A policy brief titled 'Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)', released by the Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) partnership describes how NCA, and in particular, the System of Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA), can support SDG implementation by unveiling the links and trade-offs between economic, environmental and social objectives and providing important monitoring data.
17 May 2016: A policy brief titled ‘Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’, released by the Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) partnership describes how NCA, and in particular, the System of Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA), can support SDG implementation by unveiling the links and trade-offs between economic, environmental and social objectives and providing important monitoring data.
As highlighted in the May edition of the WAVES newsletter, the briefing shows that NCA can contribute to the indicator framework necessary to inform policy making for SDG implementation, monitor progress and ensure accountability using internationally comparable, high quality statistical standards such as SEEA. The brief presents SEEA as an appropriate tool to implement SDG Target 15.9 which requires countries to “by 2020 integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts.” It further outlines how NCA can be used to develop accounting methods for specific SDGs using as examples water accounts and forest accounts for SDG 6 (Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all), and Target 15.2 requiring countries to promote sustainable forest management, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and increase afforestation and reforestation, respectively. The briefing concludes that while adopting SEEA could make significant contributions to SDG implementation, doing so requires overcoming silo structures to enable integrated systems of data collection and a more systematic understanding of how natural resource use and environmental degradation impact different parts of society.
The newsletter also provides updates on several projects, including a case study of the Ecosystem Values and Accounting (EVA) project conducted in San Martín, Peru, which showed that the expansion of agriculture, while contributing approximately US$58 million to the regional economy, came at the cost of losing 3.6% of ecosystems in the region.
The newsletter further describes the development of a tool to assess environmental and social impacts of mining projects, which is currently being developed as part of an assessment of the institutional and informational needs for developing mineral accounts in Rwanda. The tool aims inform future development decisions by providing a better understanding of the trade-offs between mineral extraction activities and other land-use options.
Other updates included in the newsletter describe progress in NCA capacity building in Guatemala and a workshop on Earth Observation for Ecosystem Accounting (EO4EA). [WAVES Newsletter, Issue 36, 17 May 2016] [Publication: NAC and the SDGs] [EVA Project Update, PERU] [Update on Mineral Accounts in Rwanda] [Press Release of Guatemalan Planning Secretariat on WAVES-led Capacity Building (in Spanish)]