The Seminar on Environmental and Resource
Accounting, organized by the secretariat of
the Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific (ESCAP) in collaboration with
the Korea Environmental Technology Research
Institute (KETRI), was held in Seoul, Republic
of Korea, from 27 to 31 May 1996.
The Seminar was attended by 27 participants
from the following 20 members and associate
members of ESCAP: Bangladesh, China, Fiji, Guam,
Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakstan,
Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan,
Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea,
Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. The United
Nations Statistics Division, the United Nations
University and the World Bank were represented.
Representatives of Keio University and of the
World Wide Fund for Nature also attended.
Mr Jong Gie Kim, President of the Korea Environmental
Technology Research Institute, inaugurated the
Seminar. He noted that the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992
had heightened the importance of finding practical
ways to integrate environmental and economic
considerations into national policy-making.
The development of the System of Integrated
Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA) by
the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)
had provided useful guidelines on how to undertake
"greening" of the national accounts,
a topic that had received worldwide attention
recently.
The welcoming address by His Excellency Mr
Jong Taeck Chung, Minister, Ministry of Environment,
was delivered on his behalf by Assistant Minister
Mr Chin Seung Chung. The Minister noted that
his Government had fully accepted Agenda 21's
call for a system of integrated environmental
and economic accounting which drew attention
to the need for a broader assessment of growth
and welfare than that provided by conventional
national accounts. The concept of green accounting
would be reflected in the Korean national accounts
in the longer term.
The Executive Secretary of ESCAP in his message,
read out by Mr A.J. Flatt, Director, Statistics
Division, noted that the Seminar would be exploring
the several conceptual, coverage and valuation
issues associated with accounting for environmental
concerns. The 1993 System of National Accounts
(SNA) provided the flexibility of linking satellite
systems for environmental accounting to core
national accounts concepts, and the UNSD's Handbook
on Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting
provided a framework for the coordinated development
of environmental accounting methodologies. It
was in that context that the countries participating
intensively in the ESCAP Netherlands-funded
project would be presenting their case studies
to the Seminar, which the Executive Secretary
hoped would contribute to the exchange of experience
among countries in the region. In concluding,
Mr Mooy hoped that the collective wisdom of
the participants and resource persons at the
Seminar would contribute to the development
of feasible approaches to environmental accounting
suitable to the circumstances and capabilities
of the countries of the region.
The Seminar elected Mr Ataul Haq (Bangladesh)
as Chairman, and Mr Seung-Woo Kim (Republic
of Korea) and Mr Thomas David Williams (Fiji),
Vice-Chairmen. Ms Loida Cruz (Philippines) was
elected Rapporteur.
The Seminar adopted the following agenda:
- Opening of the Seminar.
- Election of officers.
- Adoption of the agenda.
- Review of various
methodologies proposed for environmental
and resource accounting.
- Guidelines for compilation
of environmental and resource accounts based
on the SEEA framework.
- Methods for valuing
natural resource depletion and environmental
degradation.
- Review of country
practices on environmental and resource
accounting and application of proposed methodologies.
- Other matters.
- Adoption of the report.
The Seminar considered the item 4 of the agenda
on the basis of the following documents: "Greening
National Accounts", prepared by Mr Peter
Bartelmus, Chief, Environment, Energy and Industry
Statistics Branch of the United Nations Statistics
Division; "Pilot Compilation of Environmental
- Economic Accounts for the Republic of Korea",
prepared by Mr Seung-Woo Kim of KETRI, Mr Bartelmus
and other United Nations staff; "Environmental
and Natural Resources Accounting in the Philippines:
the Peskin Approach ", prepared by Ms Estrella
Domingo and Ms Loida Cruz of the National Statistical
Coordination Board of the Philippines; "The
NAMEA Experience", prepared by Mr Steven
Keuning of Statistics Netherlands and introduced
by Mr Michael Ward of the World Bank; and "Environmental
Accounting: An Operational Perspective"
, prepared by Mr Bartelmus and Mr Jan van Tongeren
of UNSD.
