Environment and Sustainable Development Indicators for Canada
Canada’s decision-makers have no way of measuring whether our
country can maintain its current level of economic activity
and prosperity into the future. In the 2000 budget,
the federal government asked the NRTEE to “…develop
a set of indicators to measure environmental performance
in conjunction with economic performance.”
Working in close collaboration with Statistics
Canada and Environment Canada, the National Round Table
has developed six proposed new formal economic measures
or indicators. These indicators will augment familiar
economic data such as gross domestic product (GDP) and
the consumer price index (CPI).
Five of the recommended indicators measure
Canada’s natural capital – measuring trends
in forest cover, freshwater quality, air quality, greenhouse
gas emissions, and the extent of wetlands. The sixth
indicator measures educational attainment.