The System of Environmental-Economic
Accounting for Water: From Adoption to
Implementation
London Group – South Africa, March 2007
Michael Vardon
United Nations Statistics Division
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Outline of presentation
• Development and adoption of SEEAW as an
interim international statistical standard in 2007
• Towards a Global Implementation Plan for
SEEAW
• Working regionally
• Harnessing existing programmes
• Developing toolkits for implementation
• Identifying additional funding
• The Plan to go the 2008 UN Statistical
Commission
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Development of SEEAW
• Sub-group on Water Accounting established at the 2003
meeting of the London Group (Rome)
• Sep 2004 SEEAW discussed at London Group Meeting
(Copenhagen)
• May 2005 1st draft SEEAW discussed in by sub-group
(New York)
• May 2006 2nd Draft discussed at the User-Producer
Conference (Voorburg)
• Jun 2006 2nd Draft discussed by London Group and
UNCEEA
• Jul-Dec 2006 SEEAW finalised by electronic discussion
• More than 20 experts participated in the Sub-group
• UNSD coordinated the group and prepared the various
manuscripts
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Soil water
(reservoirs, lakes, rivers,
snow, ice and glaciers)
Natural transfers
(e.g. infiltration,
seepage, etc.)
Inflows
downstream
basins and
aquifers
outside
the territory
of reference
Outflows
Groundwater
Sea
Collection of
precipitation
Sea
Evapotranspiration
Abstraction
Returns
Sewerage
Returns
• Stocks and flows
• Economy and
environment
Surface water
upstream
basins and
aquifers
outside
the territory
of reference
Returns
Overview
Inland Water Resource System
Abstraction
SEEAW
Evapotranspiration
Precipitation
Atmosphere
Households
Other Industries
(incl. Agriculture)
Rest of
the World
Economy
Imports
Water collection,
treatment and supply
Exports
Rest of
the World
Economy
Economy
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SEEAW – an interim international
statistical standard
• The 2007 UN Statistical Commission
adopted SEEAW as an interim international
statistical standard
• SEEAW has been noticed by the producer
and user communities
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The role and value of
Water Accounting
“SEEAW provides the muchneeded conceptual framework
for monitoring and assessment”
Roberto Lenton, GWP
Global Water
Partnership
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Towards a global implementation
plan for SEEAW
• The Commission asked UNSD to develop a global
implementation plan for SEEAW and present it in
2008
• 32 countries have requested assistance from the
UNSD for implementing water accounts
• Current resources for assistance are limited
• Need to use them carefully
• Identify and seek additional resources
• A 3-5 year implementation plan is envisaged
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Working regionally
• Bring countries together in groups to create
regional networks
• Hold workshops targeted at national statistical
offices and water management departments
• Introduce SEEAW to high level officials to
highlight the benefits and identify key questions
• Provide workshops for the implementers of
water accounting
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UN regional grouping
ECA
• Botswana
• Burkina Faso
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• South Africa
• Tanzania
• Tunisia
ECE
• Armenia
• Bulgaria
• Georgia
• Israel
• Ukraine
• Turkey
ECLAC
• Bahamas
• Bolivia
• Colombia
• Cuba
• Dominican Republic
• Guatemala
• Mexico
• Panama
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago
ECLAC
• China
• India
• Indonesia
• Korea (Republic)
• Mongolia
• Nepal
• Philippines
ESCWA
• Egypt
• Jordan
• Yemen
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Harnessing existing programmes
• Work with existing initiatives and other agencies.
E.g.
• Eurostat, World Bank, Asian Development
Bank, OECD
• Global Water Partnership
• UNDP – CAP-NET
• IWRM Task Force on Monitoring and
Reporting
• Med Stat II (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan,
Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia)
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Developing toolkits
• Developing material to assist countries with
implementation
• Researching particular issues (e.g.
transforming data to between different
spatial boundaries)
• Contributing to the development of formal
training courses (e.g. UNESCO-IHE)
• Promoting SEEAW in the user community
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Barriers to developing
environmental accounts
1.
2.
3.
4.
Lack of human resources (60%)
Availability of data (60%)
Lack of financial resources (57%)
Lack of appropriate institutional set-up
(37%)
Results of UN Global Assessment of Environmental
accounting (36 respondents to question)
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Barriers to compiling
environmental accounts
1.
2.
3.
4.
Availability of data (81%)
Quality of data (61%)
Lack of human resources (56%)
Lack of financial resources (50%)
Results of UN Global Assessment of Environmental
accounting (35 respondents to question)
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Identifying additional resources
and funding
• Additional expertise which could be made
available to countries or to UNSD for the
development of material (any volunteers?)
• Keep a eye out for funding opportunities
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UNSD Work for 2007
• June – ESCWA + north African countries
high level seminar
• July – ECLAC high level seminar
• In country capacity building planned for
China and possibly other countries
• Development of a water statistics manual
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What can I do?
• Become part of regional network
• Contribute to the development of material on
implementation
• Offer of technical assistance
• Look for ways to promote SEEAW in the producer and
user communities
• Identify funding opportunities
• Keep each other informed of activity and developments
related to water accounting. E.g.
• Technical assistance provided or requested
• Interesting policy uses or analyses
• Meetings, conferences, etc where water accounting
many be promoted
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Contact details
Michael Vardon
Adviser on Environmental-Economic Accounting
United Nations Statistics Division
New York 10017 USA
Room DC2 1532
Phone: +1 917 367 5391
Fax: +1 917 363 1374
Email: vardon@un.org
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