SEEA and SDGs Indicators

Joint Skype Meeting

January 20, 2017

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Outline
 Background
Policy Demand: International Context
New challenges for statistical systems
 The role of the SEEA for Supporting and
Monitoring SDGs
Contribution of the SEEA: Example

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Background
Policy Demand: International Context
• Agenda 21
• Rio+20 “The Future We Want” calls for the
development of SDGs
• High Level Panel Report on the Post-2015
Development Agenda
• International Initiatives
 WAVES, OECD’s Green Growth Strategy, The Economics of
Ecosystems and Biodiversity, ….

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New challenges for the statistical systems

• They new SDG goals will be ”universal” i.e. relevant

to all countries. Also economic, social and
environmental objectives are to be balanced to meet
human needs indicators.
• More integrated indicators are required for this.

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The role of the SEEA for Supporting and
Monitoring SDG
References:
1. UNCEEA/10/3a: ‘SEEA and Transforming Global and National
Statistical Systems for Monitoring SDG Indicators’
• Considers the need for integration of environmental-economic
statistics, and the role of the SEEA as the necessary conceptual
framework
• Discusses benefits accruing to national and global policy-making
and the SDG monitoring process following integration of
environmental-economic statistics
• Lays out a transformative roadmap for aligning SDG monitoring
mechanisms with the statistical standard of the SEEA

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2. UNCEEA/10/3b: ‘The SEEA as the Statistical Framework in
meeting Data Quality Criteria for SDG indicators’
• Illustrates how integrated statistical frameworks such as the
SEEA can facilitate the production of statistics and indicators
by national statistical systems which are of enhanced quality
against a set of criteria:
1. Policy Relevance and Utility;
2. Analytical and Methodological Soundness;
3. Measurability and Practicality

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3. Steinback, et.al (2016): ‘Monitoring the Shift to
Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns
in the context of the SDGs’
• The report show how environmental economics
accounts (SEEA) can be used to monitor SDGs
target and help connect to other goals
--> especially in Sustainable Consumption and Production
Context

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Contribution of the SEEA: Example

Suggestions of SEEA related datasets to monitor SCP (Steinback,

et.al, 2016):

• Tracking changes in production patterns – natural resource

use, pollution and economic outcomes
• Tracking changes in consumption patterns – environmental
and natural resource pressure
• Tracking changes in environmental technologies
• Tracking changes in environmental economic instruments
• Multipurpose indicators for more than one target

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Multiple targets can be analyzed

• GHG-emissions  8.4, 9.4, 12.2, 13.1

• Particle emissions(PM2,5)  11.2, 11.5, 11.6,
12.2
• Energy use  7.2, 7.3, 8.4, 12.2
• Energy taxes  12.2, 13.1

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Key Points
SEEA is an important tool for monitoring the SDGs supporting policy
towards meeting targets.

The Accounting structure improves robustness to a set of general

criteria for SDG indicators improving quality;

• Policy relevance: Indicators are supported by organized information

which promotes a detailed understanding of the drivers of change
• Methodological Soundness: SEEA acts as a vehicle for harmonizing
methodological inconsistencies across the environmental data
production process, and enables coherent comparison of
environment statistics with economic statistics
• Practicality: SEEA can create efficiencies in the data production
process

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