SEEA and the Green Economy Anthony Dvarskas United Nations Statistics Division July 3, 2013.

SEEA and the Green Economy

Anthony Dvarskas

United Nations Statistics Division

July 3, 2013

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting

Presentation Overview

Review of the SEEA SEEA and Green Economy Example tables and indicators


The Suite of SEEAs1993 Handbook – interim publication2003 Updated SEEA handbook – manual of best practices2006 UNSC decided to elevate SEEA to an international standard

2012 SEEA – The Central Framework (internationally agreed standard)

Chapter 1 – Introduction to SEEA Central FrameworkChapter 2 – Accounting structureChapter 3 – Physical supply and use Chapter 4 – Environmental activity accounts and flowsChapter 5 – Asset accountsChapter 6 – Integrating and presenting the accounts

2013 SEEA – Experimental Ecosystem Accounts 2013 SEEA – Applications and Extensions

Subsystems: SEEA-Water, SEEA-Energy


Recent advances - SEEA Internationally agreed

statistical framework to measure environment and its interactions with economy

Adopted as international statistical standard by UN Statistical Commission in 2012

Developed through inter-governmental process

Published by UN, EU, FAO, IMF, OECD, WB


SEEA: A Statistical Standard

Countries are “encouraged to implement the standard”

International organizations have obligations to assist countries in implementation

Implementation strategy adopted by Statistical Commission in March 2013

Data reporting mechanism will be established


Problem: Information silos

Data developed to answer one particular question or problem

Difficult to figure out if all information is included

Not always easy to see the whole picture, or how it relates to other things


Solution: Integrated information

Holistic picture

Consistency of information and identification of data gaps

Interconnections between economy, environment and society


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Indicators

AccountsSEEA

Basic dataEconomic Environmental Social

Statistics

The information pyramid


The SEEA Central Framework Accounts

1. Flow accounts: supply and use tables for products, natural inputs and residuals (e.g. waste, wastewater) generated by economic activities. • physical (e.g. m2 of water) and/or monetary values (e.g. permits to

access water, cost of wastewater treatment, etc.)

2. Stock accounts for environmental assets: natural resources and land• physical (e.g. fish stocks and changes in stocks) and/or monetary

values (e.g. value of natural capital, depletion)

3. Activity / purpose accounts that explicitly identify environmental transactions already existing in the SNA. • e.g. Environmental Protection Expenditure (EPE) accounts,

environmental taxes and subsidies

4. Combined physical and monetary accounts that bring together physical and monetary information for derivation indicators, including depletion adjusted aggregates


SEEA Conceptual Framework

Activities-Production

-Consumption-Accumulation

Instruments -Financial/Monetary -Taxes/subsidies - Financing -Resource rent -Permits

Economic Units-Enterprises-Households-Government

-Non-profit institutions

Individual Environmental Assets (e.g., land, water, mineral and energy, soil, aquatic)

Ecosystem Assets

Natural inputs

Analytical and Policy Frameworks

-Productivity analysis-Natural resource management

-Climate change-Green Growth/Green Economy

-Post-2015 Development Agenda

Residuals (e.g., emissions,

waste)

Economy

EnvironmentTerritory of reference

Outside territory of reference

Outside territory of reference

Imports/Exports

Transboundary Environmental Flows

Ecosystem services


SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting

Complements SEEA Central Framework Integrated statistical framework for accounting for

ecosystem assets and associated services Important first step in development of statistical

framework for ecosystem accounting


Ecosystem asset (spatial area)

Ecosystem asset (spatial area)

Ecosystem processes Ecosystem processes

Economic & other human activity

Economic & other human activity

Exchanges & social interactions

Ecosystem services

Ecosystem services

Inter-ecosystem flows

Ecosystem characteristicsEcosystem characteristics Intra-ecosystem flows Intra-ecosystem flows

Human impacts Human impacts

Basic accounting model


Ecosystem services

Ecosystem services are services that benefit humanity, and can be of direct or indirect use. Broad examples include:

Provisioning services (nutrition, medicine, fur, uncultivated food)

Regulating services (climate regulation, flood control, water filtration, air filtration, de-pollution)

Cultural services (science, spiritual, ceremonial, recreation, aesthetic)


OECD Green Growth Strategy and SEEA Underlying conceptual frameworks very similar: combining

economy and environment SEEA is powerful tool for green growth analysis (including

input-output type of analysis) Main links between OECD GGS and SEEA:

• Indicators that monitor the environmental and resource efficiency of the economy

• Indicators that monitor environmental assets and their role in the economy

• Indicators that monitor environmentally-related activities and instruments, and their role in the economy

OECD plans to develop core set of SEEA tables to develop selected GGS indicators

14Source: OECD


Green Economy Indicators

Tracking state of the environment over time• Natural resource stocks• Flows impacting stocks

Tracking pressures• Consumption and production patterns• Emissions

Tracking environmental impact• Changes in ecosystem condition and services

=> SEEA is natural framework for measurement of green economy


SEEA and Green Economy

SEEA CF

SEEA EEA

Water•Supply and use by industries/ household sector•Availability

Energy•Use of energy by industries/ households (incl. renewables)•Stocks

Land•Changes in land cover/types•Use of land by sectors

Ecosystem condition•Changes in biodiversity (e.g. MSA)•Carbon, nutrient and water balances•NPP•Relation to environmental expenditures

