181
Developments since 1984
181
the SEEA and elaborated the uses of integrated environmental and economic accounting in
policymaking.
B.59.
In parallel with this work, the international agencies, in cooperation with the London
Group, worked on a revision of the 1993 SEEA. The revision process was carried out through
a series of expert meetings and involved wide consultation. The revised SEEA, SEEA-2003,
represented a significant step forward in terms of breadth of material and harmonization of
concepts, definitions and methods in environmental and economic accounting. However, in
several places, the SEEA-2003 presented multiple methodological options and a range of coun
try examples, showing varying country practices. Thus, it was never formally adopted as an
international statistical standard and the SEEA was not recognized as a statistical system in its
own right. Nonetheless, the SEEA-2003 has provided a well-accepted and robust framework
overall for compiling environmental and economic accounts. Many countries around the world
have used it.
B.60. Recognizing the growing importance of information on the environment and the need
to place it in an economic context that could be understood by central policymakers, the United
Nations Statistical Commission agreed at its thirty-eighth session in February 2007 to begin a
second revision process. This process was managed under the auspices of the United Nations
Committee of Experts on Environmental and Economic Accounting (UNCEEA). There was
substantial agreement on the content of the SEEA-2003 in terms of both scope and treatment, so
the revision was to focus primarily on areas of the SEEA-2003 where additional understanding
and agreement were needed. The London Group was assigned the 21 issues identified for the
revision of the SEEA. The newly formed Oslo Group on Energy Statistics was also involved in the
discussion of energy-related issues. The SEEA-CF represents the major outcome of the process.
B.61.
During the revision process, it became clear that agreement was not likely to be reached
on certain aspects of the SEEA-2003, specifically, measuring and valuing degradation. Conse
quently, the United Nations Statistical Commission determined that the revision of the SEEA
should proceed to develop a Central Framework covering those issues where general interna
tional agreement existed and to develop material to address those aspects where agreement was
not likely to be reached within the timeframes available and that required ongoing research
and discussion.
B.62. Global consultation on the SEEA-CF was completed in 2011 and it was adopted by the
United Nations Statistical Commission, at its forty-third session in 2012, as the “initial version
of the international standard for environmental-economic accounts, subject to further revi
sion, acknowledging that further improvements on measurement are necessary on specific
issues.” 152 The SEEA-CF was published in February 2014.153
B.63. The SEEA-CF covers the interactions between the economy and the environment based
on an accounting structure similar to that of the SNA and uses concepts, definitions and clas
sifications consistent with the latter. As a satellite account of the central SNA, the SEEA-CF
incorporates flows between the economy and the environment, and highlights environmental
activities and expenditures that are not shown explicitly in conventional national accounts
presentations. The SEEA-CF also incorporates environmental assets both inside and outside of
the scope of conventional economic measurement, and records stocks of environmental assets
and changes in these stocks over time.
B.64. The SEEA-CF is comprised of the following types of accounts: (i) supply and use tables
in physical and monetary terms showing flows of natural inputs, products and residuals (ii)
asset accounts for individual environmental assets in physical and monetary terms showing
the stock of environmental assets at the beginning and end of each accounting period and the
changes in the stock; (iii) a sequence of economic accounts showing all economic flows between
152 United Nations Statistical
Commission (2012). Report
on the Forty-Third Session,
Economic and Social Council,
Official Records 2012, Supplement
No. 4, available from http://
unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom
/sc2012.htm (accessed 4 August
2017).
153 United Nations, European
Union, Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United
Nations, International Monetary
Fund, Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development,
and World Bank (2014), System
of Environmental-Economic
Accounting 2012—Central
Framework, available from
http://unstats.un.org
/unsd/envaccounting/seeaRev
/SEEA_CF_Final_en.pdf
(accessed 4 August 2017).
Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES 2013)
182
economic units; and (iv) functional accounts which highlight economic activities undertaken
for environmental purposes.
