This study showcases the German experience with developing an accounting system that embeds a high proportion of economic and environmental indicators of the national Strategy on Sustainable Development. It then derives a more general three-step approach for such an integration exercise: (1) revision of the indicator set, (2) expansion of the accounting system to meet new data needs, and (3) development of appropriate modelling approaches for an integrated environmental, social, and economic analysis.
This working paper presents the results of work by Statistics Austria on an economy-wide material balance for 1997, as well as a time series of resource use indicators such as Direct Material Inputs (DMI) and Direct Material Consumption (DMC) for 1960-1997. It is thus an essential contribution to the development of economy-wide material flow accounts and balances and can serve as an example for those wishing to implement similar analyses.
In an effort to better understand the interactions between economic activity and the environment, this report computes the CO2 emissions caused by French domestic demand in 2005, taking into account both the national productive system as well as any activities abroad, such as imports. The aggregate figure calculated amounts to just over 550 million tonnes (9 tonnes per year per inhabitant). This number is then broken down to show that 75 percent of these emissions are produced by household consumption expenditure, mainly on housing, transport, and food; 10 percent are produced by general government consumer expenditure; and 15 percent by investment.
This study, using historical aerial photographs and mapping techniques, investigates how the South African Kromme River Catchment has changed over the past century. It illustrates that the catchment, which is valuable in providing water for the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan hub, has become heavily degraded due to agricultural activity and invasion by an alien species, and provides some recommendations for future management of the area.
This paper presents the major tourism management issues in Xishuangbanna Prefecture, with a particular focus on Xishuangbanna Biosphere Reserve (XBR). It emphasizes the integration of social, economic, and environmental goals for effective tourism planning and development. The situation analysis was patterned after the principles of the 7Es Environmental Management model for nature-based tourism management—Environment, Economics, Enforcement, Experience, Engagement, Enquiry, and Education.
This study assesses and analyses the ‘user cost’ and ‘net price’ methods of calculating the value of natural resource depreciation, thereby contributing to the continued quest for the most appropriate way to incorporate the degradation of natural capital into national income accounting procedures. On the basis of this assessment, the net price method is used to adjust the national accounts of Zimbabwe for depletion of forests, soils, and mineral resources, for the period 1980 to 1989.
This case study contributes to the incorporation of the concept of ecosystem services on the ground in concrete operational decision-making contexts. It does so by testing the use of open-source data and free tools as well as the adoption of a short-term participatory process, in the context of a project in the urban metropolitan area of Bordeaux, France.
This case study explores the decision-making process that led up to the design of Belize’s first integrated coastal zone management plan, officially approved by the government in August 2016. It involves ecosystem service modeling, stakeholder participation, and spatial planning, and it assesses risk to three coastal-marine habitats posed by eight human uses. The study quantifies current and future delivery of three ecosystem services: protection from storms, catch and revenue from lobster fishing, and tourism expenditures to identify a preferred zoning scheme.
This case study provides an overview of the debate ensuing from the United Kingdom (UK) aiming to leave the European Union (EU) and, with it, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The UK Government has announced its intentions to formulate a novel agricultural policy following the principle that public funding should be restricted to the provision of public goods. However, the acceptance, interpretation, and application of this principle is the subject of intense debate.
This study demonstrates how different payment mechanisms can stimulate the efficient delivery of key, high-value ecosystem services that are either not produced, or are under-produced, by the normal operation of the market. Two payment mechanisms are considered: payments from the public sector to private businesses and payments between private businesses.