The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water: From Adoption to Implementation London Group – South Africa,

1. The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water: From Adoption to ImplementationLondon Group – South Africa, March 2007 Michael Vardon United Nations Statistics Division

2. Outline of presentation • Development and adoption of SEEAW as an interim international statistical standard in 2007 • Towards a Global Implementation Plan for SEEAW • Working regionally • Harnessing existing programmes • Developing toolkits for implementation • Identifying additional funding • The Plan to go the 2008 UN Statistical Commission

3. Development of SEEAW • Sub-group on Water Accounting established at the 2003 meeting of the London Group (Rome) • Sep 2004 SEEAW discussed at London Group Meeting (Copenhagen) • May 2005 1st draft SEEAW discussed in by sub-group (New York) • May 2006 2nd Draft discussed at the User-Producer Conference (Voorburg) • Jun 2006 2nd Draft discussed by London Group and UNCEEA • Jul-Dec 2006 SEEAW finalised by electronic discussion • More than 20 experts participated in the Sub-group • UNSD coordinated the group and prepared the various manuscripts

4. SEEAWOverview • Stocks and flows • Economy and environment

5. SEEAW – an interim international statistical standard • The 2007 UN Statistical Commission adopted SEEAW as an interim international statistical standard • SEEAW has been noticed by the producer and user communities

6. Global Water Partnership The role and value of Water Accounting “SEEAW provides the much-needed conceptual framework for monitoring and assessment” Roberto Lenton, GWP

7. Towards a global implementation plan for SEEAW • The Commission asked UNSD to develop a global implementation plan for SEEAW and present it in 2008 • 32 countries have requested assistance from the UNSD for implementing water accounts • Current resources for assistance are limited • Need to use them carefully • Identify and seek additional resources • A 3-5 year implementation plan is envisaged

8. Working regionally • Bring countries together in groups to create regional networks • Hold workshops targeted at national statistical offices and water management departments • Introduce SEEAW to high level officials to highlight the benefits and identify key questions • Provide workshops for the implementers of water accounting

9. ECA Botswana Burkina Faso Morocco Mozambique Namibia South Africa Tanzania Tunisia ECE Armenia Bulgaria Georgia Israel Ukraine Turkey ECLAC Bahamas Bolivia Colombia Cuba Dominican Republic Guatemala Mexico Panama Suriname Trinidad and Tobago ESCWA Egypt Jordan Yemen UN regional grouping ECLAC • China • India • Indonesia • Korea (Republic) • Mongolia • Nepal • Philippines

10. Harnessing existing programmes • Work with existing initiatives and other agencies. E.g. • Eurostat, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, OECD • Global Water Partnership • UNDP – CAP-NET • IWRM Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting • Med Stat II (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia)

11. Developing toolkits • Developing material to assist countries with implementation • Researching particular issues (e.g. transforming data to between different spatial boundaries) • Contributing to the development of formal training courses (e.g. UNESCO-IHE) • Promoting SEEAW in the user community

12. Barriers to developing environmental accounts • Lack of human resources (60%) • Availability of data (60%) • Lack of financial resources (57%) • Lack of appropriate institutional set-up (37%) Results of UN Global Assessment of Environmental accounting (36 respondents to question)

13. Barriers to compiling environmental accounts • Availability of data (81%) • Quality of data (61%) • Lack of human resources (56%) • Lack of financial resources (50%) Results of UN Global Assessment of Environmental accounting (35 respondents to question)

14. Identifying additional resources and funding • Additional expertise which could be made available to countries or to UNSD for the development of material (any volunteers?) • Keep a eye out for funding opportunities

15. UNSD Work for 2007 • June – ESCWA + north African countries high level seminar • July – ECLAC high level seminar • In country capacity building planned for China and possibly other countries • Development of a water statistics manual

16. What can I do? • Become part of regional network • Contribute to the development of material on implementation • Offer of technical assistance • Look for ways to promote SEEAW in the producer and user communities • Identify funding opportunities • Keep each other informed of activity and developments related to water accounting. E.g. • Technical assistance provided or requested • Interesting policy uses or analyses • Meetings, conferences, etc where water accounting many be promoted

17. Contact details Michael Vardon Adviser on Environmental-Economic Accounting United Nations Statistics Division New York 10017 USA Room DC2 1532 Phone: +1 917 367 5391 Fax: +1 917 363 1374 Email: vardon@un.org