Self-paced course spotlight: Environmental SDG course availability in English, French and Russian

Sokol Vako, Statistician/Lecturer

This self-paced e-learning course contains 10 modules developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (UNSIAP) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). In September 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit adopted an international framework to guide development efforts, entitled 'Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development'. The Agenda is built around 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), divided into 169 targets, which are informed by 244 Indicators. The importance of improving the availability of and access to data and statistics related to the environment was recognized through the adoption of a wide range of environmental SDG targets and indicators.

This course provides an overview of the importance of monitoring the environmental dimension of development, the linkage with existing statistical frameworks and how to use environment statistics in decision making. The modules also provide a brief overview on all 25 SDG indicators under UNEP custodianship. In particular, this e-learning course aims to build the capacity of countries – representatives of National Statistical Office (NSOs), Ministries of Environment and other stakeholders - to compile and use data on the environment-related SDGs for evidence-based decision-making and to promote cross-cutting data analysis to better understand the environmental dimension of development.

The course is available in the SIAP e-learning platform in English, French and Russian (please click the language you wish to access the course in). Participants can receive a certificate upon successfully completing each module.