Las estadísticas ambientales de México: una evaluación de su disponibilidad y calidad

The objectives of this paper are a) to explain the development and organization of the Mexican environmental statistics; (b) to evaluate the availability and the quality of these statistics and their evolution; (c) to explore why there is this state of availability and quality; and (d) to suggest improvement suggestions. Oour assessment suggests greater limitations and challenges of availability than of quality. This differs significantly by subject. To make this assessment, we rely on documented observations of the core elements that define the availability and quality of environmental statistics. We observed an improvement in availability, except in the themes of waste, the household-environment relationship and to some extent, the firm-environment relationship, in which stagnation prevails. We also found a trend to a better quality. Among the positive factors for the availability and quality is favorably the work of the Specialized Technical Committees, and the progress in the institutional framework and legislation. On the other hand, two negative factors are: the novel and complex nature of these statistics, and the lack of administrative records on environmental issues in businesses, households and Government.