May 2014: The Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) Partnership has released its ‘Annual Report 2014,’ which documents the Partnership’s methodological and institutional progress on natural capital accounting (NCA) for integrating natural resources into development planning. WAVES has also released country reports for five of its eight core implementing countries: Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, Madagascar, and the Philippines.
Key achievements noted in the Annual Report include the addition of three new core implementing countries—Indonesia, Guatemala and Rwanda—as well as seven participating country partners, bringing the total number of participating countries to sixty-nine. The Annual Report also recounts the linking of NCA with numerous national and international policies and institutions, methodological progress on ecosystem accounting, private sector engagements, and the operationalization of NCA within the Partnership’s host institution, the World Bank.
In regard to global partnerships, the report highlights the outcomes of the 2013 Annual WAVES Partnership meeting, where partners urged more global-scale engagement and country assistance for accounting. The report also recalls the endorsement of NCA from 35 ministers and vice ministers at the 2013 World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings.
The publication further highlights the WAVES global campaign to conduct training for NCA and raise awareness about its policy relevance, in concert with an array of partners that include the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Development Programme (UNDP), and UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). These engagements include technical and high-level regional events in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, and the development of regional communities of practice.
Regarding national-level policies and initiatives, the report features opportunities for NCA to inform policy-making for water in Botswana and forests Guatemala. It further reviews the results, policy relevance, and future steps for ecosystem accounting in various sectors and socio-ecological settings around the world, namely the valuation of hydropower services in India, land management in Indonesia, and ecosystem values assessment and accounting in Peru.
In addition, the Annual Report offers a summary of the five separately available WAVES Country Reports submitted by Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, Madagascar and the Philippines. Each of these reports addresses the background, institutionalization, and progress on NCA, with notable milestones including the start of pilot water and forest accounts in three watersheds in Colombia and the formalization of an NCA national steering committee in Costa Rica. Botswana entered the second phase of its work plan on accounts on water; minerals and fiscal policy; land, ecosystems, and tourism; and energy. Madagascar produced a feasibility study and two policy notes on fisheries and watersheds, and established technical NCA working groups for its mining, water, and forest sectors. NCA milestones in the Philippines include public consultations and preliminary work on ecosystem accounting, as well as the preparation of a communications plan identifying key stakeholders.
Looking ahead, the Annual Report highlights the Partnership’s goal to expand the number of core implementing countries from eight to fifteen. It also notes plans to pursue joint pilot work with UNDP-UNEP’s Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI), The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) on NCA in the Philippines, and training initiatives with the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) and UNEP’s Valuation and Accounting of Natural Capital for a Green Economy program. A financial review of the Partnership appears at the end of the report.
WAVES is a global partnership led by the World Bank that aims to promote sustainable development by mainstreaming natural capital in development planning and national economic accounting systems. [Publication: WAVES Annual Report 2014] [Publication: Botswana Country Report 2014] [Publication: Colombia Country Report 2014] [Publication: Costa Rica Country Report 2014] [Publication: Madagascar Country Report 2014] [Publication: Philippines Country Report 2014] [IISD RS Story on Finance Ministers Build Momentum on Natural Capital Accounting]