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Sectors and Themes

Working with diverse sectors and on cross-cutting themes towards assessing and reporting on progress on sustainability

A sectoral and thematic perspective is a useful entry point for addressing policy issues in public and private spheres. Multiple levels of governance, from global to regional and institutional, can be engaged in assessment on a sectoral or thematic basis. The sectoral perspective requires that attendtion be paid to cross-sectoral issues and linkages. Whether mining, agriculture, forestry or themes such as biodiversity, desertification or poverty, the sectoral and thematic emphasis requires matching measurement and assessment mechanisms.

Many of the multilateral agreements, outlooks and assessments we see on the global stage are sector- and issue-specific, such as:

• Convention on Biological Diversity
• Global Deserts Outlook
• Global International Waters Assessment
• Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development
• International Forum for Assessing Sustainability in Agriculture
• The Montreal Process
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
• World Energy Outlook

Our work at the sectoral and thematic level ranges from biodiversity to energy, agriculture and supply chain analysis.

Contents

• Canada Biodiversity Index
  Biodiversity loss is occurring at a global scale. The Canadian Biodiversity Index is a way of assessing and communicating biodiversity issues across Canada.

• Energy Sustainability Gauge
  Developed in collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the gauge is an analysis and communications tool that highlights a few key sustainability issues in the energy sector.

• Full-cost Accounting for the Environmental Impacts of Agriculture
  A collaborative project with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to study benefits or costs associated with changes in the environment, and their application to policy development in agriculture.

• Human Development Report + 50
  A collaborative project intended to better understand and enhance the human condition in the long term through the development and use of a quantitative support system.

• Review of International Assessments
  An interpretive analysis of the findings of three global science assessments and the implications for Canadian agriculture.

• Social Indicators for Canadian Agriculture
  A collaborative project with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to develop a pilot set of social indicators for the agriculture sector in Canada.

• Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD)
  The identification of practices to help reduce hunger and poverty while sustaining the ecosystems that support rural livelihoods.

• United Kingdom Supply Chain Analysis
  A study commissioned by the U.K. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affaires (DEFRA) to assess the environmental and social impacts of the U.K.'s consumption of key commodities produced in other countries.

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