Second In-Person Meeting of the SEEA Central Framework Technical Committee on the update of the SEEA Central Framework - Tranche II

The second in-person meeting of the Technical Committee of the SEEA Central Framework for the update of the SEEA Central Framework (Second Tranche) will be held on Monday, 23 March and Friday, 27 March 2026, on the margins of the Joint UNECE-OECD Expert meeting on the implementation of the SEEA. The meeting will convene members of the Technical Committee and other experts to discuss the technical content related to the update of the SEEA Central Framework. Focus will be placed on the review and discussion of content planned for release for global consultation in the second tranche scheduled for May 2026.

Adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) in 2012 as the first international statistical standard for environmental-economic accounting, the SEEA Central Framework is being updated to reflect growing policy demands for integrated environmental and economic data in support of emerging policies such as climate change, circular economy, biodiversity and other sustainability issues. The update also aims to ensure coherence with recent revisions to related statistical standards and classifications, including the System of National Accounts.

Endorsed by the UNSC during its 55th session in March 2024 (Decision 55/109(s) of E/CN.3/2024/36) , the update of the SEEA Central Framework is being carried out under the auspices of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting (UNCEEA) and its Technical Committee on the SEEA Central Framework, in close collaboration with the London Group on Environmental Accounting and other expert groups. It is expected that the update process will be completed with the submission of the final document to the Statistical Commission at its fifty-ninth session in 2028.

The research agenda for the update of the SEEA Central Framework comprises 29 priority issues which were endorsed by the Commission in March 2025 (Decision 56/112 (a) of E/CN.3/2025/37). As part of the overall process, it is planned that the Guidance Notes will be subject to a global consultation such that the proposed treatments are widely discussed and consulted, ahead of the drafting of the updated SEEA Central Framework. The update of the SEEA Central Framework is being carried in three tranches. This is the second in-person meeting of the committee for the update of the SEEA Central Framework.