Priorities for further development of (component
accounts for) EU ecosystem accounting system
Food for thought in three steps:
a) Reflection on the overall goal
b) Comparison with SEEA-EEA system of
accounts
c) Priorities for further investment
Green Economy: Living well within ecological limits
ECOSYSTEMS
Withdrawals
from the
ecosystems
SOCIO-TECHNICAL SYSTEMS
providing social needs and value
Policy
Industry
Energy system Food
system
system
Ecosystem
services
Values
system
system
Mobility
system
Science
Technology
Environmental
externalities
Market
Deposits
Emissions
Pollution
7th EAP: ‘Living well, within the limits of
the planet’
Ecosystem
accounting
Managing natural capital
Planetary
boundary
Managing natural capital well
Safe operating space
Planetary
boundary
Manage
(service)
trade-offs (as
we please?)
Managing natural capital well &
respecting societal limits
Safe operating space
Planetary
boundary
Conservation
boundary
Manage
(service)
trade-offs
within limits
b) From draft technical guidance for SEEA-EEA
EEA
focus
b) From draft technical guidance for SEEA-EEA
c) Summing-up – tasks for the workshop
• Review current state of development
• Understand technical underpinning of key
component accounts
• Identify important policy and analytical uses
• Agree main criteria for development of EU
ecosystem accounting system
• Identify key design elements of EU system
• Develop list of next steps for development of EU
ecosystem accounts
EEA considerations for ecosystem accounts:
(Simplified) ecosystem (capital) accounts should ideally be:
• Representative of key ecosystem functions / types of
ecosystem capital stock
• Targeted on functional ecological units (water basins,
ecosystem types etc.)
• Aligned with key EU policy targets & planetary boundaries
• Transparent and easily communicable
 Look at trends that are likely to show a clear signal
 Follow an analytical approach aligned with characteristics
of data (i.e. avoiding analytical over-reach)
 Be nested in existing ecosystem accounting guidance
Priority tasks
• Further refine user needs & policy targets
 Be clear about what we want to achieve (within 3
years, 5 years, 10 years)
• Decide whether to go broad or narrow
- all ecosystems? - all SEEA-EEA accounts?
- ambition of geo-referencing?
- fully integrated or focused on key trends?
• Review data foundation in relation to accounting
ambition/targets
• Understand resource requirements of different
approaches
• Develop approach for co-development with MS
Calculation chain for land accounts
Minimise
data
uncertainty
Reduce
methodological
errors
Common
spatial grid &
nomenclature
Define ecosystem
accounting &
analytical units
Thank you for your attention!
Jan-Erik.Petersen@eea.europa.eu
Key objectives in designing an integrated EU ecosystem accounting system
•
Relevant - provide a knowledge base to support policy (7th EAP, Biodiversity Strategy, EU
Semester, 2030 SD agenda) and environmental management (biophysical and monetary
assessment - extent, type, condition and value of ecosystems and their services); enable
environmental analysis (providing trend information and indicators) and enable integrated
assessment (linking to economic and social information).
•
Acceptable – approach (experimental/demonstration, stepwise standards and
recommendations, long term development process) is accepted by key producers/users such
as policy makers (EU and national), statistical community, academia, civil society and business.
•
•
Credible – unambiguous, reproducible results and transparent methodology.
•
Easy – technically feasible and implementable with current/planned future levels of data
availability and quality, applicable at different spatial scales, findings can be communicated
clearly.
•
Robust – application of statistical standards (concepts, classifications, units) and ecosystem
accounting guidance (SEEA-EEA); consistency in approach among sub accounts, data
integration, data quality.
How to add things up / develop a
shared index?
$$ + €€
Potassium
Water
$$ + €€
Nitrogen
$$ + €€
$$ + €€
Phosphate
$$ + €€
$$ + €€
$$ + €€
Agronomy / ecosystems :
Temperature
Compiling GDP :
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ +
€€€€€€€€€€€€€€
Water
‘Liebig’s law’
= harvest