Comprehensive Environmental and Economic Accounting: Lessons from the U.S.

1. 环境价值核算：美国的经验与教训 齐晔 清华大学公共管理学院 北京师范大学环境学院

2. 生态系统管理与环境价值核算Environmental Accounting:From Contingent Valuation to Emergy Method

3. 报告内容 • 生态系统与环境价值核算 • 综合的环境与经济核算 • 可供借鉴的经验与教训

4. 相关概念 • Green GDP • Environmental accounting • Ecosystem valuation

5. Stock vs. Flow • GDP: Flow • Environmental accounting: Stock

6. Scale Mismatch GDP: 相对精确 Ecosystem value：不确定

7. Why Estimate Ecosystem Values? • Basis for market transactions • Ecosystem planning

8. The Concept of Value Value is a human perception. It is the worth of something to a particular individual, at a given place and moment in time. Utility, satisfaction, and pleasure are other words that connote worth or value received.

9. 生态系统与环境价值评估方法

10. 1. Market Price Method Estimates economic values for ecosystem products or services that are bought and sold in commercial markets.

11. 2. Productivity Method Estimates economic values for ecosystem products or services that contribute to the production of commercially marketed goods

12. 3. Hedonic Pricing Method Estimates economic values for ecosystem or environmental services that directly affect market prices of some other good. Most commonly applied to variations in housing prices that reflect the value of local environmental attributes.

13. 4. Travel Cost Method Estimates economic values associated with ecosystems or sites that are used for recreation. Assumes that the value of a site is reflected in how much people are willing to pay to travel to visit the site.

14. 5.Damage Cost Avoided, Replacement Cost, and Substitute Cost Methods Estimate economic values based on costs of avoided damages resulting from lost ecosystem services, costs of replacing ecosystem services, or costs of providing substitute services. 

15. 6. Contingent Valuation Method Estimates economic values for virtually any ecosystem or environmental service. The most widely used method for estimating non-use, or “passive use” values. Asks people to directly state their willingness to pay for specific environmental services, based on a hypothetical scenario.

16. 7. Contingent Choice Method Estimates economic values for virtually any ecosystem or environmental service. Based on asking people to make tradeoffs among sets of ecosystem or environmental services or characteristics. Does not directly ask for willingness to pay—this is inferred from tradeoffs that include cost as an attribute.

17. 8. Benefit Transfer Method Estimates economic values by transferring existing benefit estimates from studies already completed for another location or issue.

18. 美国的综合环境与经济核算 • Tobin and Nordhaus 1972, Net economic welfare • Repetto, 1989, Net Domestic Product • Daly and Cobb, 1990, Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare • Costanza et al., 1997, Ecosystem Service Index • Odum, 1972, …,1996, Emergy-based environmental accounting

19. 美国的综合环境与经济核算 • Bureau of Economic Analysis (DOC), 1992 • Focused on integrating environmental accounting with the US National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) • US Integrated Environmental and Economic Satellite Account, 1994 • Suspended in 1994

20. 综合环境与经济核算评估小组 • William Nordhous, Chair • Including Robert Repetto, 12 members • National research Council • Committee on National Statistics 1998-1999

21. Overall assessment • Extending NIPA to include assets and production activities associated with natural resources and the environment is an important goal. • E&NR accounts provides useful data and economic planning and investment • Rationale is solid • IEESA is consistent with domestic and international efforts

22. Approaches • Not to redefine the Core Accounts • Add satellite and supplementary accounts • Phased approach vs. comprehensive approach

23. BEA’s Resumption of Natural Resource and Environmental Accounting • Authorize and fund development of natural resource and environmental accounts • BEA leads the effort

24. Accounting for subsoil mineral assets • Develop and maintain a set of accounts for domestic subsoil mineral assets

25. Accounting for renewable and environmental resources • EA is a useful way to represent interactions between market and the environment: • Additions and depletions of natural resources • Alterations in the quality of the environment • Expenditures made to reduce the effects of economic activities on the environment

26. Accounting for renewable and environmental resources (continued) • For valuation, BEA should rely whenever possible on market and behavioral data. However, novel valuation techniques will be necessary for the development of a comprehensive set of non-market accounts.

27. Accounting for renewable and environmental resources (continued) • Concerted federal effort to identify and collect data needed to measure changes in the quantity and quality of natural resource and environmental assets and associated nonmarket service flows. • Emphasis on measuring effects directly, particularly on measuring human exposure to air and water pollutants

28. Incremental cost • $1.5 M

29. Conclusion • Essential investment for the nation; • Comprehensive accounts are of great value; • Must not compromise the current core accounts

30. What can we learn? • Strategic planning and immediate actions • Maintaining the current core accounts • Sufficient and stable government support • Joint and concerted effort of multi-disciplinary teams