Enquiries, Sources – MONETExplanation

At the United Nations Environment & Development Conference in Rio in 1992, Switzerland undertook to draw up and implement a policy for promoting sustainable development. The intention is to use suitable indicators to evaluate this development. The schedule for the 1999-2003 session of the legislature, the government's Sustainable Development Strategy 2002 and the Interdepartmental Committee Rio (IDC Rio) all ask for the regular production of sustainability indicators.

The indicator system MONET, created for the monitoring of sustainable development (Monitoring Nachhaltiger Entwicklung), is carried out jointly by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the Swiss Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

The system aims to provide information about the current situation and trends in social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainable development and to demonstrate Switzerland's position compared to other countries. It is designed as an information source for the public, politicians and the Swiss federal government.

The indicator system is to be found in the MONET Database, the file exists both in French and German. The database contains the completed, illustrated and commented indicators. Also various print publications are available as pdf downloads.

Contact:
Federal Statistical Office
Environment, Sustainable Development, Territory (UNR)
Jana Wachtl
Espace de l'Europe 10
CH-2010 Neuchâtel
Tel. +41 (0)32 713 67 45
Fax: +41 (0)32 713 64 49
E-mail: monet@bfs.admin.ch

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