SEEA EEA Revision Process Update Q3-2020

Since the last update on the SEEA EEA revision process in August 2020 all of the chapters of the revised SEEA EA have been drafted and the complete draft has been submitted for the second global consultation.

The first global consultation was concluded in August with the last chapters on accounting for ecosystem services (Chapters 6 & 7) receiving more than 60 substantive comments. The first global consultation covered drafts of all the substantive Chapters 3-11 of the revised SEEA EA in three separate batches between March and August 2020. Overall, over 200 sets of comments were received from a wide range of people from government agencies, international organizations and individual experts. Majority of the comments received were largely supportive of the draft chapters and the approaches taken, as well as providing valuable input in addressing some outstanding issues and challenging topics. All comments are available on our website.

In the last couple of months, we have been focusing on incorporating the comments received though the first global consultation, resolving the last outstanding technical issues and finalizing the drafts for review by the SEEA EA Technical Committee and Editorial Board. The Technical Committee has been meeting every two weeks to review the draft chapters, answer questions of the editor and provide directions, in order to ensure the publication is technically ready for the second global consultation. The global consultation on the complete draft of the SEEA EEA was launched on 26 October and open until 30 November 2020. All interested parties are welcome to comment on the draft using the form available on our website.

In parallel, the revision working groups have been providing their technical input on how to address the comments received on the individual chapters. Working groups on all four research areas – spatial units, ecosystem condition, ecosystem services, and valuation – met in several meetings to support the editor and the Technical Committee with specific technical questions. The Subgroup on Accounting for Biodiversity also continued its work making sure that biodiversity is adequately represented in the draft chapters. It supported the revision through drafting a discussion note on spatial aggregation of condition indicators, drafting the text on the biodiversity thematic accounts for Chapter 13 and providing input into Chapter 5 on ecosystem condition.

A Working Group on Indicators for the SEEA EEA was established. In the short term, it will aim to support the development of the relevant text for the SEEA EA on indicators and aggregates that can be derived from the SEEA EA for the drafting of Chapter 14 of the revised SEEA EA. It will also support the identification for a list of headline indicators and the links to global indicator frameworks.

For all up to date information, materials and documents please regularly check the revision dedicated website.