Rocky Harris United Kingdom

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Rocky HarrisUnited Kingdom

• Revision of SEEA 2003
• Options for the structure of Part III on
  applications

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Four options

1. Status quo (order used in SEEA 2003)
2. Natural resource classification
3. Environmental issue
4. Policy cycle

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1. Status quo existing chapter 11

1. Activities which lead to degradation of
   environmental media, using physical and hybrid
   flow accounts from chapters 3 and 4
2. Responses to degradation through defensive
   expenditures and development of economic
   instruments (chapters 5 and 6)
3. National wealth and changes due to depletion of
   natural resources (chapters 7 and 8)
4. Use of pricing techniques to determine
   cost-effectiveness of policies (chapter 9)
5. Adjustments to macro-economic aggregates (chapter
   10)

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Option 1 status quo

• Organised by the order of chapters
• Further divided by indicators/analysis
• Good showcase of how accounts are used
• Lacks sense of how approaches from different
  chapters can deal with the same environmental
  issue

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2. Natural resource classification

• Natural resources (mineral and energy, soil,
  water including surface water, biological)
• Land and surface water (developed land,
  agricultural land, wooded land, major water
  bodies, other land)
• Ecosystems (terrestrial, aquatic and atmospheric
  systems)
• Also intangible environmental assets

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Option 2 natural resource classification

• Classification by environmental asset
• Main policy focus climate change is a subset
  of atmospheric ecosystem
• Some overlap between items in policy terms e.g.
  water
• Lacks clear relationship to policy concerns

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3. Environmental issues SD indicators

• Atmosphere (4 indicators)
• Land (10 indicators)
• Oceans, seas and coasts (6 indicators)
• Fresh water (5 indicators)
• Biodiversity (7 indicators)
• Consumption and production patterns (14
  indicators)

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Option 3 environmental issues

• No ready classification - could be by reference
  to groupings of SD indicators
• Would be well-related to policy concerns
• Good opportunity to link approaches from
  different chapters
• but may entail some repetition of analytical
  methods
• Focus on indicators may mean some accounts not
  readily shown

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The policy process and the evidence base
Base data availability and analysis
Information about target area and analysis
Monitoring and evaluation data and analysis
Data and analysis of alternative options
Development of indicators, evidence and analysis
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4. The policy cycle

1. Identification of problem
2. Information about target areas
3. Assessment of policy options and setting of
   targets
4. Monitoring and evaluation

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4. SEEA and the policy cycle
Stage of policy cycle SEEA approaches that might be relevant
1. Identification of problem Generally relies upon broad indicators, which could be drawn from the accounts
2. Information about target areas Diagnosis requires detailed basic statistics such as a link with sector
3. Assessment of policy options and setting of targets Requires modelling and simulation tools, understanding of financial implications
4. Monitoring and evaluation Approaches such as decomposition analysis, required to assess contribution of different initiatives, summarise overall progress
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Option 4 policy cycle

• Organised by type of evidence required
• Treats different environmental issues in uniform
  way
• Could demonstrate integrated nature of the
  accounts
• But dont policy users generally only think in
  silos?

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Summary of options
Advantages Disadvantages
1. Status quo (order of chapters) Clear links between chapters and applications Good show case of how accounts can be used Environmental issues not grouped together Difficult to show how accounts can be brought together
2. Natural resource Environmental issues grouped together to some extent Coherent classification already exists Might be integrated with MEA classification of services May involve repetition of approaches No clear link with policy concerns May require further sub-classification of flows or ecosystem services Some accounts are more generic and may have to be treated separately
3. Environmental issue Clear link with policy concerns Can integrate stock, monetary and valuation accounts Would be consistent with the structure of a section on indicators May involve some repetition of approaches May be difficult to find a range of applications for some key areas such as biodiversity and land Maintains policy silos
4. Policy cycle Shows integrated nature of accounts, across environmental issue as well as approaches from different accounts Good link with policy approach No clear link with specific policy issues More work required to collate integrated stock, monetary and valuation account applications
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Conclusion a hybrid structure?

• A three part structure
• Environmental issue degradation of climate,
  water, land, biodiversity (chapters 3 and 4, also
  9). Would provide the main link to the section
  on indicators. Could incorporate applications
  relating to stocks (chapters 7 and 8) and
  elements of applications relating to taxes and
  expenditures (chapters 5 and 6), to the extent
  that such applications were relevant to the
  environmental issue being covered
• Environmental resources renewables,
  non-renewables, etc, mainly based on chapters 7
  and 8, to the extent that they were not covered
  in the previous part
• Other applications taxes, expenditures,
  emission rights etc, from chapters 5 and 6, to
  the extent that they were not covered in the
  previous parts