Major Environmental Data Gaps Remain, But Progress is on the Horizon

Earth Day Reflections on Environmental Data Challenges

By Hayden Dahmm

Source: Louis Reed/Unsplash

Reading the news, it is easy to be overwhelmed with dire environmental statistics and data. Here are just a few of the recently reported figures that have frightened me:

• Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused a record 7% annual reduction in GHG emissions last year, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere still hit a record high of 417.14 ppm this March, and 2020 was the warmest year on record.

• A 2020 UN report found that the average abundance of native species in major land habitats has declined by at least 20%, and globally over one million species are threatened with extinction.

• At least eight million tons of plastic are released into our oceans every year.

• Some 10 million hectares of forest are lost annually.

Yet these numbers can disguise the serious gaps that remain in our understanding of the environment and the impact humanity is having on the natural world. Although in some respects, more data are being produced now about the environment than ever before, there is a clear need to leverage existing data to produce meaningful statistics, and a greater focus should be placed on expanding our environmental data collection and production efforts using new methods and data sources. Fortunately, some noteworthy advances have been made recently, and today, on the 51st anniversary of Earth Day, we should commit to continuing this progress.

The State of Environmental Data

In March 2019, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reviewed the framework of SDG indicators and identified 93 indicators that related to the environment (the SDG framework has since been revised, and by my count, the list now stands at 90 indicators). The review found that, due to a lack of data, we could only formally assess the status of 30 environmental indicators at the global level, and of these, only 22 showed some positive progress. The evidence suggested that not only were environmental ambitions falling short, but perhaps even more troubling, we did not have enough evidence to formally quantify the global situation for more than two-thirds of the environmental indicators.

Since then, however, the international data community has been hard at work. I reviewed the Global SDG Indicators Database and found that between March 2019 and April 2021, we have gone from having global estimates for just 30 environmental indicators to 55. The success at the global-level has been driven in part by an expansion of data at the country-level. While back in March 2019, only 51 environmental indicators had some country data available, this has since increased to 71 indicators. And with the introduction of 20 new reporting indicators over the past two years, nearly 80% of the environmental indicators have at least partial data.

Yet, key data gaps remain. Across the 90 environmental indicators and the 193 UN countries, complete data coverage would require 17,370 different data points. Currently, only 59% of these data points are covered in the SDG Database (up from 41% in March 2019). Moreover, only 54% of environmental data points have observations for at least one year after 2015, and just 46% also have observations for multiple years (necessary for actually tracking changes over time). In the majority of cases, we still cannot determine whether individual countries have achieved progress so far on specific environmental indicators.

We also continue to lack any official data on a range of important issues, such as the proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture (indicator 2.4.1) and material footprints (indicators 8.4.1 and 12.2.1). Meanwhile, only limited or partial data are available on a number of other indicators, including indices of food loss and waste (indicator 12.3.1, with only 14 countries reporting data), and the proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality (SDG 6.3.2, with only 95 countries reporting data). On the issue of climate change, we have partial data for just four of the eight indicators under SDG 13, and we are still missing over two-thirds of the data required for this critical goal.

Advancing SDG Environmental Indicators

The recent introduction of 20 environmental indicators is thanks in part to a myriad of new approaches and new data sources. For example, indicator 14.1.1 has been produced for 158 countries using satellite imagery-based modeling to measure coastal eutrophication potential and ocean plastic pollution. Likewise, indicator 15.3.1, which measures the proportion of total land area that has been degraded, was calculated for 192 countries using remote sensing techniques, including infrared-derived measurements of vegetation. Additionally, according to a 2020 review supported by SDSN TReNDS, citizen science campaigns are already contributing to the monitoring of five SDG indicators and could contribute to the monitoring of 76 indicators, many of which are environmental-focused; indeed, we are currently involved with a citizen science-led effort in Ghana to monitor marine litter (indicator 14.1.1).

Other indicators involve methods that gather data that may have already existed at the country-level, but had not previously been combined at a global-level. For instance, the UN Statistics Division and UNEP added a question about recycling to the bi-annual survey of environment statistics they circulate to national government authorities and received data from 45 countries after the first survey round in 2020 for indicator 12.5.1, on national recycling rates.

And across the UN, targeted efforts are being taken to close remaining data gaps. Last year, indicator 13.2.2 on total annual greenhouse gas emissions was added to the indicator framework, and 175 countries are already reporting data. Relatedly, the UN Statistics Division is collaborating with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to develop a Global Set of Climate Change Statistics and Indicators that are planned for adoption in 2022. Initiatives like this will be valuable for increasing the importance of environmental data.

With the proper investment and capacity, progress is clearly possible, but more needs to be done to gather the necessary environmental data for the SDGs.

Lacking More Than Just Data

The scale of our self-inflicted environmental problems is greater than ever, underscoring a centuries’ long pattern. Much of humanity has been content to consume natural resources and to destroy the natural world while ignoring the consequences. Continuing destructive activities in the face of recognized data gaps is essentially a formalization of our willful ignorance.

Humanity can no longer claim ignorance. While specific environmental data might be missing, we’ve known about these issues for decades. Following testimony by leading climate scientist, James Hanson, back in 1982, Congressman Robert Walker said to the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology, “Today I have a sense of déjà vu… we have been told and told and told that there is a problem with the increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere...How frequently must we confirm the evidence before taking remedial steps? Now is the time. The research is clear.” And as journalist, Nathaniel Rich, describes in his book, Losing Earth: A Recent History, we already knew almost everything we now understand about climate change back in 1979, and yet we’ve continued to ignore opportunities for action. With climate and other environmental issues, it is not a lack of data that is preventing us from making necessary changes. It is a lack of will.

Nor should we think that more data is a panacea for environmental challenges. The 2014 seminal report, A World That Counts, laid out the need for a data revolution to support sustainable development challenges. It describes data as “the lifeblood of decision-making,” without which effective policies become almost impossible. This may still be the case, but the causes of environmental harm run much deeper than a lack of data or market inefficiencies. Sir Robert Watson, Chair of the aforementioned UN report on biodiversity loss, has said that conserving nature necessitates nothing short of transformative change --“a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic, and social factors, including paradigms, goals, and values.” Achieving such a transformation will require much more than better measurements.

The Way Forward

While data alone cannot solve our environmental problems, it is an essential part of a broader solution. We need data to highlight issues, motivate action, and assess our impact. Additional efforts should be made to encourage the following:

• Expand efforts at all levels to support environmental data production. For example, the 50X2030 initiative is working to close the agricultural data gap in developing countries through the coordination of integrated agricultural and rural surveys, and several participating countries have already used the data for SDG reporting. This innovative approach shows how strategic investments in statistical capacity can save cost and effort, while expanding our understanding of key issues. More initiatives like this are needed to close the environmental data gap.

• Explore ways to scale up environmental data solutions that have proven successful in local pilots. As described in a recent World Data Forum webinar, this will depend in part on establishing clear protocols and quality assurance procedures, as well as performing comparison studies on available datasets to determine best practices.

• Ensure that countries adopt environmental policies that are grounded in relevant environmental data. Although the Paris Agreement was an important diplomatic achievement, the evidence clearly demonstrates that the commitments individual countries have since made are completely inadequate for meeting climate objectives, and most countries are not even on track to meet their stated commitments. Additional environmental data will not help unless countries respond sincerely to the scope of the challenge.

If anything, our lack of environmental data should inspire humility. Despite all our innovation, we do not fully understand how we impact the world around us, and we are only beginning to appreciate how these changes will come to impact us in turn.