Sustainable Development Indicators: Linkage to Policy Processes and Effective Use

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Sustainable Development Indicators Linkage to
Policy Processes and Effective Use

• Hezri Adnan Mohd. Nordin Hasan
• Institute for Environment Development (LESTARI
• National University of Malaysia

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There should be no indicators without policies
and no policies without indicatorsJ.Flood (1997)
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RATIONALISTIC ORIENTATION

• A search process to discover goals
• The formulation of objectives after search
• The selection of alternative (strategies) to
  accomplish objectives
• The evaluation of outcomes based on objective
  knowledge

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COMMON STEPS
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POLITICAL ORIENTATION

• The science of muddling through - ends are not
  that clear, decisions are not that neat and
  evaluations are not that systematic
• Incremental changes - only a restricted number of
  policy alternatives are reviewed and only a
  limited number of consequences is envisaged and
  evaluated for any given alternative

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RATIONAL vs DYNAMIC
MARKET FORCES
DECISION POLICY MAKING
ORGANISATIONAL POLITICS
ASIANVALUES ?
CULTURE
NATIONAL INTERESTS
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USE OF INDICATORS

• INSTRUMENTAL USE - use for action
• CONCEPTUAL USE enlightenment
• TACTICAL USE - delaying tactic or as a substitute
  for action
• SYMBOLIC USE a sign or symbol of some other
  reality
• POLITICAL USE - becomes ammunition to support a
  pre-determined position

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POLICY-RELEVANT SDIs FOR SELANGOR

• METHOD - Fitness-for-Purpose SDIs vs Definitive
  set of SDIs
• PROCESS Incremental and adaptive
• INSTITUTIONS State SD Council SDUnit SD
  Officers

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SDI SYSTEM IN SELANGOR
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Process Use
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Thank You.
There is nothing a government hates more than to
be well informed for it makes the process of
arriving at decisions much more complicated and
difficult (John Maynard Keynes)
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Fitness-for-Purpose

• To inform specific decisions/sectors
• To inform general policy-directions
• Influence community values and understanding