Treatment of cultivated biological resources in
SEEA-MFA
13th Meeting of the London Group on Environmental Accounting
29 September - 3 October 2008,
Brussels, Belgium
Karl Schoer, consultant UNSD
Objective of this paper
(a) to introduce a solution of the issue of “cultivated crops
and trees” for the SEEA-MFA by following the principal
line of the London Group conclusions;
(b) to provide an improved presentation of the alternatives
for dealing with cultivated crops and trees in MFA accounting;
(c) and to present the implications of the proposed approach
for other MFA modules.
EW-MFA as a fully integrated sub-module of SEEA-MFA
Category of material
Inputs
Flows within and from the economy
to the economy from
the environment and
the ROW economy
Outputs
from the economy
to the environment
and the ROW
economy
Agricultural, fishery and related products
Products
Wood and wood produts
EW-MFA
Fosssil fuel and related products
EW-MFA
Metals and related product
"Resource
accounts"
Non-metallic minerals and related products
Water
Other products
EW-MFA
EW-MFA
Specific substances
Natural inputs
EW-MFA
Water
EW-MFA
Air emissions
Residuals
EW-MFA
Solid waste
EW-MFA
Water emissions
Water
Dissipative emissions
Balancing items output side
Covered by EW-MFA
Covered by other modules
Not covered by any module
Not applicable
EW-MFA
"Emission
accounts"
Approaches for recording cultivation of biological
resources
Ecosystem
approach
Harvest approach Extended harvest
"standard"
approach
Non-cultivated biological resources
Non-cultivated biological
resources
Environmental input Environmental input Environmental input
to the economy
to the economy
to the economy
Cultivated biological resources
Cultivated crops, plants
and trees
Intra-economy flow Environmental input Environmental input
to the economy
to the economy
Ecosystem inputs for
crops, plants and trees
Environmental input
to the economy
Intra- environment
flow
Animal and aquatic
resources
Intra-economy flow
Intra-economy flow Environmental input
to the economy
Ecosystem inputs for
animal and aquatic
resources
Environmental input Environmental input
to the economy
to the economy
Intra- environment
flow
Intra- environment
flow
Material flows of extraction of non-cultivated
biological resources
Other economy
Extraction of non-cultivated
biological resources
Technical
metabolism
Environment
Biological
metabolism
Fuels and other produced inputs
Oxygen, etc.
Raw materials
Natural resources
Waste, waste water, etc.
Air emissions, waste, etc.
By-catch of fishing etc.
12.0
Products
Natural inputs
Residuals
Internal flows
Material flows of plant cultivation:
“ecosystem approach”
Cultivation
of plants
Other economy
Environment
Technical
metabolism
Fuels and other produced inputs
Biological
metabolism
3.0
9.0
Oxygen and other natural inputs
Carbon dioxide, water vapor
Seed, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation water 11.2
Seed, fertilizers etc. 11.2
552.3
195.1
Used biomass increase
12.0
195.1
Carbon dioxide, natural water, soil minerals
Used biomass increase
Seed, fertilizers, pesticides, irrig. water (not incorporated) 7.0
Unused biomass increase
Oxygen, water vapor
Products
Natural inputs
Residuals
Internal flows
160.0
201.4
Material flows of plant cultivation: “harvest approach”
Cultivation
of plants
Other economy
Environment
Technical
metabolism
Fuels and other produced inputs
Biological
metabolism
3.0
9.0
Oxygen and other natural inputs
Carbon dioxide, water vapor
Seed, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation water 11.2
Seed, fertilizers etc. 11.2
552.3
195.1
Used biomass increase
12.0
195.1
Carbon dioxide, natural water, soil minerals
Used biomass increase
Seed, fertilizers, pesticides, irrig. water (not incorporated) 7.0
Unused biomass increase
Oxygen, water vapor
Products
Natural inputs
Residuals
Internal flows
160.0
201.4
Approaches for recording material flows of
plant cultication
"Ecosystem
approach"
mn tons
Inputs
Outputs
Product flows
14.2
11.2
3.0
Products
Seed, fertilizers, pesticides etc.
Other products
Products
Biomass increase (used)
195.1
195.1
Non-product flows
Natural inputs
Carbon dioxide, natural water, oil minerals
etc.to biological metabolism
Oxygen etc. to technical metabolism
Total
Inputs
561.3
552.3
Output to the environment
Oxygen, water vapor from biolological
metabolism
Seed, fertilizers etc. from biological metabolism
(not incorporated)
Unused biomass increase from biological
metabolism
9.0
Carbon
dioxide, water vapor from technical
metabolism
575.5 Total
380.4
201.4
7.0
160.0
12.0
575.5
"Harvest approach"
Outputs
Product flows
Products
Seed, fertilizers, pesticides etc.
Other products
14.2
11.2
3.0
Products
Biomass increase
195.1
195.1
Non-product flows
Natural inputs
Biomass increase ( used) from biological
metabolism
Oxygen etc. to technical metabolism
Total
Output to the environment
Seed, fertilizers etc.(incorporated and not
incorporated) from biological metabolism
9.0
Carbon dioxide, water vapor from technical
metabolism
218.3 Total
195.1
195.1
23.2
11.2
12.0
218.3
Why Harvest approach as the standard?
(a) Dominance of the biological metabolism for cultivation
of crops, plants and trees
(b) Harmonisation with EW-MFA
(c) Analytical usefulness:
ecosystem inputs are a much less meaningful indicator
compared to crops and trees
(d) Data availability
Implications of using the “harvest approach”
approach
EW-MFA:
Change in inventories in standing crops and timber have
to be introduced to the current Eurostat reporting system
(but indicators will exclude change in inventories of standing timber)
Other SEEA-MFA modules:
General:
Only non-product flows related to biological metabolisms are affected, flows related
technical metabolisms remain unchanged
Module on agriculture:
Focus on product flows and specific residual flows, but no complete mass balancing
Module on forestry:
Focus on product flows and specific residual flows, but no complete mass balancing
Module on water:
Direct take up of natural water by cultivated plants, crops and trees is not regarded
Module on waste:
Unused crop residues are not regarded as waste
Questions to the London Group
1. Do you agree that EW-MFA should be designed as a fully
integrated sub-module of SEEA-MFA (harmonization)?
2. Do you agree to use the “harvest approach” as the standard
concept of SEEA-MFA for reporting the material flows
of cultivation of biological resources?
3. Do you agree to use the “ecosystem approach” and the
“extended harvest approach” as additional concepts of
SEEA-MFA in order to meet specific circumstances or
specific analytical requirements?