IMPLEMENTATION AND PROMOTION OF
ENVIRONMENTAL-ECONOMIC
ACCOUNTING
Strategy paper
First meeting of the UN Committee of
Experts on Envrionmental-Economic
Accounting
(New York, 22-23 June 2006)
1
Background
• UNCEEA has been established with the
approval of its terms of reference by the
Bureau of the United Nations Statistical
Commission in November 2005.
2
Background
OBJECTIVES
• (i) to mainstream environmental-economic
• accounting and related statistics;
• (ii) to elevate the System of Integrated
Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA)
to an international statistical standard1; and
• (iii) to advance the implementation of the SEEA at
the global level.
3
Background
Five components of work programme:
• coordination
• promotion and implementation of the accounts
through the recommendations on their compilation;
• harmonization and dissemination of the accounts,
linking the accounts to indicators and developing
relationship between the users and producers;
• advancing the research agenda; and
• harmonization of data collection activities on
environment and related statistics with
environmental-economic accounts.
4
Current Situation
• environmental accounts has been most
extensive in developed countries, notably
EU member countries, Norway, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand.
• Few sustained initiatives in developing
countries China, Indonesia, Mexico,
Moldova, Philippines and South Africa.
5
Current situation
Few regional program
• Eurostat-funded pilot programs for EU
member states
• Natural Resource Accounting Programme
for East and Southern Africa (on-going
program), established in 1995, donor
funded
• Global Initiative for Environmental
Accounting proposed to GEF by the Earth
Institute and World Bank
6
Suggested areas of work
• Link the production and release of environmentaleconomic accounts and time series with the
national accounts
• Facilitate the support of the SEEA framework by
international agencies
• Increase support and technical cooperation in
developing countries
• Develop a communication and dissemination
strategy
7
Link with national accounts
• Integrated compilation of accounts,
tables and time series
• Align compilation cycles
• Align statistical units
• Align dissemination cycles
• Align data requirements in business
surveys, household surveys, etc.
8
Link to national accounts
Under aegis of UN CEEA (suite of standards)
• Launch scope and compliance survey to assess the status
of implementation of environmental-economic
accounting
• Prepare SEEA as standards for official statistics
• Develop a set of dissemination standard on accounts,
tables and time series e.g. energy and air emission and
water accounts
• Develop guidelines for a comprehensive data collection
programme of environment and economic statistics
• Develop a data quality framework for environmental
accounting
9
Facilitate the support for the
SEEA framework by
international agencies
• Integrate in international strategy and
national development plans including
PRSP (WB), toolkits (UNDP), MDGs
(UNSD) as well as indicators of sustainable
development.
10
Increase support and technical
cooperation in developing
countries
• Coordination of TA
• Under UNCEEA
• Training material
• Analysis of success and impeding factors
• Website containing a searchable
archive/library
11
Develop a communication and
dissemination strategy
• Information and promotion material;
• Communcation strategy, including application of
technical tools (e.g. interactive presentations) for
presenting the results of the accounts;
• Articles in magazines and newspapers to raise
awareness about environmental-economic
accounting;
• Organize events bringing together users and
producers of environmental economic accounting
(e.g. user-producer dialogue on water accounting,
etc.)
12
Questions to the UNCEEA?
•
•
•
•
What is the best mechanism to promote the
implementation of environmental-economic
accounting in countries?
Should a sub-group of the UNCEEA be
created to advise the Committee on strategies
to encourage the SEEA implementation in
countries and carry out the activities outlined
above? Who should be participate?
What would be possible activities to be
undertaken to encourage the SEEA
implementation in countries?
What would be the best way to coordinate
technical cooperation activities in countries?
13