Indicators on the Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity in Germany—Data Driven or Meeting Political Needs?

Rainer Schliep, Ulrich Walz, Ulrich Sukopp and Stefan Heiland
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Rainer Schliep: Technische Universität Berlin, Institut für Landschaftsarchitektur und Umweltplanung, Fachgebiet Landschaftsplanung und Landschaftsentwicklung, Sekr. EB5, Straße des 17. Juni 145, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Ulrich Walz: Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden, Fakultät Landbau/Umwelt/Chemie, Professur Landschaftsökologie, Pillnitzer Platz 2, 01326 Dresden, Germany
Ulrich Sukopp: Bundesamt für Naturschutz, Fachgebiet II 1.3 „Monitoring“, Konstantinstraße 110, 53179 Bonn, Germany
Stefan Heiland: Technische Universität Berlin, Institut für Landschaftsarchitektur und Umweltplanung, Fachgebiet Landschaftsplanung und Landschaftsentwicklung, Sekr. EB5, Straße des 17. Juni 145, 10623 Berlin, Germany

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: When developing new indicators for policy advice, two different approaches exist and may be combined with each other. First, a data-driven, bottom-up approach determines indicators primarily by the availability of suitable data. Second, indicators can be developed by a top-down approach, on the basis of political fields of action and related normative goals. While the bottom-up approach might not meet the needs of an up-to-date policy advice, the top-down approach might lack the necessary data. To discuss these problems and possible solutions, we refer to the ongoing development of an indicator system on impacts of climate change on biodiversity in Germany, where a combination of both approaches has been successfully applied. We describe suitable indicators of this system and discuss the reasons for the remaining gaps. Both approaches, mentioned above, have advantages, constraints, and shortcomings. The scientific accuracy of the indicators, the availability of data and the purpose of policy advice have to be well-balanced while developing such indicator systems.

Keywords: indicators; climate change; biodiversity; data needs; monitoring; policy advice; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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