European Environmental Accounts

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• European Environmental Accounts
• OECD Working Party on National Accounts
• Paris, 3 - 5 October 2007
• Presented by Elisabeth Møllgaard,
• Eurostat Unit E3 Environmental Statistics and
  Accounts

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Overview

• Policy Background
• Environmental Accounts in Europe
• Working Strategy at Eurostat
• Environmental Data Centres at Eurostat
• Dissemination of Environmental Accounts

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EU Policy Background (I)

• Commitment by Commission AND European Council in
  renewed Sustainable Development Strategy (June
  2006)
• avoid overexploitation of renewable resources,
  apply the concept of life-cycle thinking, break
  the link between economic growth and
  environmental degradation

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EU Policy Background (II)

• Commitment by Commission AND European Council in
  renewed Sustainable Development Strategy (June
  2006)
• build on the EU Strategy on the sustainable
  use of natural resources

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EU Policy Background (III)

• Commitment by Commission AND European Council in
  renewed Sustainable Development Strategy (June
  2006)
• For better understanding of interlinkages
  between the three dimensions of SD, the core
  system of national income accounting could be
  extended by inter alia integrating stock and flow
  concepts and non-market work and be further
  elaborated by satellite accounts e.g.
  environmental expenditures, material flows and
  taking into consideration international best
  practices.

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Usefulness of Environmental Accounts for Policy
Assessment (I)

• Link between environment and economy
• Good complement to environment statistics
• Disaggregating data by economic activities
• National or regional level

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Usefulness of Environmental Accounts for Policy
Assessment (II)

• Tool for policy making and monitoring
• Decoupling indicators
• Sustainable production and consumption
• Degradation of natural resources
• Effects of economic policy measures (Env.
  Expenditure)

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Environmental Accounts in Europe

• Eurostat Environmental Accounts Team
• Network of European Statistical System
• European Commission DG ENV, DG Research, DG
  ECFIN
• Co-operation with the OECD
• UN City groups most relevant the London Group
• UNCEEA, high level committee on environmental
  accounting

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Working Strategy at Eurostat (I)

• Priority to fill in the data gaps for priority
  areas
• Environmental Expenditure, Environmental Taxes
• NAMEAs for air emissions
• Economy Wide Material Flow Accounting.
• Areas to be developed Environmental industry,
  water and energy
• EU aggregates including estimations
• Indicators derived from Environmental Accounts
• Promotion and dissemination of the Accounts

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Working Strategy at Eurostat (II)

• Two Working Groups on EA and Expenditure
• Task Forces to develop methodology
• ESEA Task Force
• State of play of Environmental Accounts
• Grants programme on Pilot Studies

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Working Strategy at Eurostat (III) Task Force
on ESEA 2007 and 2008

• European Strategy on Environmental Accounts
• Objectives of the mandate
• Review of the ESEA (2003)
• the readiness and ability to compile EA
• further developments
• Contribute to the work of the London Group
• Possible regulation on the area of EA
• Promotion of EA including development of
  indicators
• Harmonisation, completeness and timeliness
• Recommendations of a core set of EA

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Working Strategy at Eurostat (IV) EA State of
play of recent work

• Eurostat assessment of progress
• to assess progress made by EU and partner
  countries in compilation of environmental
  accounts from 2000 onwards
• to analyse projects and studies on environmental
  accounts carried out by European countries
• Interview survey focused on the present state of
  environmental accounts in European countries
• Coordinated with similar UN assessment

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Working Strategy at Eurostat (V)

• Continuation of the Grants programme on Pilot
  Studies
• Main strategy - Filling data gaps
• Required promotion and dissemination of the
  Accounts
• Secondary - Develop new areas in the
  countries. - New aspects on existing accounts
• The grants programme will be continued in 2008

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Environmental Data Centres

• Eurostat responsible for EDCs on
• Resources including indicators on MFA, on
  sustainable use of Natural Resources
• Products (Integrated Product policy) including
  data on Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA)
• Waste (Waste Statistics Regulation)
• Other EDCs
• JRC Soil, Forestry
• EEA Air, Climate Change, Water, Biodiv., Land Use

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D-P-S- cause-effect chain (Statistisches
Bundesamt)
State
Driving forces
Pressures
Economic production and final use activities
Change of environ- mental assets (impacts)
Aggregated impact indicator
Environ- mental pressure flows
Physical product flows
Environmental sciences social value judgements
Environmental-economic accounting (SEEA)
Environmental sciences
Economic accounting (SNA)
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European Environmental Accounts

• Beyond GDP http//www.beyond-gdp.eu
• Thank you for your attention !
• Elisabeth.Mollgaard_at_ec.europa.eu
• http//epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
• http//epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/url/pa
  ge/PGP_DS_ENVACC/PGE_DS_ENVACC