Ricardo Martinez-Lagunes, Inter-regional Adviser on Environmental Economic Accounts in the UN, demystifies water accounts and explains how countries are using them to inform policy decisions.
Features and Blogs
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Measuring the value of forests and their related ecosystems through "forest accounts" is helping countries set their economic priorities.
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62 countries, 90 corporations, 17 civil society members supported the 50-50 campaign in Rio+20 in June. They are coming together for a High Level Ministerial Dialogue in Washington DC on April 18.
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A WAVES Policy and Technical Experts Committee has been set up to develop a methodology for ecosystem valuation and help countries incorporate them in national accounts.
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A new report (pdf) shows that 24 countries are already using natural capital accounting in their economic decision making. By fully accounting for minerals and energy, fisheries, water, forests, and ecosystems, countries can provide more accurate information to their policy makers.
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Governments, private sector leaders and other stakeholders are getting behind the '50:50' campaign, which brings together public and private sector institutions to express their joint support for factoring natural capital into their decision making.
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The Phil-WAVES mission in the Philippines this February demonstrated the successful convergence of theory and practice of natural capital accounting.
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Declining stocks of forests, farmland, fish and other natural resources threaten to derail economic growth around the world and curb progress against poverty, the World Bank warned on Wednesday. To prevent this, countries need to move toward more resource-efficient “green growth”, said Rachel Kyte, the bank’s vice president for sustainable development.
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The WAVES program in Madagascar has been endorsed by the Cabinet, representing a strong demonstration of the government’s commitment to the program.
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Every country in the world should measure ‘natural capital’ as well as GDP in order to create a global economy that values the environment as well as money according to the Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman.