2018 Green Development Statistics Forum

In his opening remarks during the Green Development Statistics Forum in China, Mr. Schweinfest explains the relevance of an integrated statistical framework to measure the linkage and interdependence between nature, economy and society, and how it supports the global SDG agenda. The System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA), whose Central Framework in 2012 was adopted as a statistical standard by the UN Statistical Commission, brought together environmental data and information into the realm of official statistics at the par with economic statistics to go beyond the GDP.

In advancing the implementation of the SEEA, UNSD, in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in China, UN Environment and the European Union (EU), launched in November 2017 the EU-funded project on Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services in China.

The project will support China to strengthen the national compilation of natural resource balance sheet on land, water and forestry, and pilot ecosystem accounting in the Guizhou and Guangxi provinces using the SEEA framework.