Abstract
Determining when water is treated as an ecosystem service, natural resource or product depends on the perspective taken and in particular what or who are deemed to be suppliers and users of water, with the same flow being recorded in different ways in the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) and the System of National Accounts (SNA). The SNA confines its recording to the supply and use of the product. Understanding the chain of water flows between different water sources or ecosystems and use by economic units is key to the recording of flows as intermediate or final ecosystem services, natural resource and products in both parts of the SEEA. In some cases water can simultaneously be a final ecosystem service, natural resource and product (e.g. water extracted from a lake and used by an economic unit). Water flowing into, and being extracted from artificial reservoirs, is an example where the production boundary between SNA and SEEA Central Framework and SEEA Ecosystem Accounting could differ, if the water is deemed to enter the economy when it enters artificial reservoir rather than leaves the reservoir. Examples of flows and accounting treatments are provided. The recording of water flows to croplands and of the water used in agricultural production requires consideration. Understanding the different perspectives and treatment of water flows, and in particular the supply and use of intermediate water provisioning ecosystem services, should help with valuation of water flows, water assets and inventories of water products as well as when the value of water is embedded in other assets (e.g. land).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
| Event | 28th Meeting of the London Group on Environmental Accounting - Bonn, Germany Duration: 26 Sept 2022 → 29 Sept 2022 https://seea.un.org/events/london-group-environmental-accounting-28th-meeting |
Conference
| Conference | 28th Meeting of the London Group on Environmental Accounting |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Germany |
| City | Bonn |
| Period | 26/09/22 → 29/09/22 |
| Other | The London Group on Environmental Accounting is a city group created in 1993 to allow practitioners to share their experience of developing and implementing environmental accounts. Members of this informal group of experts come primarily from national statistical agencies but also international organizations. The London Group generally meets annually, and the meetings provide a forum for review, comparison and discussion of work underway by participants towards development of environmental accounts. This year's 28th meeting of the London Group will focus on the alignment between the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts-Central Framework (SEEA CF), the SEEA Ecoystem Accounting (SEEA EA) and the System of National Accounts (SNA)– especially in the light of the ongoing SNA revision process. The focus on the SEEA CF will be on the integration of environmental accounts and the derivation of indicators from those accounts. In the area of SEEA EA the discussion will turn to ecosystem services in biophysical terms and the valuation and monetization of ecosystem services. Complementary topics will be Ocean Accounts and indicators on different areas derived from the Physical Flow Accounts. The twenty-eighth Meeting of the London Group, hosted by the Federal Statistics Office of Germany, is scheduled to take place in person from 26 to 29 September 2022 in Siegburg, near Bonn, Germany. |
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