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Integrated Natural Capital Accounting (INCA): Implementing the SEEA EA standard in the EU
- 1. 1 Mayra A. Zurbarán Nucci Joint Research Centre – D.3 GEO BON Global Conference 10 - 13 October 2023 Integrated Natural Capital Accounting (INCA): Implementing the SEEA EA standard in the EU
- 2. 2 Overview: INCA and SEEA EA SEEA EA general framework INCA operational procedure Direct contribution to the development of the global standard of UN SEEA EA
- 3. 3 The Integrated system for Natural Capital Accounting (INCA) ESTAT DG RTD DG ENV JRC EEA https://ecosystem-accounts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
- 4. 4 Structure of INCA: focus on ecosystem services
- 5. 5 INCA part I: crop pollination and nature-based recreation
- 6. 6 ES potential ES demand ES actual flow ES unmet demand Mismatch Unmet demand Overuse Missed flow Indentifiying vulnerability
- 7. 7 INCA part II: crop provision, timber provision, carbon sequestration and flood control Sustainability thresholds apply Presence/absence of ecosystems
- 8. 8 INCA part III: habitat and species maintenance, soil retention and water purification
- 9. 9 INCA in the European Union
- 10. 10 Ecosystem condition accounts The SEEA EA at the EU level • The SEEA EA: reference framework that can be applied at country level Making use of more detailed data • SEEA EA reference framework in ecosystem and condition accounts (Eurostat legal proposal)
- 11. 11 Legal proposal Ecosystem Accounts (Eurostat) Global Biodiversity Framework Nature Restoration Law Supporting the legal proposal • Reporting Ecosystem Accounts and Condition variables at country level • Under development: guidance note on voluntary condition variables (EUROSTAT) https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/news/european-commission-proposes-introduction-ecosystem- accounts_en Neutral reporting for condition: no comparisons to reference levels Reporting changes over time
- 12. 12 Ecosystem integrity Legal proposal Ecosystem Accounts (Eurostat) Global Biodiversity Framework Nature Restoration Law SEEA EA spatially explicit • Nature Restoration Law: quantification of areas to be restored (National Restoration Plans) Supporting the NRL and the GBF Maes et al. 2023 https://www.nature.com/articles/s4 1467-023-39434-0 • Global Biodiversity Framework: o Goal A: on the extent of natural ecosystems o Goal B: on the maintenance and enhancement of ecosystem services o Target 2: assessment and monitoring of degraded ecosystems - condition
- 13. 13 Current developments: urban ecosystem accounts and other policy support Other policy support DG REGIO: regional growth and NCA JRC: integrating NCA data in GEM ECB: assessing nature- related risks
- 14. 14 Current developments: INCA Tool (work in progress) https://ecosystem-accounts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/inca-tool Plugin for QGIS (open-source) Possibility to generate accounts by MS or for EU Provides SUTs as well as spatially explicit data outputs Currently in version 1.0 Can generate 7 ES accounts Follows the legal proposal
- 15. 15 Challenges and foresight Data availability and consistency (spatial and temporal resolution) Timely validation of models and generated accounts to provide scientific support Monitoring and assessment on MS reporting under the legal proposal • EU-wide & national accounts – comparability Iterative process with MS to support the legal proposal Links to NRL and GBF
- 16. 16 Thank you © European Union 2023 Unless otherwise noted the reuse of this presentation is authorised under the CC BY 4.0 license. For any use or reproduction of elements that are not owned by the EU, permission may need to be sought directly from the respective right holders. Slides 3, 10: SEEA EA cover, source: https://seea.un.org/ecosystem-accounting Contact: mayra.zurbaran-nucci@ec.europa.eu
Editor's Notes
- Involvement in working groups Focus on flow accounts INCA operationalises the SEEA EA general framework considering the ecosystem capacity and the socio-economic side Providing outputs in tabular and also spatially explicit
- The INCA project meant to test and implement the SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounts in Europe. A partnership was formed among ESTAT, DG Env DG RDT (Research and Innovation), EEA and JRC During the INCA Implementation Phase (2016-2020), the JRC worked specifically on ES accounting. The work was focused on ES accounts and so far there are 9 ES accounts under INCA production for 4 accounting periods. Accounts are reported both in tables as well as in maps. INCA platform provides access to the accounts.
