This report was originally published by PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
“Natural Capital Accounting provide a practical framework of valuable aspects, lessons learned and practices that can be used in developing and implementing the policies or governance arrangements needed to achieve the SDGs, on a country level. From the literature on SDGs and examples discussed during the 2nd Forum on Natural Capital Accounting for Better Policy, which was held on 22 and 23 November 2017 in The Hague, the authors distilled three general lessons about how natural capital accounting could help countries address these SDG challenges.
…Experience, to date, has given a clear indication that NCAs are under-exploited in national SDG policy processes. Given the coherent and structured setup of NCAs, it can help these processes by promoting a systems-based approach and create institutional conditions for more integrated data compilation, analysis and policy-making. Although not complete and perfect yet, indicators and analytical methods to support national SDG processes do exist and are available to countries to help them develop their NCAs.
In addition, increasing the use of NCAs for SDG policies requires national SDG policy processes that move beyond monitoring and look at synergies and trade-offs, transcend ministerial levels, allow for learning by doing, and create institutional conditions to foster transition to a system of integrated SDG policy-making. Here, SDG and NCA development processes can be aligned to support each other. Both processes go beyond the mandate or competences of one single institution or ministry, are dependent on organisations skilled at collecting data, compiling accounts, analysing information, and require strong political support and powerful lead agencies to promote evidence-based policy-making across sectoral boundaries…”
Read on and access the full report at: Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services Knowledge Center.
