Resource Corner Issue 23

In this issue you will find the following publications:


NSO-India releases EnviStats 2023 Vol. II Environmental Accounts

This year's publication includes some of the very important domains of the Environment viz. Material Flow Accounts, Solid Waste Accounts, Fish Provisioning Services, Soil Erosion Prevention Services by the Forests. Amongst these, the subjects of Material Flow Accounts and Soil Erosion Prevention services provided by the Forests have been attempted for the first time.

Read the publication here.


Indonesia Energy Flow Accounts and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accounts 2017-2021

This publication is a complement to the publication of Indonesia System of Integrated Environmental-Economic Accounting 2017-2021 (Sisnerling) which presents Indonesia energy flow accounts and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions accounts based on System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) 2012.

Access publication here.


 Canada's Census of Environment: A framework for agroecosystem accounting

This release provides a framework for the development of agroecosystem accounts and includes estimates of agroecosystem extent and condition. The accounts and selected data released on 13 September 2023 by Statistics Canada's Census of Environment program, which will eventually report on all ecosystems in Canada.

Data on agroecosystem extent and condition are now available for the years 1986 to 2021 in tables 38-10-0164-01 and 38-10-0165-01. These data allow to analyze historical long-term patterns in agroecosystem area and condition from 1986 to 2021, by ecodistrict, ecoregion and ecoprovince.

Read the analysis published  here


Ecosystem Accounting in Canadian Agroecosystems (Statistics Canada)

This technical paper provides an ecosystem accounting framework to assess Canada’s agroecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide. These accounts will measure ecosystem extent, condition and services following the internationally accepted environmental accounting standard. The technical paper will serve as guidance for the development of agroecosystem accounts as part of the Census of Environment and will be used to engage with stakeholders about needs, methods, and uses of new data. This technical paper provides an ecosystem accounting framework to assess Canada’s agroecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide. These accounts will measure ecosystem extent, condition and services following the SEEA, the internationally accepted environmental accounting standard.

Published by Statistics Canada on 13 September 2023, Access the technical paper here.


Infrastructure Economic Accounts, Environmental Perspective (Statistics Canada)

This is a data table published on Statistics Canada’s data portal. The table provides estimates for direct, indirect, and total Canadian greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) attributable to investment in infrastructure for reference years 2009 to 2022. Details are provided for province and territory of investment and asset type. Ratios of GHG emissions to value added are also provided, as well as estimates of associated clean input investment.

Published by Statistics Canada on 7 July 2023 here.


Housing Economic Account, environmental perspective (Statistics Canada)

This is a data table published on Statistics Canada’s data portal. The table provides estimates for direct, indirect, and total Canadian greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) attributable to investment in housing for reference years 2009 to 2022. Detail is provided for province and territory of investment and asset type. Ratios of GHG emissions to value added are also provided, as well as estimates of associated clean input investment.

Published by Statistics Canada on 21 August 2023 here.


Natural Resources Satellite Account, environmental perspective

This is a data table published on Statistics Canada’s data portal. The table provides estimates for direct Canadian energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated with the natural resources sector for reference years 2009 to 2019. The table includes estimates for the energy, forestry, mineral and mining, and hunting, fishing, and water sub-sectors, as well as select downstream activities.

Published by Statistics Canada on 25 September 2023 here.


Physical and Monetary Ecosystem Services and Asset Accounts for Uganda 1990-2015

This publication presents the Ecosystem Accounts for Uganda compiled using the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA). The accounts summarize the physical and monetary value flows of ecosystem services and the ecosystem asset values for each of 10 major ecosystem types, including farmland and urban green spaces, for the period 1990 to 2015. The report presents the background, methods and spatial results from the accounting tables of ecosystems at national scale. The ecosystem types were delineated from land cover accounts: open water, wetland, grassland, bushland, woodland, natural forest, plantation forest, farmland, built-up area and bare.

This publication was published by Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) in July 2023. Access the publication here.

The Uganda Ecosystem Services & Asset Accounts 1990-2015 - Brief

This policy brief summarizes the results obtained from the compilation of ecosystem services an asset accounts for Uganda for the period 1990-2015. 

Published by published by Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) in July 2023  here.


Urban natural capital accounts, UK: 2023 (ONS)

Natural capital accounts estimate habitat extent, condition indicators, ecosystem services and asset value of urban areas in the UK.

This publication was released on 7 September 2023.  Access the publication here.


OECD Statistics new paper:  Public policy uses of the SEEA stocks and flows accounts (OECD, 2023)

This paper focuses on the System of Environmental Economic Accounting Central Framework stocks and flows accounts, where they are used to support public policymaking in high-priority areas such as climate change, environmental sustainability, the circular economy, and to feed into indicators, dashboards and other frameworks.

This working paper was published by OECD on 23 June 2023 here.


Taking root. Mainstreaming natural capital accounting to meet global biodiversity goals.

This report by the UBS Sustainability and Impact Institute presents a comprehensive overview of the integration of natural capital accounting to achieve the global biodiversity targets providing a roadmap to 2030 for how Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) could be brought into the mainstream of economic accounting.

The paper presents five strategies with case studies to provide private sector organizations with the business case for NCA; providing governments with data; establishing its methodological credibility; ensuring the future of sustainability reporting; and innovating within standardized frameworks.

Download the report here. 


TNFD releases the Recommendations for nature-related management and disclosure

After two years of design and development through an open innovation process, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (‘TNFD’) has published on 18 September 2023 its final Recommendations for nature-related risk management and disclosure.

The Recommendations aim to inform better decision making by companies and capital providers, and ultimately contribute to a shift in global financial flows toward nature-positive outcomes and the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.  The United Nations Statistics Division has supported the TNDF as a knowledge partner by providing expertise in measuring nature relations with the economy using the SEEA.

Executive summary: https://tnfd.global/publication/executive-summary-2/

Recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures: https://tnfd.global/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Recommendations_of_the_Taskforce_on_Nature-related_Financial_Disclosures_September_2023.pdf

An accompanying suite of additional guidance is also available:

Getting Started with adoption of the TNDF recommendations

Guidance on the identification and assessment of nature-related issues: the LEAP approach


Accounting for the water related ecosystem services of forests in the Southern Aegean region of Turkey (Esen and others, 2023).

This study aims to model hydrological ecosystem services provided by forests and explore how they can be captured in an ecosystem accounting framework. We test a dynamic GIS-based hydrological model to quantify and map key hydrological ecosystem services in the Southern Aegean Region of Turkey and integrate the services into an ecosystem account following the System of Environmental Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA).

This research paper can be found here.


Compiling preliminary SEEA Ecosystem Accounts for the OSPAR regional sea: experimental findings and lessons learned (Alarcon Blazquez MG and others, 2023)

The OSPAR Convention, which concerns the protection of the Marine Environment for the North-East Atlantic, has committed to accounting for natural capital and ecosystem services, using the SEEA EA accounting standard. This research article details the first attempt in compiling accounts aligned with SEEA EA at a Regional Sea scale using open access data for selected ecosystems and services (fish provisioning, carbon sequestration and outdoor recreation).

This publication can be found in this link.