The Seminar decided to consider the agenda
items 5 and 6: guidelines for compilation of
environmental and resources accounts based on
the SEEA framework and methods for valuing natural
resource depletion and environmental degradation,
together, on the basis of documents of similar
titles, both prepared by Mr and Mrs Parikh of
the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research,
Mumbai, in their capacities as consultants to
the secretariat, the document, "The Value
of Nature: Valuation and Evaluation in Environmental
Accounting", prepared by Mr Bartelmus of
UNSD, was also presented.
The Seminar reviewed country practices on environmental
and resource accounting and application of proposed
methodologies on the basis of country studies
undertaken by Guam, India, Republic of Korea
and the Philippines.
Guam
Mr. Eugene Li of Guam presented the Guam case
study in the paper "Environmental and Resource
Accounting for Water Resources". The study
focused on two aspects, water quantity and water
quality. The water quantity study concentrated
on aquifer resource examination, while the water
quality study focused on near shore marine water
pollution.
The Seminar noted that although Guam had no
immediate environmental problems, the study
showed that there might be an over pumping problem
from the aquifer which needed further investigation.
It felt that the study should prove useful for
policy-makers to consider measures for the supply
of additional water or to introduce measures
for water conservation.
India
Mrs Jyoti Parikh presented the Indian case
studies. In terms of environmental issues, some
of the important areas were preservation of
forests and biodiversity, prevention of soil
degradation, and air pollution. Case studies
were conducted on air pollution, solid waste
management in the informal sector, and environmental
degradation in tanneries.
The Seminar heard that poor sanitation conditions,
lack of sewage facilities and deficiencies in
the management of solid waste contributed to
environment problems. The informal sector in
India was large and employed many persons. One
of the case studes was taken up to show how
both formal and informal sectors contributed
to solid waste management services. In that
connection, a second study related to solid
waste management (SWM) through the informal
sector in Mumbai was carried out.
Republic of Korea
Mr. Seung-Woo Kim of the Korea Environmental
Technology Research Institute (KETRI) presented
the results of the case study on water resources
in the Republic of Korea. Since the start of
economic development in the 1960s, the environment
had suffered significant deterioration owing
to rapid industrialization, population growth
and urbanization. Water pollution in the Republic
of Korea had worsened since the 1970s, affecting
river ecosystems. The protection of drinking
water sources and the supply of safe drinking
water had become the most pressing environmental
issues facing Korean society. At the same time
the quantity of water available, which could
vary significantly with the seasons, critically
influenced water quality. In that context the
establishment of an environmental accounting
framework was considered useful as a tool for
water quality and resources management.
The study was an attempt to develop an appropriate
framework for water resource accounting based
on the System for Integrated Environmental and
Economic Accounting (SEEA) for the period 1985-1992.
The basic approach was to construct a time series
database on water quality and account for emissions
of water pollutants, environmental costs of
water quality degradation, and water uses and
supplies for the selected period based on existing
data, and finally, to compile accounts for inland
water resources. Due to lack of data, water
quantity was assumed to be the same in the long
run and thus the cost of water depletion was
not estimated.
Philippines
The Philippines ESCAP case study to test the
SEEA was focussed on the compilation of the
asset accounts for fishery, forest and mineral
resources, the depletion/destruction of its
natural resources being a major environmental
concern of the country. The report, presented
by Ms Estrella Domingo, described in detail
the Philippine experience on operationalizing
the asset account on the lines of the SNA and
SEEA. It demonstrated the use of administrative
and research data (no primary data collection
was undertaken) and methodologies to fill in
the items in the account. The National Statistical
Coordination Board (NSCB) adopted the strategy
of interagency collaboration with other environmental
accounting activities in the country. That provided
the expertise as well as the data needed for
the accounts.
