The Victorian Government Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) has published a baseline environmental-economic account (EEA) for urban areas of Melbourne that aligns with the United Nations System of Environmental Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounts (UN SEEA-EA).
Our Senior Economist, Ziggy Gelman was a key member of the team that developed this account at DEECA. Ziggy is now working at IDEEA Group developing natural capital accounts and supporting organisations to understand and integrate a natural capital approach into their operations.
The urban account for Melbourne reports on the current status of ecosystem assets within the greater Melbourne area. They outline the importance of these assets in supporting health, wellbeing and livelihoods through the ecosystem services they provide, such as:
- air filtration
- amenity
- education
- food
- global climate regulation
- local climate regulation
- recreation.
The analysis undertaken for this account suggests that the ecosystems of urban Melbourne deliver ecosystem services that are worth at least $1.6 billion per year.
The account provides an evidence base to understand how urban ecosystem assets and services vary spatially across Melbourne. Decision makers can use the information compiled in this account to:
- identify investment opportunities or alternative policies and management approaches to improve environmental, economic and social outcomes
- assess the effectiveness of existing policies and environmental management against targets
- understand the trade-offs from land use changes or contested land uses such as recreation and conservation
- underpin other reporting requirements such as the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other environmental indicators.
You can download the Urban Melbourne EEA here.
Please connect with us if you’d like to find out more about the account. Ziggy is happy to answer questions and discuss the implications of the results for business and government in Victoria and beyond.