21298138∼pagePK:64133150∼piPK:64133175∼theSitePK:239419,00.html.
Ye, W., & Luan S. (1996). The exposition of measure and indicators of sustainable development. World Environment, SPEA. 1996(1), 7–10, China.
Zhang, P. (2007). Content and development of tendency auditing in government. Gansu Agriculture, 5, China.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chai, N. (2009). Sustainability Performance Indicators. In: Sustainability Performance Evaluation System in Government. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3012-2_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3012-2_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-3011-5
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-3012-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)