What We're Reading: Progress in natural capital accounting for ecosystems

From ScienceMag:

“Reversing the ongoing degradation of the planet’s ecosystems requires timely and detailed monitoring of ecosystem change and uses. Yet, the System of National Accounts (SNA), first developed in response to the economic crisis of the 1930s and used by statistical offices worldwide to record economic activity (for example, production, consumption, and asset accumulation), does not make explicit either inputs from the environment to the economy or the cost of environmental degradation. Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (EEA), part of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), has been developed to monitor and report on ecosystem change and use, using the same accounting approach, concepts, and classifications as the SNA. The EEA is part of the statistical community’s response to move SNA measurement “beyond gross domestic product (GDP).” With the first generation of ecosystem accounts now published in 24 countries, and with a push to finalize a United Nations (UN) statistical standard for ecosystem accounting by 2021, we highlight key advances, challenges, and opportunities.”

The full article is available for download here.

Webinar Series: Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services in Research, Policy, and Practice

Thinking in terms of ecosystem services and natural capital explicitly acknowledges our dependence on nature, and therefore the need to better protect and manage natural resources. For this reason these concepts have been adopted by policy, but the use of the concepts in practice is still in its infancy. Working across 27 organisations over a five year period, the OPERAs project has explored how and under what conditions these concepts can move beyond the academic domain towards practical implementation in support of sustainable ecosystem management.

A series of webinars are scheduled to take place focusing on 6 aspects the OPERAs project explored. Each webinar will highlight the flow between knowledge, tools and practice through case material from the OPERAs exemplars and different tools. There will also be an opportunity to ask the OPERAs experts questions at the end of each webinar and the debate will continue on Oppla.

Further information on OPERAs as well as the individual webinars can be found on their website as well as on this flyer. While the first webinar in the series was held this last week, there are five more sessions to be held over the next month. To register please fill out the form here.