Presented by Paul Ekins, University College London and Joe Grice, University College London and King’s College London
In 2021, the United Nations Statistical Commission promulgated the System of Environmental Economic Accounts – Ecosystem Accounts ( SEEA-EA) as an international standard to underpin the design of accounting for natural assets. The SEEA-EA is explicitly designed to ensure such accounts articulate fully with traditional National Accounts and thus to present consistent information about both the economy and the environment. While this represents a major opportunity, there are still few examples globally of such natural accounts being compiled.
The webinar will cover the ESCoE work carried out at University College London and the University of East Anglia to compile accounts for freshwater resources in the UK, guided by the SEEA-EA standard. This work is being produced in close cooperation with the UK Office for National Statistics.
Water is both an area of public interest in itself and, in addition, lessons learnt in compiling accounts for this resource can be used to guide accounting for other natural assets. A key feature has been the need to take a multidisciplinary approach bringing together economic, ecological, scientific and statistical expertise.
Presenter bios
Paul Ekins has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of London and is Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London.
Joe Grice is an Honorary Professor at the Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources, University College London, and a Visiting Professor at King’s College London. He previously served as Chief Economist and Director of Economic Statistics until 2016. Since then, he has chaired the ONS Group of Economic Experts at the UK Office for National Statistics and held senior roles including Director of Macroeconomic Policy, and Chief Economist and Director of Public Services at HM Treasury.
Discussant: TBC
Chair: Paul Schreyer, ESCoE
