Ulaanbaatar City Group on Statistics for Economies Based on Natural Resources (Proceedings)
As the world’s natural resources continue to decay and the environmental challenges deepen, the need to develop viable solutions for resource-efficient industrial production becomes increasingly critical if the high and rising global demand for energy is to be met. Moreover, with the changing global geography, new or expanding centers of economic growth, trade and production are being formed. This necessitates the realization of smart infrastructure networks to easily and efficiently allocate energy where needed, while simultaneously securing decent work opportunities and safeguarding the environment.
Developing strong country-level statistical data and indicators to monitor trends in the mining industry are key to coping with these challenges. Standardized approaches to measuring activities and investments in the mining industry as well as assessing the industry’s contribution to the overall economy and impact on society and the environment will be invaluable to the process towards sustainable global industrial consumption and production. The Ulaanbaatar City Group’s work to establish guidelines on best statistical practices and methodologies for economies based on natural resources is an important step in this direction. It is a key mandate of UNIDO to collect and disseminate general industrial statistics data covering activities within the mining and quarrying sector as well as the manufacturing and energy production (electricity, gas and water) sectors. In December 2013, at its General Conference in Lima and as part of the Lima Declaration, UNIDO was given the mandate to monitor the progress made in “inclusive and sustainable industrial development” (ISID). Within this context, UNIDO works together with Member States and international organizations to define and develop new statistical indicators.
The third meeting of the steering committee of the Ulaanbaatar City Group, from 6-8 August 2014 in Vienna, Austria, focused on the processes needed to produce the “Handbook for Compiling Statistics for Economies Based on Natural Resources“ and the Group’s forward work plan for 2015. This publication is the proceedings of the organizational matters surrounding the meeting and summarizes the presentations and papers presented during its course.