The most prominent are the indicators proposed by the CSD and the OECD indicators. The indicator, or the information it is calculated from should be readily available. An indicator should be easy to understand, and must be about something measurable. An indicator should measure something believed to be important or significant in its own right. An indicator should be based on information which can be used to compare different geographical areas, social groups etc, so that a picture of distribution- and not just totals and averages can be build up.
International comparability is desirable.
To address the many issues and areas that pertain to sustainable development, an organised set of indicators, or indicator framework is needed. Indicator frameworks which arrange or organise indicators in a coherent manner have several uses. They guide the data and information collecting process. They are useful communication tools to decision makers that summarise key information derived from many different sources and sectors. They suggest logical groupings of related sets of information and, therefore, promote their interpretation and integration.