Ecosystem service flows•Location of service•Supply of service•Users of services

Mineral resources•Stocks•Depletion

Aquatic resources•Fish stocks•Tons of fish harvested•Sectors using stocks

Environmental Protection Expenditures

Soil resources Forest•Timber and non-timber•Stocks and depletion


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Sustainability

I.People and the environment

II.The economy and the environment

III. Ecosystems

IV.Risks

The SEEA Policy Quadrants


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Sustainability

I.Improving access to services and resources

II.Managing supply and demand and

reducing impacts

III. Improving the state of the ecosystems

IV.Mitigating and adapting

to extreme events


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Quadrant I: Improving access

Key information in this quadrant (household sector related):

• Costs associated with the provision of services to households

• Investments in network infrastructure• Employment and compensation in

household production units • Household consumption and disposable

income• Poverty and inequality

I. Improving access to services and resources


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Quadrant II: The economy and the environment

• Efficiency of production• Decoupling• Multifactor productivity

• Efficiency of consumption• Embedded emissions• Footprint indicators

• Costs of production and payments by users (e.g. fees, taxes, rents, permits, etc.)

• Employment and compensation• Financing (who pays for investments and current

costs)• Depletion • Solid waste and emissions• Environmental protection and resource

management expenditures

II. Managing supply and demand

Key information in this quadrant:

•Environmental goods and services sector (EGSS)

•Employment in EGSS

•Natural resource stocks


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Quadrant III: Water Quality and Water Health

• Ecosystem extent • Ecosystem conditions

• Water cycle• Carbon cycle• Nutrient cycle• Primary productivity

• Biodiversity• Regulatory services provided by

ecosystems

III. Improving the state of the ecosystems



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Quadrant IV: Extreme Events

• Natural disasters• Investments for mitigation• Investments for adaptation

IV. Mitigating and adapting to extreme events



SEEA Example Water use and supply in Mauritius

I S I C C o n c e p t 1 9 9 8 1 9 9 9 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 4 2 0 0 5 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 7 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 9 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 1

H o u s e h o l d s 6 9 .2 6 2 . 0 6 5 . 3 6 7 . 1 6 7 . 6 7 0 . 3 7 0 . 6 7 3 . 1 7 3 . 2 7 3 . 0 7 2 . 1 7 5 . 2 7 6 . 6 7 3 . 7

1 0 - 3 3 M a n u f a c t u r in g 4 .7 4 . 4 4 . 6 4 . 7 4 . 7 5 . 0 4 . 8 4 . 8 4 . 7 4 . 8 4 . 0 4 . 1 4 . 3 4 . 3

3 4 - 9 9 e x c e p t

3 5 , 3 6 , 3 7 , 5 5

S e r v ic e s 1 0 .2 7 . 9 8 . 3 8 . 8 9 . 2 9 . 8 9 . 9 1 0 . 4 1 0 . 6 1 1 . 4 1 1 . 9 1 2 . 5 1 2 . 9 1 1 . 9

5 5 A c c o m m o d a t i o n s e r v i c e s 2 .9 3 . 1 3 . 3 3 . 6 3 . 5 3 . 6 3 . 7 4 . 1 4 . 3 4 . 4 4 . 6 4 . 7 5 . 1 5 . 2

0 1 - 0 3 A g r i c u l t u r e & l iv e s t o c k ( p o t a b l e ) 0 .8 1 . 0 0 . 9 0 . 9 1 . 0 1 . 1 1 . 1 1 . 3 1 . 4 1 . 4 1 . 4 1 . 5 1 . 5 1 . 5

T O T A L P O T A B L E W A T E R S U P P L I E D 8 7 . 8 7 8 . 3 8 2 . 4 8 5 . 1 8 6 . 1 8 9 . 8 9 0 . 2 9 3 . 7 9 4 . 3 9 5 . 2 9 4 . 0 9 7 . 8 1 0 0 . 3 9 6 . 5

Source: Central Water Authority


SEEA CF Example Asset Table


SEEA CF Example Physical Flow Table


SEEA EEA Table Example Ecosystem condition and extent in Victoria

Source: Victorian Experimental Ecosystem Accounts


SEEA Examples

Decomposition analysis


SEEA Examples

Consumption and Production


Reference MaterialBriefing notes:

Briefing note on SEEA Central Framework: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/Brochure.pdf

Briefing note on SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/workshops/int_seminar/note.pdf

Briefing note on SEEA Water and International Recommendations for Water Statistics (IRWS) http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/WWAP_UNSD_WaterMF.pdf

Methodological publications: SEEA Central Framework: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/White_cover.pdf

SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/doc13/BG-SEEA-Ecosystem.pdf

SEEA Applications and Extensions: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/doc13/BG-SEEA-AE.pdf

Library – searchable library of publications (e.g. country case studies, methodological publications, etc.)http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/ceea/archive/

Research agenda accompanying SEEA-Experimental Ecosystem Accountinghttp://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/doc13/BG-SEEA-ResearchAgenda.pdf

Contact E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

SEEA and the Green Economy Anthony Dvarskas United Nations Statistics Division July 3, 2013.

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