NCAVES Brazil National Forum

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), in close collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Union Delegation to Brazil, are jointly organizing the National Forum on Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) project.  The forum will be held virtually on 16-18 November 2021 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. (Rio de Janeiro time)

Brazil has participated as one of the 5 pilot countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa) in the NCAVES project jointly launched by UNSD, UNEP and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and funded by the European Union. The NCAVES project in Brazil was implemented by the IBGE,  in collaboration with various partner institutions.

Under the NCAVES project, significant progress has been made to advance environmental economic accounting in Brazil. To date IBGE has released ecosystem extent accounts and endangered species accounts, as well as a range of publications with experimental statistics on the condition of water bodies, on the valuation of water resources, and on non-timber forest products.

In parallel a pilot study for the Matopiba region was undertaken by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro using the SWAT model to assess a number of regulating ecosystem services and how they are impacted by the shifting agricultural frontier.

In addition, IBGE has made important contributions through the testing of indicators and classifications to the finalization of SEEA EA which was recently adopted by the UN Statistical Commission. IBGE also hosted a regional training workshop on ecosystem accounting for ECLAC countries in November 2019.

The objectives of the National Forum are: 

• Present the achievements of Brazil in the implementation of Natural Capital Accounting to a wide audience.
• Discuss next steps for the future development of the BRASEEA (Brazilian System of Environmental-Economic Accounts) with stakeholders.

The first two days of the Forum will be oriented to a more technical audience as they will dedicated focus on to presenting and discussing the results obtained in compiling the various types of ecosystem accounts and water accounts that have been developed under the NCAVES project. The third day is oriented to senior level representatives and will focus on a strategic discussion on NCA, including policy needs for the accounts and a roadmap for further development and mainstreaming. 

The workshop will be conducted in Portuguese and English with simultaneous interpretation.

This Forum is a programmed activity of the NCAVES project funded by the European Union.