Transforming Institutions to Build Back Greener: The Case for Natural Capital Accounting

There is growing recognition that building back better must also mean building back greener. The twin crises of climate change and biodiversity degradation pose a dire threat to recovery efforts and economic progress. Effective and successful efforts to reduce global emissions and protect biodiversity require that public institutions work in partnership – across ministries as well as with civil society and the private sector – and design policies that protect the environment while enhancing livelihoods and wellbeing.  

This webinar will examine how natural capital accounting, in particular the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) can help to measure and track climate change and biodiversity, thus providing Governments with a “common denominator” in the effort to integrate environmental concerns into public policy and decision-making. The event will focus on both the institutional perspective (for example, how to adopt and integrate the framework in support of environmental goals) and the technical issues (including specific examples, such as how to assess the value of ecosystems vital to improving the quality of land and water resources).

SPEAKERS

• Dieter Helm, Professor of Economic Policy, University of Oxford and Fellow in Economics, New College, Oxford. Former Independent Chair of the UK Natural Capital Committee
• Heather Tallis,  White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President of the United States
• Shonisani Munzhedzi, Chief Executive Officer, South African National Biodiversity Institute
• M. Sanjayan, Chief Executive Officer, Conservation International
• Bert Kroese, Incoming Chief Statistician and Data Officer and Director of the Statistics Department of the International Monetary Fund and former chair of the UN Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting (UNCEEA)
• Mauricio Rodas, Visiting Fellow, University of Pennsylvania, Co-Chair of the Global Commission on BiodiverCities by 2030, former Mayor of Quito, Ecuador (2014-2019), and member of the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA)

MODERATOR

• Linda Bilmes, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Public Finance, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Co-Chair of Economists for Peace and Security, and member of the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA)  

This event is a side event of the High-Level Political Forum 2022, organized by the Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting (UNCEEA), a subsidiary body of the Statistical Commission, and the  Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA). It is supported by the Statistics Division and Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.