It is therefore important for policy makers to understand the implications and impacts of different energy programmes, alternative policies, strategies and plans in shaping development within their countries, and the feasibility of making development sustainable over time.
Indicators, when properly analyzed and interpreted, can be useful tools for communicating data relating to energy and sustainable development issues to policy makers and to the public, and for promoting institutional dialogue.
They provide a way to structure and clarify statistical data to give better insight into the factors that affect energy, environment, economics and social well-being, and how these might be influenced and trends improved. Indicators can also be used to monitor progress of past policies, and to provide a “reality check” on strategies for future sustainable development. This cannot be done,
however, without critical analysis of the underlying causal and driving factors.