London Group on Environmental Accounting

About the Group

Current chair: Sven Kaumanns, Federal Statistical Office of Germany

The London Group on Environmental Accounting is a city group created in 1993 to allow practitioners to share their experience of developing and implementing environmental accounts linked to the System of National Accounts. It convened its first meeting in March 1994 in London, England. The name derives from the city of its first meeting.

The London Group is an informal group of experts primarily from national statistical agencies but also international organizations. Participation by representatives is voluntary. The London Group generally meets annually, and the meetings provide a forum for review, comparison and discussion of work underway by participants towards development of environmental accounts.

History of the Group

The London Group on Environmental Accounting played a leading role over the years in advancing the methodologies of environmental-economic accounts and in providing a forum for sharing national and international expertise in the field. Click here for a brief history of the group. 

The most notable accomplishments of the London Group have been its contribution to the System of Environmental Economic Accounting Central Framework which was adopted as the international statistical standard for environmental economic accounts at the UN Statistical Commission in 2012, and to the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water, which was adopted as an interim international statistical standard in 2007. 

Until 2004 the London Group reported its progress on its programme of work to the UN Statistical Commission (click here for historical reports). Since 2005, the UNCEEA has taken over the progress reports to the UN Statistical Commission. 

Bureau

The Bureau was established to assist the Chair to carry out specific activities in between and in the lead-up to meetings. The Bureau meets 3-4 times per year. Members of the Bureau are from national statistical offices, government ministries and international organizations.

• Members of the Bureau include representatives from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Chair), the Central Bank of Costa Rica, Statistics Indonesia, the Italian National Institute of Statistics, Statistics Netherlands, Statistics South Africa, Statistics Sweden, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom, Eurostat, FAO, OECD, UNSD and the World Bank.