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Canada's Sustainability Indicators Initiative
Six
sustainability indicators recommended
for Canada by the National Round Table
on the Environment and the Economy |
Air
Quality Trend Indicator—tracks the exposure of Canadians to a particularly
harmful type of air pollutant—ground-level ozone (O3).
This
indicator is the first readily available Canadian measure of air quality that
weights exposure to a pollutant by population. In other words, this indicator
tries to factor in the number of people who are exposed to low-level ozone, as
well as the ambient concentrations of ozone in different parts of the country.
Freshwater
Quality Indicator—provides a national measure of the overall state of water
quality as measured against major objectives for water use in Canada
(such as water for drinking, aquatic life
habitat, recreation and agriculture).
The indicator will show whether water quality is impaired to the extent that
water quality objectives are not being met for these water uses. It will be
based on aggregated data from existing provincial-level water quality indices,
most of which are calculated using the Canadian Council of Ministers of the
Environment (CCME)'s methodology. The indicator will show the proportion of
water bodies in the existing monitoring networks that are classified as
"marginal" or "poor."
Greenhouse
Gas Emissions Indicator
– tracks
Canada's total annual emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide
(CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur
hexafluoride.
Based on the existing national greenhouse gas inventory developed by
Environment Canada, the indicator measures aggregate emissions of these gases in
megatonnes of CO2 equivalent. This indicator, already developed by Environment
Canada, will help Canadians track their progress in helping to address climate
change.
Forest
Cover Indicator—tracks changes in the extent of Canada’s forests.
This
indicator represents a new use for existing satellite data and will provide the
only regularly updated national indicator of forest cover.
Extent
of Wetlands Indicator—tracks changes in the total area of wetlands in Canada.
This
is the only indicator that cannot be calculated at present, since time-series
data on wetlands for the full country do not yet exist. The indicator has
nonetheless been recommended due to the importance of wetlands, which support
substantial economic activity and are good proxies for the overall condition of
our biodiversity. The development of a robust national indicator, based on
remote-sensing data, will require approximately two years.
Human
Capital Indicator (Educational Attainment)—tracks the percentage of the
workforce population with educational qualifications beyond the secondary school
level.
It
measures the percentage of the Canadian population aged 25 to 64 years who have
upper-secondary (e.g. vocational or apprenticeship training) and tertiary-level
(e.g. community college, CEGEP or university) educational qualifications. Human
capital refers to the "knowledge, skills, competencies and attributes
embodied in individuals that facilitate the creation of personal, social and
economic well-being." This indicator will reveal our investment trend in an
important aspect of human capital—a
well-educated workforce—and
will help us understand our ability to compete in a global, knowledge-based
economy.
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