Jocelyn van Berkel – Team Environmental Accounts, Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS)

What kind of work are you doing at CBS?

When I started working at CBS I worked on the statistics of government finances like government balance and dept. After two years I wanted to work in the direction of my study: environmental-economics. CBS is a big organisation and I could transfer to a different department, the Environmental Accounts. Environmental Accounts quantitatively describe the relationship between the economy and the environment.

Can you tell us more about these Environmental Accounts?

Statistics at Environmental Accounts show how economic growth impacts the environment, for example the emissions to water and air by the various sectors. The economic needs nature, for example raw materials such as natural gas and biomass. Statistics are being made about all these subjects. I work on the subjects about circular economy, the environmental sector, the bio-economy and material flows in the economy. Here I combine data from various sources which are available in the CBS. This gives an interesting view on issues related to climate, sustainability and the environment.

So you work allot with numbers?

Yes, I try to objectively research and publish the state of environmental economic indicators. These statistics are being used by policy makers, researchers and other interested parties. Besides that I enjoy that I get to travel a lot for my job - inside and outside of Europe – to have meetings, learn or share knowledge. I am active as board member external relations at JongCBS.

Why did you choose for the BSc Economie en Beleid?

I chose for BEB because I wanted to study economics, applied to important themes such as nature, policy and international development. During my study I have learned to analyse the effects of environmental policy on the economy and the effects of economic activities on the environment with quantitative methods. I am still applying these methods and knowledge on my work today. There are allot of possibilities to further develop yourself during the study. I organised the company day for student association Mercurius and I was also active at the Ceres student association. I followed a semester course at the Copenhagen University and I followed my MSc traineeship at the OECD in Paris. This is a good addition to your studies and you can put your knowledge into practice. In the professional field I often come across fellow students who have ended up at, for example, a Ministry or consultancy firm.

What is your look on the future?

In the Environmental Accounts team at CBS, I apply substantive knowledge that I learned during my studies. The statistics I make are an objective base for discussions in order to develop well-founded policy. I like the fact that my work contributes to solutions for social issues. I would like to keep doing this in the future and BEB has provided me with a good base to accomplish this.

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