B.65. A second area of work complementing the SEEA-CF focuses on accounting for the
environment from the ecosystem perspective, as presented in the SEEA, which is not an inter
national standard. The publication 154 states that ecosystem accounting is a relatively new and
emerging field dealing with integrating complex biophysical data, tracking changes in ecosys
tems and linking those changes to economic and other human activity. Ecosystem account
ing is a coherent and integrated approach to the assessment of the environment through the
measurement of ecosystems, and measurement of the flows of services from ecosystems into
economic and other human activity. The scale of ecosystem accounting may vary from specific
land cover types, such as forests, to larger integrated areas such as river basins, and includes
areas that may be considered relatively natural and those that may be heavily influenced by
human activity, such as agricultural areas.155 Ecosystem accounting extends beyond other
approaches to ecosystem analysis and assessment through the explicit linking of ecosystems
to economic and other human activity.
B.66. During the revision process, a need also emerged for material covering potential exten
sions and applications of SEEA-based datasets, with the aim of promoting and supporting the
widespread adoption of the SEEA among official statisticians, researchers and policymakers. To
this end, the SEEA Applications and Extensions has been developed.156 SEEA Applications and
Extensions provides potential compilers and users of SEEA-based environmental-economic
accounts with material to show how this information can be used in decision-making, policy
review and formulation, analysis and research. SEEA Applications and Extensions is intended
to provide a bridge between compilers and analysts allowing each to recognize the potential
uses and the related measurement considerations. SEEA Applications and Extensions is a sum
mary of the most common applications and extensions and does not provide complete coverage
of all materials that may be relevant in the communication and dissemination of information
on environmental-economic accounts. Since it is a summary guide to the use of SEEA-based
data, SEEA Applications and Extensions is not a statistical standard. The choice of topics and
examples is intended to provide an indication of the possibilities and does not represent a basis
for standardised reporting at national or international level.
B.67.
During the almost two decades of its evolution, the physical accounts have become
more important in the development of the SEEA; therefore, the SEEA has become one of the
major users and uses of environment statistics. The methodological work carried out during
the process of the revision of the SEEA has produced concepts, definitions and classifications
that are also relevant for and have been taken into consideration in the revision of the FDES.
154 European Commission,
Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development,
United Nations and World Bank
(2014), System of Environmental-
Economic Accounting 2012:
Experimental Ecosystem
Accounting”, available from
https://unstats.un.org/unsd
/envaccounting/seeaRev
/ae_final_en.pdf (accessed
4 August 2017).
155 Ibid, page 1.
156 European Commission, Food and
Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and
Development, United Nations
and World Bank (2017). System
of Environmental-Economic
Accounting 2012: Applications and
Extensions. Available
from https://unstats.un.org
/unsd/envaccounting/seeaRev
/ae_final_en.pdf (accessed
4 August 2017).
183
Annex C
Multilateral Environmental Agreements
(MEAs)
C.1.
MEAs address, via international cooperation, environmental problems, especially
those which have a transboundary nature or are global in scope. This Annex presents the most
relevant global MEAs as they relate to the field of environment statistics, presented in alpha
betical order. Most environmental problems have a transboundary nature and often a global
scope, and can only be addressed effectively through international cooperation. Therefore, it
is of utmost importance to promote measures at international level to deal with regional or
worldwide environmental problems, and in particular combat climate change.157
C.2.
A summary of each of the selected MEAs is provided, followed by a description of its
implications in terms of potential demand for data and statistics. For the most relevant MEAs,
participant or signatory countries are usually expected to report on progress periodically, either
on a mandatory or voluntary basis.
Basel Convention
C.3.
In the late 1980s, enforcement of environmental regulations in industrialized coun
tries increased. Consequently, so did pressure to find environmentally responsible means of
disposing of hazardous waste. This was a major impetus for drafting and adopting the Basel
Convention.158
C.4.
During its first decade (1989-1999), the Basel Convention was devoted mainly to setting
up a framework to control the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes across inter
national borders. It also developed criteria for “environmentally sound management (ESM)”
of such wastes and established a Control System, based on prior written notification. In the
2000-2010 decade, the focus shifted from remedial to preventive aspects, with the following
areas of concern recognized explicitly:
i. Prevention, minimization, recycling, recovery and disposal of hazardous and other
wastes, taking into account social, technological and economic concerns;
ii. Active promotion and use of cleaner technologies and production methods;
iii. Further reduction of movement of hazardous and other wastes;
iv. Prevention and monitoring of illegal traffic;
v. Improvement of institutional and technical capabilities—through technology
when appropriate—especially for developing countries and countries with econo
mies in transition;
vi. Further development of regional centres for training and technology transfer;
vii. Enhancement of information exchange, education and awareness-raising in all
sectors of society; and
viii. Cooperation and partnership with the public authorities, international
organizations, the industry sector, non-governmental organizations and academic
institutions.
