Seminar
Lars Hein (Environmental System Analysis, WUR): The System of Environmental Economic Accounting
The SEEA Central framework has been broadly used to account for stocks and uses of non-renewable (and some renewable) resources. In the Netherlands, for example, it is used to record on the status and value of the natural gas reserves.
Since 2010, there has been a drive to develop a standard on accounting for renewable natural resources (‘ecosystem accounting’), The SEEA ecosystem accounting approach is now being tested in some 50 countries, and involves an elaborate system to record and analyse ecosystem services uses and stocks of ecosystem capital. The system uses maps and accounting tables, and uses physical and monetary indicators. In various ways, WUR has contributed to development and piloting of the SEEA ecosystem accounting approach. In the Netherlands, we work closely with CBS and have published a comprehensive set of ecosystem accounts for the Netherlands. This presentation will give a brief overview of the SEEA ecosystem accounting approach including remaining scientific challenges.