Ecosystem Accounting In The Nordic Countries

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2022-554/ In this report, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute has mapped the current work on and use of ecosystem accounting in the Nordic countries. Specifically, the report provides an overview of the recent work on ecosystem accounting in each of the five Nordic countries including the Faroe Islands, illustrating advantages and disadvantages within the different countries regarding the use of existing ecosystem accounts, thus to which extent these accounts coincide with new international standards on ecosystem accounting. The report also provides an overview of the ongoing work on ecosystem accounting at an international level, including the development of international standards for ecosystem accounting. Finally, recommendations are presented for the Nordic countries on how to advance the development of ecosystem accounting.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2022-556/ This summary provides a short overview of the recent work on ecosystem accounting in each of the five Nordic countries including the Faroe Islands, illustrating advantages and disadvantages within the different countries regarding the use of existing ecosystem accounts, thus to which extent these accounts coincide with new international standards on ecosystem accounting. Recommendations are presented for the Nordic countries on how to advance the development of ecosystem accounting.

Current indicators of economic growth (e.g., GDP) do not adequately consider sustainability, while environmental indicators alone fail to acknowledge the economic needs of a society. Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) can be the tool that fills the gap separating current economic and environmental indicators but development and adoption remains uneven across the Nordic region. This policy brief provides background on NCA and its associated accounting frameworks, demonstrates the applicability of NCA for sustainably utilizing freshwater resources in the Nordic Arctic and provides recommendations for maximizing the value of environmental accounting as an economic, environmental, and sustainable development tool.

Current indicators of economic growth (e.g., GDP) do not adequately consider sustainability, while environmental indicators alone fail to acknowledge the economic needs of a society. Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) can be the tool that fills the gap separating current economic and environmental indicators. Development of NCA has progressed considerably and is being widely deployed in the Nordic countries, but development and deployment remain uneven. This report provides background on NCA and its associated accounting frameworks, demonstrates the applicability of NCA for sustainably utilizing freshwater resources in the Nordic Arctic and provides recommendations for maximizing the value of environmental accounting as an economic, environmental, and sustainable development tool.

In 2013, the Nordic Ministers for the Environment decided to strenghten the measurement of green estimates of welfare and socio-economic developments. The report Making the Environment Count is describing how statistics on the environment and the economy thorugh the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts can be used to enable cross-sectorial analysis. The report proposes indicators that can be compiled annually in a Nordic context through existing statistics linking economic statistics to environmental statistics.

Abstract: The report reviews different international approaches for natural capital accounting. The five approaches reviewed are attempts to help create an improved evidence base on the links between biodiversity and ecosystems on the one hand and economic and human wellbeing on the other in view of better informing decision-making in a variety of contexts. The strengths and weaknesses of the approaches are evaluated in the light of the policy goals, institutions and conditions in the Nordic countries. The analysis has been carried out during the period September 2012 - January 2013 by Gaia Consulting Oy and the Institute of European Environmental Policy. The project was commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2022-557/ Urban green and blue areas offer multiple ecosystem services, that support urban resilience and contribute to the well-being and quality of life of urban dwellers. But urban development poses a risk of losing urban ecosystems and their services to inhabitants. Hence, urban green spaces need to be integrated into urban planning and decision making in a systematic way. Urban ecosystem accounting (EA) provides a framework for quantifying changes in the extent and the condition of urban ecosystems and for assessing change in the ecosystem service supply and use over time. As a result, EA provides an information system that can support municipal planning and policy. This report describes a few pilots carried out in Finland and Norway and proposes a draft roadmap for future urban ecosystem accounting in Nordic cities.