State of the environment reporting (SOER) and the policy process in South Africa: Learing for the future

Abstract

Environmental policy and decision making has undergone several changes in recent times, and in today’s society is influenced by amongst others two key movements; the rise of an informational society and the increasing priority of environmental issues and Sustainable Development (SD) goals. The interplay between these movements appears to frame the context within which decision making of societies must take place, from an individual to an international scale. In addition, environmental policy and decision making involves addressing issues that contain complex scientific aspects as well as values, ethics and other forms of knowledge and concerns. As such, effective policies and decisions require reliable information. Countries may undertake environmental reporting for this purpose, many in the form of State of the Environment Reporting (SOER). A main aim of SOER is therefore to aid decision makers by providing current scientific data in a user-friendly and appropriate format. However, there is little evidence to suggest that at present SOER and indicators have engaged with the processes of policy design and implementation to the extent that is possible. Although a relatively new environmental tool in South Africa, SOER has already made some progress in highlighting the importance of understanding the status of environmental issues and incorporating this information into decision making. However, this study suggests that many factors currently limit the effectiveness of SOER. Despite this, many opportunities exist to facilitate the use of information contained within SOER in policy-related decision making. Some key results useful to practitioners will be highlighted in this paper. These summarized lessons and challenges aim to stimulate thought into the more constructive use of environmental information in decision making.