157 European Commission,
“Environment—International
Issues, Multilateral Environment
Agreements”, available from
http://ec.europa.eu
/environment/international
_issues/agreements_en.htm
(accessed 4 August 2017).
158 Basel Convention. Available from
www.basel.int (accessed
4 August 2017).
Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES 2013)
184
C.5.
The Convention requires all Parties to submit information regarding wastes through
annual reports to the Secretariat in a questionnaire format, covering the status of informa
tion in Part 1 and annual reporting in Part 2. To facilitate national reporting, the Secretariat
has developed the Electronic Reporting System of the Basel Convention.159 A data visualiza
tion tool was created to show, in an interactive way, data provided by the Parties to the Basel
Convention on the generation and transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and other
wastes.160
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
C.6.
The CBD entered into force on 29 December 1993.161 This Convention arose from a
growing commitment, at the international level, to sustainable development. It represented
a dramatic step forward in the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its
components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic
resources. The Convention requires Parties to present reports to the Conference of the Parties
on measures that they have taken for the implementation of the provisions of the Convention
and their effectiveness in meeting the objectives of the Convention. Guidelines for the national
reports and many resource materials for the preparation of these reports can be found on the
Convention’s website.162
C.7.
The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 was adopted at the tenth meeting of the
Conference of the Parties, held in 2010.163 It consists of an overarching framework on biodiver
sity, which includes 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets organized under five strategic goals:
i. Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity
across government and society;
ii. Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use;
iii. To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and
genetic diversity;
iv. Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services; and
v. Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge manage
ment and capacity building.
The goals and targets comprise both aspirations for achievement at the global level and a flex
ible framework for the establishment of national or regional targets. The global biodiversity
indicators developed and brought together by the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (BIP)
are the primary mechanism for monitoring progress towards the Strategic Plan and the Aichi
Biodiversity Targets. In the first instance 17 of the 20 Aichi targets are covered by at least one of
the BIP indicators. In the coming years the Partnership will endeavour to fill gaps and expand
its set of indicators to ensure that a comprehensive framework of global indicators is available
to monitor progress towards the suite of Aichi Biodiversity Targets.164
Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources
of the High Seas
C.8.
The Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of the High
Seas is an agreement that was designed to solve the problems involved in the conservation of
living resources of the high seas through international cooperation, considering that because
of the development of modern technology, some of these resources are in danger of being
overexploited. The summary of the provisions of the convention are 165: all States have a duty
to adopt, or cooperate with other States in adopting, measures necessary for the conservation
of the living resources of the high seas (art. 1). Such measures should be formulated with a view
159 Basel Convention. Electronic
Reporting System of the Basel
Convention, available from
www.basel.int/Countries
/NationalReporting
/ElectronicReportingSystem
/tabid/3356/Default.aspx
(accessed 4 August 2017).
160 Basel Convention. Data
Visualization Tool for the Basel
Convention on the Generation,
Export and Import of Hazardous
Wastes and Other Wastes,
available from www.basel.int
/Countries/NationalReporting
/DataVisualizationTool
/tabid/3216/Default.aspx
(accessed 4 August 2017).
161 Convention on Biological
Diversity. History of the
Convention, available from
www.cbd.int/history/ (accessed
4 August 2017).
162 Convention on Biological
Diversity. Background, available
from https://www.cbd.int
/reports/national.shtml
(accessed 4 August 2017).
163 Convention on Biological
Diversity. Strategic Plan for
Biodiversity 2011-2020, including
Aichi Biodiversity Targets,
available from www.cbd.int/sp/
(accessed 4 August 2017).
164 Biodiversity Indicators
Partnership (2012), “The
Indicators”, available from
www.bipindicators.net
/globalindicators (accessed
4 August 2017).
165 United Nations Treaty Series.
Volume 559, p. 285, available
from https://treaties.un.org/doc
/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20
559/v559.pdf (accessed 4 August
2017).