An Introduction to Ecosystem Accounting. 7 September, Prof. Dr Lars Hein, Wageningen University

Transcription

1 An Introduction to Ecosystem Accounting 7 September, Prof. Dr Lars Hein, Wageningen University

2 Contents of the presentation The SEEA Ecosystem Accounting framework; The SEEA EEA framework The (draft) Technical Recommendations for SEEA EEA Applications An example of Ecosystem Accounting, the pilot study in Limburg, the Netherlands

3 The SEEA Framework: integrating environmental and economic information SEEA = System of Environmental Economic Accounts Connected to the System of National Accounts: economic statistics Part of the statistical system, guidelines developed by the world s statistical agencies (UNSC), UN, IMF, World Bank, OECD, European Commission. Two complementary approaches: the SEEA Central Framework and the SEEA Ecosystem Accounts

4 SEEA Central Framework Flow accounts; measurement of Energy, Materials, Water Emissions to the environment (incl. solid waste) Asset accounts, measurement of: Energy, Materials, Water, Carbon Land and soil Some biological and cultivated assets such as timber Measurement of environmental expenditure Statistical standard Compartmental and partial approach to measuring environment and natural resources

5 SEEA - Ecosystem Accounting A systematic framework to measure the contributions of ecosystems to economic activity; Aligned with the National Accounts. Includes ecosystem services flows and ecosystem assets Includes physical and monetary information Information in the form of maps and tables

6 SEEA EEA Technical Recommendations Developed under auspices of UN Statistics Division DRAFT: Currently under review (broad, open international review) Provides further detail building upon 2012 SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting Framework Source: UNSD S

7 The ecosystem accounts Accounts for Ecosystem Assets Accounts for ecosystem services Ecosystem extent account Ecosystem condition account Ecosystem monetary asset account (NPV) Ecosystem services supply and use table physical terms Ecosystem services supply and use table monetary terms Integrated accounts* Thematic accounts Combined presentations Extended supply and use table Sequence of accounts for institutional sectors National and sector balance sheets Land (cover, use and ownership) Carbon (stocks and flows) Water (stocks and flows) Biodiversity (Species) * These accounts reflect the integration of ecosystem accounting based information with information from the standard set of national accounts

8 Ecosystem Extent Source: UN et al., 2016

9 Ecosystem condition Source: UN et al., 2016

10 Ecosystem services supply and use Source: UN et al., 2016

11 Principles Supply and Use Supply equals use Use/Supply does not need to be sustainable Intermediate services can, in principle, be included (selection is needed) Once produced: very easy to connect to national accounts (e.g. to assess employment dependent on ecosystem units / ecosystem services)

12 Monetary valuation in accounting Valuation aligned with economic statistics Focus is on measuring the contribution of ecosystems to economic production and consumption (not to welfare, i.e. consumer surplus is excluded) Non-market ecosystem services can in principle - be included in the accounts (e.g. flood control, carbon sequestration) Rapid progress is being made with applying valuation for accounting, yet some challenges remain.

13 Valuation methods (source: UN et al., 2015) Valuation method Description Suitability for ecosystem accounting Unit resource rent Prices determined by deducting costs of labour, In principle this method is appropriate but produced assets and intermediate inputs from consideration of market structures is required. market price of outputs (benefits). Production function methods Hedonic pricing Replacement cost Damage costs avoided Averting behaviour Restoration cost Travel Cost Method Stated preference Marginal values from revealed demand functions Prices obtained by determining the contribution of the ecosystem to a market based price using an assumed production, cost or profit function. Prices are estimated by decomposing the value of an asset (e.g. a house block including the dwelling and the land) into its characteristics Prices reflect the estimated cost of replacing a specific ecosystem services using produced assets and associated inputs. Prices are estimated in terms of the value of production losses or damages that would occur if the ecosystem services were reduced or lost due to ecosystem changes Prices are estimated based on individuals willingness to pay for improved or avoided health outcomes. Refers to the estimated cost to restore an ecosystem asset to an earlier, benchmark condition. Estimates reflect the price that consumers are willing to pay in relation to visits to recreational sites. Prices reflect willingness to pay from either contingent valuation studies or choice modelling. Prices are estimated by utilising an appropriate demand function and setting the price as a point on that function Appropriate provided the market based price being decomposed refers to a product rather than an asset e.g. value of housing services rather than the value of a house. Appropriate in principle. Heavily used in the pricing of computers in the national accounts. Appropriate under several assumptions (see SEEA EEA TR) Appropriate under several assumptions (see SEEA EEA) Likely inappropriate since it relies on individuals being aware of the impacts arising from environmental changes. Inappropriate since it does not determine a price for an individual ecosystem service Possibly appropriate depending on the actual estimation techniques and whether the approach provides an exchange value, i.e. excludes consumer surplus. Inappropriate since does not measure exchange values Appropriate since aims to directly measure exchange values. However, may be challenging to apply

