PSR
PSR
PSR
¨ Environmental pressures relate to pressures from human activities exerted on the environment,
including natural resources. “ Pressures” cover underlying or indirect pressures, which act as driving
forces for environmental issues (i.e. the activity itself and trends of environmental significance), as
well as proximate or direct pressures (i.e. the use of resources and the discharge of pollutants and
waste materials). Indicators of environmental pressures are closely related to production and
consumption patterns; they often reflect emission or resource use intensities, along with related
trends and changes over a given period. They can be used to show progress in decoupling
economic activities from related environmental pressures. They can also be used to show progress
in meeting national objectives and international commitments (e.g. emission reduction targets).
State
¨ Environmental conditions relate to the quality of the environment and the related effects or impacts,
and the quality and quantity of natural resources. They cover ecosystems and natural environment
conditions as well as quality of life and human health aspects. As such they reflect the ultimate
objective of environmental policies. Indicators of environmental conditions are designed to give an
overview of the situation (the state) concerning the environment and its development over time.
Examples of indicators of environmental conditions are: concentration of pollutants in environmental
media, exceedance of critical loads, population exposure to certain levels of pollution or degraded
environmental quality, the status of wildlife and of natural resource stocks. In practice, measuring
environmental conditions can be difficult or very costly. Therefore, environmental pressures are
often measured instead as a substitute.
Response
¨ Societal responses show the extent to which society responds to environmental concerns through
environmental, general economic and sectoral policies and through changes in awareness and
behaviour. They refer to individual and collective actions and reactions that are intended to:
- mitigate, adapt to or prevent human-induced negative effects on the environment;
- halt or reverse environmental damage already inflicted;
- preserve and conserve nature and natural resources.
Examples of indicators of societal responses are environmental expenditure, environment-related
taxes and subsidies, price structures, market shares of environmentally friendly goods and services,
pollution abatement rates, waste recycling rates. In practice, indicators mostly relate to abatement
and control measures; those showing preventive and integrative measures and actions are more
difficult to obtain.