1

The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) –

The measurement and monitoring framework for the environment-economy

relationship for official statistics

Ivo Havinga

United Nations Statistics Division

Interactive Dialogue of the General Assembly on Harmony with Nature, United Nations

20 April 2011

2

Outline of presentation

1. Brief history

2. Why do we need the SEEA?

3. What is the SEEA?

4. How do we draft and release the SEEA? – process and timetable

5. Summary

3

Brief history

Policy

• Brundtland (WCED) – 1983• Agenda 21 – 1992• SIDS – 1994 & 2005• MDGs – 2000• Johannesburg – 2002

– Marrakech process• Rio +20

Statistics

• Indicator sets (DPSIR, FDES) - 70s onwards

• SEEA-1993 – Interim report• SEEA-2003 – Best

practices• SEEA-Water - 2007

Statistical standard (interim)• SEEA 2012 Statistical

standard• SEEA-Energy 2012

4

Why do we need SEEA?

• International agreed framework for official statistics for the measurement of the economic impacts on the environment and the environmental impacts on the economy

• International agreed organisation of economic, financial and natural assets (wealth) and flows of production/income, consumption and accumulation between the environmental and the economy

• International comparability of environmental and related socio-economic data – information pyramid

5

The information pyramid

Indicators

AccountsSEEA

Basic dataEcon. Stats|Env. Stats

6

Environmental-Economic Accounting and Environment Statistics

Environment statistics and indicators:

Often 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

Source: Julie Hass

7

Environmental-Economic Accounting and Environment Statistics

Environmental accounts:

• Help to make sense of the larger picture

• Help to identify pieces that are missing

• Can make connections to other economic and social statistics

Source: Julie Hass

8

What is SEEA?• Builds on the System of National Accounts (GDP, saving,

lending/borrowing, etc)• Extends environmental (natural) asset boundary, use now

and by future generation (land cover(mountains, low and highlands, coastal areas), water, energy and minerals, forest, fish, etc.

• Includes physical valuations of environmental assets and flows (water, energy and minerals, forest, fish, etc.)

• Links monetary (market valued) and physical information• Provides environmentally-adjusted aggregated for

depleting environmental (natural) assets (for GDP, saving, etc.)

9

Territory of reference

EnvironmentEnvironment

Natural Resources (stocks)-Land-Water

-Ecosystems-Soil-Etc.

Natural Resource flows-Materials-Energy-Water

-Ecosystem services-Etc.

EconomyEconomy

Activities-Production

-Consumption-Accumulation

Instruments -Financial/Monetary

-Taxes/subsidies-Financing-Resource rent-Permits

Actors-Enterprises-Households-Government

-Non-profit institutions

9

The SEEA Framework

Outside territory of reference

Outside territory of reference

Analytical and Policy Frameworks

-Productivity analysis-Natural resource management

-Climate change-Green Growth/Green Economy

Land/Resource use/Ecosystems

Emissions/waste

10

Categories of environment indicators

• Selected Indicators of– Efficiency of sustainable production

• Decoupling (material use, emissions)• Multi factor productivity

– Efficiency of sustainable consumption• Embedded emissions• Footprint indicators

– Environmental assets• Stocks and changes in stocks of land, natural resources and

ecosystems– Fiscal/monetary instruments (response of society)

• Taxes/subsidies• Permits• Rent• Environmental Goods and Services Sector (GDP and employment)• Environmental protection and resource management expenditures• Recurrent and capital cost and their financing

SCP

11

SEEA and suite of publicationsFrameworks, international recommendations (IR), compilation guidelines, data,

quality assessments, knowledge bases

SEEASEEAWaterWater

SEEA-SEEA-EnergyEnergy

SEEA-MFASEEA-MFA

IRWSIRWS IRESIRES

Compilation Compilation guidelinesguidelines

Compilation Compilation guidelinesguidelines

DataData DataData

IRWasteIRWaste

Compilation Compilation guidelinesguidelines

DataData

……

Best practices/knowledge baseBest practices/knowledge base

SEEASEEA

Data quality assessment

Example: Apppication of SEEA for water sector

12

Improving drinking water and sanitation services I

Balancing water

supply and demand

II

Mitigating water resources degradation/ Improving quality of water resources III

Adapting to extreme

hydro- meteorological

events

IV

Water security for

development

13

How do we draft and release SEEA? – process and time table

– Global consultation with countries and agencies on Chapters of SEEA – ongoing 2011 and 2012

– Internationally agreed central framework of SEEA for adoption by United Nations Statistical Commission – Part 1 – February 2012

– Ecosystem accounting for consideration by United Nations Statistical Commission – Part 2 – February 2013

– Policy applications for consideration by United Nations Statistical Commission - Part 3 – February 2013

14

Summary

• Developing SEEA as an international conceptual standard will be a critical milestone in mainstreaming accounting for the environment

• Affirming the SEEA as the measurement and monitoring framework for sustainable development/green economy by official statistical community

• Outreach and integrating policy and analytical framework with measurement framework

15

Thank You !

For further information and comments:

United Nations Statistics Division

Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Ivo Havinga, email: havinga@un.org

Alessandra Alfieri, email: alfieri@un.org