14 Applications of the Ecosystem Accounting approach Monitoring changes in natural capital over time Identifying areas, ecosystem types or ecosystem services under threat Understanding the dependence of economic actors and activities on ecosystems Understanding the contribution of ecosystems to the economy and the economic implications of ecosystem change As a ready-to-use database for scenario analysis, designing policies, analysing policy effects, etc.

15 Countries that are testing or applying SEEA ecosystem accounting Canada: MEGS project Australia: Land accounts, pilot ecosystem accounts for Great Barrier Reef UK: national analysis of the value of natural capital, and of the value generated by specific ecosystems (national parks, coast, farmland) Netherlands: pilot account developed for one province Peru: CI Project in San Martin region Philippines (WAVES): pilot account for two sites South Africa: pilot focusing on natural ecosystems and rivers Mexico Japan: 3-year project to test the SEEA EEA approach European Union Colombia (WAVES), Costa Rica (WAVES), Norway, New Zealand

16 Ecosystem accounting in Borneo (Kalteng) Development issues Fast deforestation Land use conflicts Smoke and fire Peat subsidence

17 Physical Ecosystem services accounts Timber production Rattan production Service Average per hectare supply Range, standard deviation Total supply Palm oil production Timber production Rice production Rattan production Carbon sequestration Nature recreation Orang utan habitat Source: Sumarga et al., 2014

18 Monetary ecosystem services accounts Monetary indicators: Per pixel value of ecosystem services (US$/ha/year) Total value in province (US$/year) Resource rent Employment generated Source: Sumarga et al., 2014

19 Policy applications (1 and 2) Existing oil palm plantation Not suitable for oil palm expansion Suitable for oil palm expansion 1. Land use planning for oil palm expansion 2. Costs and benefits of forest moratorium

20 Policy applications (3) Mixed land use scenario Comparison of 2 scenarios in peat landscape: oil palm dominant and mixed land use Physical and economic impacts of peat subsidence due to oil palm cultivation in peat Hydrological model from Deltares, the Netherlands

21 Effects of drainage No flooding problems Impaired drainability Prolonged flooding Near-permanent inundation Non peat a. under current conditions b. after 25 years Current conditions After 25 years NPV of different scenarios has been calculated, including oil palm, jelutung production, costs of carbon emissions. Oil palm only profitable during one rotation (~25 years) Restoring drained areas is costly (but profitable if CO2 benefits are considered) After 50 years After 100 years

22 Part 2: the Limburg Pilot - history PhD Research Roy Remme (Wageningen, funded by ERC) Upgraded with pilot study (Wageningen University and CBS, authors: Roy Remme, Rixt de Jong, Sjoerd Schenau and Lars Hein) in 2015 Now scaled up to the NLs (starting 1 st September 2016), staff: Roy Remme, Marjolein Lof, Rixt de Jong, Sjoerd Schenau, Cor Graafland and Lars Hein) CBS Wageningen University with inputs RIVM

