Die Aufstellung von Umweltindikatoren ist ein möglicher Zugang für eine Verknüpfung von Ökonomie und Ökologie, wie er auch
von internationalen Organisationen vorgeschlagen wird. Das ÖSTAT hat diese Idee aufgegriffen und den Versuch unternommen,
auf Basis der österreichischen Daten und im Hinblick auf internationale Vorgaben ein solches konkretes Indikatorensystem zu
realisieren.
Forschungsbereich:Klima-, Umwelt- und Ressourcenökonomie
Sprache:Deutsch
Issues-related Environmental Indicators
One of the different options for introducing "Green Accounting" is to establish a set of Environmental Indicators related
to certain environmental problems. Such a project is being conducted within the work programme of Eurostat. It is based on
the "Pressure-State-Response" approach, emphasizing first and foremost the pressure side. This paper tries to implement environmental
indices in Austria. The proposals for an adequate set of indicators take into account the possibilities offered by the national
data base, although they also refer to the international context. No attempt was made to gain an unique index for each of
the environmental problems as Eurostat finally intends to do. Weighting schemes are still missing and are to be established
by groups of experts within the next two years. The availability of data on the different problem areas varies considerably
and there were some methodological problems in summarizing the many components to one comprehensive indicator. Gaps in the
data base could eventually be closed by using background information. In general, time series start in 1970, which enables
to analyze the success and failure of environmental policy over the past. The results show that some improvement has been
achieved in lowering air and water pollution since in this area legal restrictions have been enacted quite early. The application
of some toxic chemicals has been limited, the equipment of cars with catalytic converters is obligatory and there are many
severe restrictions on air and water emissions. In some areas, on the other hand the situation has become worse because of
missing or insufficient precautions: this is especially true for the consumption of environmental resources. The principle
of sustainable development is realised neither in water management nor especially in the use of raw materials. As a consequence,
the amount of waste – despite some success in recycling glass, paper and some kind of metals – is still a substantial problem.
Yet, the pace of energy consumption has been successfully driven below the rate of economic growth. Improved technologies
and greater reliance on renewable energy sources have contributed to this achievment.