- During this phase JRC drafted the methodological framework of INCA approach; defining that the relationship between ecosystem types ecosystem services and economic units is many-to-many
- Next was to put into practice the framework: by experimenting the first ES accounting, we realized that there are two interacting components that generate the actual flow or else the use of ES (that we account in the SUT) Ecological side: potential supply Socio economic side: demand When these components interact the use of ES is generated. This is what should be recorded into SUT
- The interaction between the ecological and economic sides generates services when it matches; however it can also generate mismatches. Here is the example for soil retention 2012
- there are services with regeneration and absorption rates that can be exceeded, other services where the only thing that matters is the presence of ecosystems able to provide what is needed Source: suitability' refers to the delivery of biomass and energy generated within the ecosystem. Information' refers to the information delivered by the ecosystem (this delivery process does not modify the original state of the ecosystem). Source: productivity' refers to the net delivery of biomass or energy eventually leaving the ecosystem. 'Sink' refers to the matter or energy absorbed by the ecosystem. 'Buffer' refers to the matter or energy flowing through the ecosystem.
- We investigate the “intermediate” Vs “final” ES classification, and found out that this depends on the approach that is being used.
- Here is the process from 2019 to 2022 until the proposal of Eurostat for a regulation for environmental economic accounts. In 2021 the Accounting for ecosystems and their services in the European Union report served as a basis for the legal proposal of Eurostat on a Regulation on environmental economic accounts The reporting of ES accounts under Eurostat Regulation will be very relevant to support the reporting under Goal B of the Global Biodiversity Framework on the maintenance and enhancement of ecosystem services
- In relation to ecosystem condition, and building on the experience gained in the MAES initiative (Mapping and Asssesment of ecosystems and their services), last year it was published the EU-wide methodology to map and assess ecosystem condition. The EU-wide methodology presents an approach fully aligned with the SEEA EA, to consistently map and assess ecosystem condition in the EU across all ecosystem types, presenting useful insights to operationalise the SEEA EA at the EU level integrating different EU data stream in a systematic way across ecosystem types. The SEEA EA is the reference framework of the EU-wide methodology that can be applied at country level. The SEEA EA is also the reference framework in the proposal for a regulation on ecosystem accounts (Eurostat).
- three modules are included/ 7 (3 provisioning, 3 regulating and 1 cultural) ES. Under discussion in Council and Parliament. Examples of voluntary indicators: Tree canopy cover in urban areas, agricultural land with high-diversity landscape features, forest connectivity and soil organic carbon in forest and agricultural areas Common between NRL and ESTAT Lp Mandatory: 1. Green areas in cities and adjacent towns and suburbs, 2. PM 2.5 concetration in cities 3. Soil organic carbon stock in topsoil in cropland and grassland 4. Common farmland bird index for cropland and grassland, 5. Deadwood for forest and woodland, 6. Tree cover density for forest and woodland, 7. Share of artificial impervious area cover for coastal beaches, dunes and wetlands,
- When the SEEA EA for condition accounts is based on spatially explicit data, then the ecosystem condition accounts can provide very valuable information for the NRL and the GBF for the quantification of areas to be restored (required in the National Restoration Plan) and for the assessment and monitoring of degraded ecosystems, related to the Target 2 of the GBF. A recent publication, Maes et al. 2023, shows how a forest condition index can be built at EU level using the SEEA EA to identify areas from low to high ecosystem integrity.
- Use of ES accounts in policy requests: DG Regio refers to how natural capital contributes to regional growth JRC in Seville refers to the use of ES accounting data in general equilibrium models with a focus on agricultural sectors European Central Bank refers to how nature based risks (in financial terms) can be assessed through ES accounts