National Accounts Training: Insights on the System of National Accounts and Accounting for the Environment

National Accounts Training:  Insights on the System of National Accounts and Accounting for the Environment

Presenters:  Peter van de Ven (Lead Editor of the 2025 SNA), Carl Obst (Institute of Development of Environmental-Economic Accounting, IDEEA Group)

Day 1: Insights on the Update of the System of National Accounts

• The first part of the day will provide a general overview of the System of National Accounts, including a historical overview, a description of its generic setup, and a summary of its key features. It will then zoom in on specific sectors, transactions and stocks as covered in the SNA sequence of economic accounts. Issues related to price and volume measurement will also be addressed.
• The second part of Day 1 will focus on the most recent SNA update, providing participants an understanding of work accomplished to date and zooming in on the most important changes in the 2025 SNA. It will address issues related to, among others, globalisation, digitalization and well-being and sustainability. In addition to conceptual guidance, the session will reflect on practical implementation guidance for specific recommendations developed by dedicated Task Teams. Participants will acquire a broad overview of the new SNA guidance developed by international experts on a range of topics, along with insights into the underlying rationale for the changes and the practical challenges associated with the 2025 SNA enhancements.

Day 2: Accounting for the Environment

• The first part of the day will be dedicated to reviewing developments for standards in environmental economic accounting via the System of Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA) over the past 12 years and to providing an overview of key components across the SEEA Central Framework and SEEA Ecosystem Accounting. An extended discussion on ecosystem accounting and connections to the SNA will be provided, including, for example, the use of the net present value (NPV) method, measurement of degradation, and alternate income aggregates. Key conceptual challenges, such as the estimation of exchange values for non-market ecosystem services will be highlighted. The session will also describe emerging connections and applications of the SEEA, including links to international conventions (CBD, UNCCD, SDG), private sector environmental accounting, sustainable finance, risk assessments and scenario analysis. It will also include an exercise where participants can experiment with the compilation of some relevant tables.
• The second part of Day 2 will zoom in on specific topics in environmental economic accounting. First, the session will discuss the measurement of depletion of natural resources, including discussion and findings emerging from the OECD Expert Group on Natural Capital that has developed practical guidance to assist countries in implementing recommendations on natural resources included in the 2025 SNA. Second, the session will then discuss the valuation of ecosystem services, zooming in on specific conceptual and methodological complexities. Third, it will reflect on how natural capital may best be integrated in the balance sheets, both in the SNA and in the SEEA, as well as in comprehensive wealth measures such as those published in the World Bank’s Changing Wealth of Nations program. Finally, a short introduction to the current update of the SEEA Central Framework will be provided including a summary of the main technical issues that are under consideration.