Indicators of Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development Indicators Quiz

The questions and answers to a short quiz about 'Sustainable Development Indicators'.

This quiz of 20 questions has been put together to test your knowledge of UK sustainable development facts.

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1. By what percentage have UK emissions of greenhouse gases changed since 1990?

• A. +16%
• B. -14%
• C. +9%
• D. -19%

• Answer: B
• Emissions fell from 208 million tonnes (carbon equivalent) in 1990 to 170 million tonnes in 2003
• [QoLC H9] / [SDIYP pg 51]

2. Roughly what percentage of household waste in England and Wales is recycled or composted?

• A. 35%
• B. 25%
• C. 15%
• D. 5%

• Answer: C
• In 2002/3 520 kg of household waste was collected per person, of which 74 kg (14.2%) was recycled or composted.
• [QoLC H15] / [SDIYP pg 24 (updated)]

3. Which of the following is roughly equivalent in weight to an adult male Indian elephant?

• A. The average amount of household, commercial and industrial waste produced each year per person in the UK?
• B. The average amount of CO2 emissions attributable to domestic energy use per person in the UK
• C. The amount of remaining discovered and recoverable oil reserves within the UK per person?
• D. An adult male African elephant

• Answer: A
• An estimated 220 million tonnes of household, commercial and industrial waste was generated in 2000/1, equating to about 3.8 tonnes per person.
• [QoLC H15] / [SDIYP pg 25]

4. What percentage of people in England said that they regularly use low-energy light bulbs?

• A. 9%
• B. 16%
• C. 31%
• D. 48%

• Answer: C
• Respondents were prompted with a selection of (environmental) actions and asked to what extent they did them.
• [PAS Ch 5]

5. What percentage of people in England regard their quality of life as fairly or very good?

• A. 29%
• B. 42%
• C. 67%
• D. 83%

• Answer: D
• When quality of life was defined in terms of how people feel overall, their standard of living, their surroundings, friendships and how they feel day to day, 27% of respondents rated their quality of life as very good and a further 56% fairly good.
• [PAS Ch 2]

6. What percentage of people in England said that they could easily access a local green space or local countryside without using a car or other transport?

• A. 39%
• B. 52%
• C. 73%
• D. 84%

• Answer: D
• Respondents were also asked how often they used their local green space or local countryside. 73% had visited them in the last year, and 35% did so at least once a week.
• [PAS Ch 6]

7. What percentage of people in England said that they had heard of the term "sustainable development" (before the World Summit in 2002)?

• A. 22%
• B. 34%
• C. 46%
• D. 57%

• Answer: B
• This had not changed between surveys in 1996/7 and 2001, and does not take account of whether they understood the term.
• [PAS Ch 4]

8. What percentage of children in Great Britain walk to school?

• A. 81%
• B. 64%
• C. 44%
• D. 31%

• Answer: C
• Between 1985-6 and 2002 the proportion travelling to school by car doubled from 16% to 31%.
• [QoLC G2] / [SDIYP pg 45]

9. What percentage of electricity generated in the UK comes from renewable sources?

• A. 3%
• B. 8%
• C. 13%
• D. 18%

• Answer: A
• Between 1990 and 2002 electricity generated by renewables, including hyro-power, increased by 60%.
• [QoLC N4] / [SDIYP pg 54]

10. What percentage of new homes are built on 'brownfield' (redeveloped) land?

• A. 31%
• B. 47%
• C. 55%
• D. 66%

• Answer: D
• Increasing from 54% in 1990 and including conversions which account for about 3 percentage points.
• [QoLC H14] / [SDIYP 64 (updated)]

11. What percentage of people of working age are in employment?

• A. 52%
• B. 66%
• C. 75%
• D. 82%

• Answer: C
• The percentage of working age people in work is about the same as it was in 1990.
• [QoLC H3] / [SDIYP pg 28]

12. What percentage of freight in Great Britain is transported by rail?

• A. 2%
• B. 8%
• C. 18%
• D. 25%

• Answer: B
• Between 1970 and 2001, the proportion of freight moved by rail fell from 18% cent to 8%, though there has been a slight increase in recent years.
• [QoLC D20] / [SDIYP pg 22]

13. Approximately how many overseas flights were made by UK residents in 2002?

• A. 12 million
• B. 26 million
• C. 39 million
• D. 44 million

• Answer: D
• Overseas flights by UK residents more than quadrupled between 1980 and 2002.
• [QoLC D18] / [SDIYP pg 26]

14. What factor is most often mentioned by people as affecting their quality of life?

• A. Money
• B. Health
• C. Family and friends
• D. Transportation

• Answer: A
• 48% of respondents mentioned money, 34% health, 7% family and friends, 13% transport. Respondents could mention more than one factor.
• [PAS Ch 2]

15. To what extent have CO2 emissions from transport changed since 1970?

• A. increased by less than a third
• B. increased by less than two thirds
• C. more than doubled
• D. more than tripled

• Answer: C
• Transport emissions have increased by 130%, broadly in line with the increase in road traffic.
• [QoLC (h)] / [SDIYP pg 44]

16. Based on CO2 emissions per head of population, which of these rankings is correct (from highest emissions to lowest)?

• A. Russia, United States, Australia, UK
• B. United States, Australia, Russia, UK
• C. United States, Russia, UK, Australia
• D. Russia, United States, UK, Australia

• Answer: B
• In 1999 emissions per capita were as follows: US 19.9 tonnes, Australia 17.0 tonnes, Russia 10.2 tonnes, UK 9.0 tonnes.
• [QoLC U6] / [SDIYP pg 18]

17. To what extent have the number of deaths from circulatory diseases in England and Wales changed since 1970?

• A. fallen by half
• B. fallen by a quarter
• C. stayed the same
• D. doubled

• Answer: A
• In 2001 deaths per 100,000 were 47% of the rate in 1970.
• [QoLC F1] / [SDIYP pg 34]

18. According to the British Crime Survey by what percentage have vehicle crimes (theft of or from vehicles) changed since 1991?

• A. increased by 30%
• B. increased by 65%
• C. decreased by 20%
• D. decreased by 45%

• Answer: D
• In 1991, there were an estimated 3,845,000 vehicle crimes, by 2003/4 this had fallen to an estimated 2,121,000.
• [QoLC H8] / [SDIYP pg 37 (updated)]

19. To what extent have farmland bird populations changed since the mid 1970s?

• A. stayed roughly the same
• B. doubled
• C. fallen by half
• D. fallen by a quarter

• Answer: C
• The index of farmland bird populations has nearly halved since its 1977 peak and has fallen by 18% since 1990. It has remained at about the same level over the last four years.
• [QoLC H14] / [SDIYP pg 65]

20. In real terms, to what extent has the cost of motoring changed since the 1970s?

• A. increased by half
• B. increased by a third
• C. stayed roughly the same
• D. decreased by a quarter

• Answer: C
• Public transport costs rose by about 75% in real terms between 1974 and 2002. In contrast, the real cost of motoring has remained virtually unchanged, despite an increase in the real cost of fuel over the last decade.
• [QoLC T4] / [SDIYP pg 47]