Regular assessment and reporting of the ‘state of the environment’ (i.e. tracking the state of social-ecological systems and the effectiveness of regulation and management in supporting sustainability) will be foundational to meeting aspirations such as those entailed by national commitments to the High-Level Panel.
Efforts to date in this space nationally and internationally have been valuable, but shortcomings of current approaches are increasingly recognised. Notably, a lack of accounting for how the environment functions as an interconnected and dynamic system means that feedbacks, non-linearities, tipping points, cumulative pressures and risks are not adequately accounted for. An additional problem with the compartmentalised approach is that it dissonant to the Indigenous world view, in which all aspects of the environment and culture are linked, creating an additional barrier to engaging Indigenous people in assessment, reporting and management processes.
We highlight potential solutions for these issues, drawing upon recent experiences across Australia’s national State of the Environment Report, the development of national Ocean Accounts, assessing cumulative impacts within Australia’s fisheries, and the World Ocean Assessment. We outline 5 key principles to support integrated system assessment and reporting for sustainable stewardship: coordination, inclusiveness, transparency and repeatability, responsiveness and adaptiveness, and integration (the “CITRI” principles).