23 Limburg province Source: Remme et al., 2015

24 Basis of the accounts: the Ecosystem Units map

25 Different physical ecosystem services models, e.g. Look-up tables Examples Drinking water Carbon sequestration 2 5

26 Additional physical ecosystem service models Spatial models (combination of spatial data layers) Air filtration Depends upon: PM10 concentrations Vegetation types Deposition in vegetation 2 6

27 Third type of physical ecosystem models Involving spatial allocation of statistical data Can be simple (e.g. agriculture) or complex (e.g. tourism) depending upon spatial relations and number of assumptions required. For example Ecotourism depends upon: Location hotels Nearby natural parks Using statistics Capacity hotels Occupancy 2 7

28 Monetary valuation: Resource rent for provisioning services and tourism Resource rent : R I L - U R = gross revenue I = costs of intermediate inputs L = labour costs U = user costs of fixed capital 2 8

29 Valuaiton: Avoided damage costs Carbon sequestration Air filtration 2 9

30 Valuation: Replacement costs Drinking water production 3 0

31 Aggregated results Comprehensive but not complete Value of production of ecosystem services measured with exchange values, not welfare More services to be added

32 Non-perennial plants Perennial plants Meadows (for grazing) Hedgerows Deciduous forest Coniferous forest Mixed forest Heath land Fresh water wetlands Natural grassland Public green space River flood basin Non-perennial plants Perennial plants Meadows (for grazing) Hedgerows Deciduous forest Coniferous forest Mixed forest Heath land Fresh water wetlands Natural grassland Public green space River flood basin Physical Supply (summary) Physical supply, totals Ecosystem Units Ecosystem services Totals extent (ha) Crops tonnes/yr Fodder tonnes/yr Meat (from game) kg/yr Ground water (drinking water only) in 1000 m3/yr capture of PM10 tonnes/yr Carbon sequestration tonnes C/yr Recreation (cycling) 1000s of bike trips/yr Nature tourism # tourists/yr Physical Supply per Hectare Ecosystem services Ecosystem Units Crops tonnes/ha/yr 26,63 8, Fodder tonnes/ha/yr 2,63 0,58 12, ,74 Meat (from game) kg/ha/yr 0,21 0,19 0,22 0,28 0,22 0,24 0,28 0,29 0,22 0,26 0,19 0,17 Ground water (drinking water only) 1000m3/ha/yr 0,17 0,17 0,15 0,17 0,17 0,01 0,05 0,05-0,23 0,08 0,09 capture of PM10 tonnes/ha/yr 0,01 0,01 0,01-0,03 0,06 0, ,02 0,01 Carbon sequestration tonnesc/ha/yr - 0,30 0,18 0,17 1,45 1,45 1,45 0,19 0,22 0,19 0,25 0,20 Recreation (cycling) 1000s of bike trips/ha/yr 0,03 0,04 0,04 0,03 0,05 0,03 0, ,03 0,04 0,04 Nature tourism #tourists/ha/yr 1,75 2,72 5,05 19,66 14,06 13,21 14,17 10,81 12,89 17,87 2,46 6,70

33 Non-perennial plants Meadows (for grazing) Hedgerows Deciduous forest Coniferous forest Mixed forest Heath land Fresh water wetlands Natural grassland Public green space Other unpaved terrain River flood basin Monetary Supply (summary) extent ha Totals Crops Fodder Meat (from game) Ground water Capture of PM Carbon sequestration Nature tourism Recreation (cycling) NA NA value per ha (excl. Amenity) /ha value per ha (incl. Amenity)* /ha

34 Ecosystem Services Use (maps and tables) Comparison of the Ecosystem Units map (left) and Economic Users map (right). The legend shown here belongs to the Economic Users (ISIC) map to the right. ISIC = International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities

35 Use of ecosystem services by sector

36 Contribution ecosystem services to economy Ecosystem Service Total gross revenue (million ) ES contribution (million ) Crop production Fodder production Drinking water production Air filtration Carbon sequestration Nature Tourism Hunting

37 Limburg: capability to sequester soil C

38 Next steps NLs Scaling up to NLs Carbon account Additional services (wood production, flood protection, pollination?, amenity service) Condition account Asset account (monetary)