10 December 2014: The Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) partnership has released its December 2014 newsletter, featuring high-level endorsements of the initiative in Botswana, in-depth sessions on country-level national capital accounting (NCA) at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Parks Congress and NCA reporting in partner countries.

The newsletter highlights a State-of-the-Nation address given by Botswana’s President, Ian Khama, recognizing NCA’s contribution to development planning and accounting reform in the country. It is the second time Khama has mentioned NCA in his annual address, indicating a mainstreaming of the concept in critical policy channels.

According to the newsletter, high-level speeches at the IUCN World Parks Congress, held in Sydney, Australia in November 2014, likewise recognized the significant contribution natural resources and protected areas make to the global economy, including a keynote plenary delivered by World Bank’s Senior Director for Environment and Natural Resources, Paula Caballero. The newsletter also recounts sessions at the Congress on ‘Reconciling Development Challenges,’ focused on lessons from the Philippines and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

Other sections present environmental accounts published by WAVES’ partner countries, including ‘Water Account, Australia, 2012-2013,’ released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing the highest water usage in the country since the statistical series began in 1993. Also appearing in the newsletter is a report by Statistics Canada titled ‘Human Activity and the Environment: Agriculture in Canada.’ The report finds that agricultural ecosystems supported over 134 million tons of Canada’s agricultural output in 2012, valued at US$54.2 billion.

The newsletter also includes upcoming events and popular media stories about NCA. [WAVES Newsletter Issue 22, December 10, 2014] [Publication: Water Account, Australia] [Publication: Agriculture in Canada]