Measuring the SDGs an initial picture for the Netherlands

There is still considerable national and international discussion about how exactly the
SDG indicators should be measured and data will have to be collected to be able to
measure the indicators. Therefore, this is still a major task for the Netherlands.
An important aspect here is the national strategy regarding the SDGs in the Netherlands,
which is still under development. For many SDGs and sub-goals, national ambitions and
targets are still lacking. The Dutch national strategy will give focus to the measuring
system and determine which indicators must be developed first. In addition, in the
course of time, the UN’s list of indicators will regularly be amended at the UN level.
Therefore, there is ample room for future improvement and amendment of SDG
monitoring in the Netherlands.
Lastly, a picture that is sketched out based on the SDGs is an incomplete picture of the
actual situation in the Netherlands with respect to sustainability (Smits and Eding,
2015). The SDGs do not make trade-off relationships visible between the economy, the
environment and society. There are relatively many input indicators, while there should
be more emphasis on outcome indicators. In the SDGs, less attention seems to be given
to ‘later’: what impact will our present actions have on our children? The same applies to
the extent to which a country occupies the resources of other countries, ‘elsewhere’.
The Sustainability Monitor of the Netherlands, comprising the CBS indicators report and
exploratory studies by the policy research and analysis agencies (CBS/CPB/PBL/SCP, 2014),
offers a framework that covers the entire theme of sustainability (referred to as the CES
measuring system). The limited attention given to the dimensions ‘later’ and ‘elsewhere’
argue for integrating the SDG indicators in the CES measuring system. The Sustainability
Monitor of the Netherlands was not published in 2016. However, its indicators have
recently been updated and made available via the CBS website. 1) Instead of the
Sustainability Monitor of the Netherlands, CBS published this report on SDG indicators,
as one of the building blocks for the monitor’s possible successor. This will be a Monitor
Brede Welvaart (Monitor of Well-being), which will be compiled at the request of the
government. The collaboration with the policy research and analysis organisations will
be continued for this new Monitor.
1)
https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/visualisatie/2016/11/duurzame-ontwikkeling
8 Measuring the SDGs: an initial picture for the Netherlands