This article was originally published on IISD SDG Knowledge Hub.
Highlights:
- The Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) partnership indicates that Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries are increasingly using natural capital accounting (NCA) to inform decision making on policies and planning in areas such as monitoring energy and natural resource extraction and estimating the economic values of water- and forest-related ecosystem services.
- Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico have implemented environmental accounts, and nine other countries (Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia and Uruguay) have undertaken their first pilot accounts.
- WAVES and ECLAC are developing a ‘Community of Environmental Accounting’ that includes an online platform and webinars for regional officials and experts.
“Supported by improvements in environmental statistics, increased interest in integrated information, and international organizations, Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries are increasingly using natural capital accounting (NCA) to inform decision making on policies and planning in areas such as monitoring energy and natural resource extraction and estimating the economic values of water- and forest-related ecosystem services, according to the Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) partnership.
WAVES indicates that LAC countries have progressed in such areas as NCA coverage in natural resources, institutional organization mechanisms, and NCA uses and applications in policy procedures. Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico have implemented environmental accounts, and nine other countries (Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia and Uruguay) have undertaken their first pilot accounts. Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico have advanced the institutionalization of their environmental accounting programmes, while the Bahamas, Bolivia, Dominica and Venezuela, have noted their intent to develop NCA programmes. Brazil has also progressed with its first inter-institutional publication of accounts…”
Read on at: IISD SDG Knowledge Hub.
