Global Assessment of Environment

Statistics and Environment-

Economic Accounting
Regional Workshop on Water Accounting
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
16-18 June 2007
Ilaria DiMatteo

United Nations Statistics Division 1

 Outline
• Introduction of the Global Assessment
• Overview of the global status in environment
statistics and environmental accounting
• Scope of the programmes
• Factors impeding for the development and
compilation of the environment statistics and
environmental accounting
• General summary of ECLAC countries’ reply to
the global assessment
• Follow up survey on water and energy 2
 Introduction of the Global Assessment

• Request by the UNCEEA

• Global assessment in two phases
• Information collection items in phase I
• Part A, environment statistics
• Part B, environmental-economic
accounting
• Report to the UN Statistical Commission
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/doc07/Analysis_SC.pdf

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 Overview of the global status in environment
Statistics and environmental accounting

Country response:
• 97 countries responded to Part A, 88 (91%) countries
have environment statistics programmes;
• 70% of 88 countries are planning to expand
environment statistics.

• 99 countries responded to Part B, 49 (49%) countries

have the environmental accounting programme
• about 20 countries not compiling environmental
accounts have plans to start with their compilation in
the near future
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 Scope of Environment Statistics
Programmes
Six areas most commonly covered areas of
environment statistics:
1. Water – the most commonly compiled statistics in
both developed and developing regions
2. Air
3. Forest
4. Land
5. Energy
6. Agriculture
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 Scope of the Environmental
Accounting Programmes
The accounts most commonly compiled:
1) Energy and Emission accounts
2) Environmental Protection Expenditure
Accounts
3) Water – most compiled account in
developing countries
4) Forest
5) Material Flow/Waste Accounts
6) Mineral Asset Accounts
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 Factors impeding the development of
environment statistics

1) Lack of human resources (72%)

2) Lack of financial resources (60%)
3) Lack of institutional set-up/coordination
(51%)
4) Lack of access to training material (32%)
5) Lack of interest by the users (15%)

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 Main impeding factors for the
development of environmental accounting

1) Lack of human resources (69%)

2) Lack of financial resources (68%)
3) Availability of data (61%)
4) Quality of data (52%)
5) Lack of institutional set-up/coordination
(39%)
6) Lack of interest by the users (34%)
7) Lack of access to training material (31%) 8
 Factors impeding the compilation of
environment accounts

1) Availability of data (88%)

2) Quality of data (64%)
3) Lack of human resources (62%)
4) Lack of financial resources (55%)
5) Lack of institutional set-up/coordination
(29%)
6) Lack of interest by the users (26%)
7) Lack of access to training material (21%)
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 Summary of ECLAC countries’ reply
to the Global Assessment

• Among 33 Latin American and the Caribbean

ECLAC countries, 19 (58%) replied to the Global
Assessment
• 19 responding countries were:
Argentina, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,
Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic
(Oficina Nacional de Estadistica, and Central Bank),
Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay,
Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname,
Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.
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 ECLAC countries environment
statistics programmes mainly cover
Among the 19 responding countries, 14 countries
have environment statistics programmes.
•Water (12 countries)
•Air (10 countries)
•Forest (11 countries)
•Land (11 countries)
•Energy (12 countries)
•Agriculture (12 countries)

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 Problems encountered in ECLAC
countries in developing and compiling
the environment statistics
Among the 19 responding countries, 13 have
indicated similar problems encountered by
other countries:
1. lack of financial and human resources
2. lack of institutional set-up/coordination
3. lack of access to training material
4. availability of data
5. quality of data
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 ECLAC countries environmental
accounting programmes mainly cover

Among the 19 responding countries, 4 countries --- Colombia,

Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico --- are compiling
environmental accounts

Colombia: Water, mineral asset, energy and emission, forest,

material flows, environmental protection expenditure.

Dominican Republic: Water

Guatemala : Forest, Water

Mexico: Water, mineral asset, energy and emission, forest, land

and ecosystem, environmental protection expenditure.
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 Problems encountered in ECLAC countries in
developing and compiling the environmental
accounts

For countries with environmental accounting

programmes, similar problems are singled out as
encountered by other countries:

1. lack of financial and human resources

2. lack of institutional set-up/coordination
3. lack of access to training material
4. availability of data
5. quality of data
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Follow up surveys

• Energy Statistics and Balances

• Energy and Air Emission Accounts
• Water Statistics and Accounts

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 Conclusions
• Environment statistics and environmental accounts are
established and expanding components of national
statistical programs
• While environmental accounting is new, nearly half
(49%) of the responding countries have an
environmental accounting programme. Another 20%
are planning on compiling environmental accounts
• Water statistics and accounts are priority areas
• Lack of human and financial resources impede the
implementation of both environmental statistics and
accounting programmes
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