Environment and Sustainable Development Indicators for Canada

The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) undertook the Environment and Sustainable Development Indicators (ESDI) Initiative to find ways to track the impact of current economic practices on the natural and human assets that will be needed by future generations of Canadians.

Observing that ?we must come to grips with the fact that the current means of measuring progress are inadequate,? the Minister of Finance announced the ESDI Initiative in the 2000 spring budget. He stated that the indicators developed by this initiative ?could well have a greater impact on public policy than any other single measure we might introduce.?

The ESDI Initiative was built on the need for our national-level indicators and information systems to take better account of those assets that are necessary to sustain a dynamic economy and a healthy society and environment for Canadians. These assets represent the nation?s ?capital,? an economic term first used to designate entities such as buildings and equipment that enable future economic production. The recommendations in this report are based on the notion that other types of capital?such as the environmental assets that provide the ?services? that make life possible?are at least as important to the future economy as factories and machinery.

To ensure development opportunities for future generations, Canada needs to track and consider all these important types of capital in making economic decisions. Otherwise we risk significantly depleting key human and natural assets without even being aware of it. Similarly, we risk under investing in assets that may be important for future development opportunities.