INEGI Releases SEEA Accounts for 2018

On December 4th, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) released the results of the SEEA-Mexico (economic and ecological accounts of Mexico), including accounting tables in physical and monetary terms on the impact of economic activities on the environment (air, water and soil). The release also included derived indicators such as environmentally adjusted GDP, and other accounts such as environmental protection expenditures and material flow account.

The SEEA-Mexico is used in the planning of public policies, and its results have been incorporated into the different National Development Plans and the Environmental Planning for more than 18 years, in accordance with the environmental legislation in Mexico, such as the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection, and the General Law of Climate Change.

Among the main results for 2018, the accounts show that the total costs for depletion and environmental degradation (CTADA, according to the Spanish acronym) are equivalent to 4.3% regarding national GDP, while environmental protection expenditure represents around 0.6 per cent. Within CTADA, air emissions represented the highest environmental cost in 2018, 64.5 % of the total; followed by soil degradation, 11.7%; solid waste, 7.4%; hydrocarbons depletion, 7.1%; water pollution, 4.2%; groundwater depletion, 4.0%; and finally forest resources depletion, 1.1 per cent.

On the other hand, environmental protection expenditures were mainly allocated to activities such as protection of ambient air and climate, representing around 44.9%; followed by wastewater management activities, 19.2%; research and development for environmental protection, 7.7%; waste management, 7.6%; protection of biodiversity and landscapes, 7.5%; environmental education and general environmental administration and management activities, 7.3%; and the remaining 5.8% was spent on other environmental protection activities.

Link to SEEA-Mexico (Spanish): https://www.inegi.org.mx/temas/ee/