We’re super excited to celebrate the official publication of the System for Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) document.
Some of our readers may be surprised to learn that the SEEA EA hasn’t been officially published until now, considering it is the international statistical standard for natural capital accounting. Not to mention that around 50 countries around the world use it as the basis of their ecosystem accounts.
But, as you can imagine, the road to publication for such an important standard can be arduous. And getting seven major international organisations on board is no mean feat!
Although formally adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission in March 2021, the version available at that time (and in the years since) has been the so-called ’white cover version.’
Although the technical content of the SEEA had been finalised, the document needed to be edited and then endorsed by the:
- United Nations
- European Commission
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- World Bank
While for those involved in implementing and promoting the SEEA EA this may not seem a big deal, after all there are no technical developments, the institutional advance that official publication represents is fundamental to embedding consideration of the environment into all decision making.
As many of you know, our Director, Carl Obst, was the lead author of the SEEA EA and he is absolutely delighted by the publication of the official version.
Carl said:
‘This has been a long time coming and it’s wonderful to know that the international community has come together to complete this work. And to think that so many global organisations are willing to embed the measurement of ecosystems into their official policy stance is quite the win for the environment. Thanks everyone.’