The Seminar noted the following findings and
recommendations of the study:
- The SEEA framework could
be operationalized but on a modular basis;
- Current survey/census data
had yet to include the requirements of the
SEEA;
- Use of administrative data
could be developed and improved as an alternative
source for the SEEA data;
- Operationalization of the
SEEA should be a joint effort of the planning,
environmental and statistical agencies and
research institutions;
- Training on the SNA, SEEA,
and on environmental and resource economics
was required; and
- Institutionalization of
the SEEA should be within the agency that
compiled the national accounts.
In a supplementary report from the Philippines,
Ms Naz presented "Environment and natural
resources accounting in the Philippines: Policy
Considerations and Directions".
The Seminar also reviewed work being done on
environmental and resource accounting in other
countries. It noted that countries in the region
were aware of the importance of environmental
issues, and the merit of using environment statistics
for policy-making. The countries also realized
the importance of developing environmental and
resource accounting in an integrated framework
like SEEA.
In the compilation of environmental accounts,
country situations varied significantly. Other
than those which had participated in the ESCAP
project, Japan had done extensive work in that
area. It had produced estimates of environmental
degradation and depletion and had attempted
to compute environmentally adjusted domestic
product. In its studies it had used the maintenance
cost approach. Indonesia had recently initiated
a study on the compilation of environmental
accounting based on the SEEA framework. It had
compiled a guidebook covering the concepts and
definitions, data requirements and methods for
constructing physical and monetary accounts.
Indonesia had already compiled physical and
monetary data for a number of years in respect
of crude oil, natural gas and coal. In China
studies had begun on the accounting of natural
resources such as mineral resources, surface
and underground water resources, forests, land
and grassland resources. The studies focused
on the valuation of the resources, the pricing
and accounting methods, and the policy for the
utilization of the individual resources. The
use of environmental data for policy decisions
in the Philippines was noted with interest,
though integrated environmental accounts were
yet to be fully developed. Many international
agencies and non-governmental organizations
have made an effort in promoting the development
of integrated environmental and economic accounting
for policy purposes.
It was noted by the Seminar that the ESCAP
project had contributed not only to the awareness
of the importance of the subject matter, but
also to the development of methodology on specific
resources of interest to the countries. It noted
the interest shown by other countries to participate
in similar projects and expressed the hope that
it would be possible for the ESCAP secretariat
to enable their participation in future studies.
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Dr. Srinivasa Ananda Meegama retired
on 30 June 1996 as the Director of the Statistical
Institute for the Asia and the Pacific (SIAP).
He joined the Institute in March 1988 as its
Project Manager/Director. He received his B.A.
from the University of Ceylon, his Masters in
Statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute,
and his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics.
Dr. Meegama was associated with the Institute
from the 1970s when he was a member of the SIAP
Advisory Council. His work experience has ranged
from teaching and research in Applied Statistics,
to Economic Planning and the monitoring and
evaluation of projects and programmes.
From 1967 to 1971, Dr. Meegama was lecturer
in Economic and Social Statistics at the Centre
for Urban Studies of the University of London.
During 1971-1978 he was Director General of
Planning at the Ministry of Planning and Economic
Affairs of the Sri Lanka Government, after which
period he worked at the International Statistical
Institute in London under the direction of Sir
Maurice Kendall. During the period from 1981
up to his assignment at SIAP, Dr. Meegama worked
on applied research and the monitoring and evaluation
of Child Survival and Development Programmes
for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Dr. Meegama has worked in the field of statistics
for the last thirty years and has had the good
fortune of working with many great teachers
of the subject. He has been keenly concerned
with making statistics courses more interesting
and has worked towards making statistical reports
more readable so that the widest possible audience
could understand the importance of statistics
and learn to make use of quantitative methods.
Dr. Meegama has had a life long interest in
the study of mortality and its determinants
and the statistical problems which arise in
the analysis of this subject. Many of his publications
and work in the international arena are in this
field, and he has participated and been associated
with the organization of many international
meetings and seminars on this subject. He has
worked for many years in trying to ensure that
statistics and the statistical method are employed
as active instruments in developing programmes
to uplift the condition of the poorest and most
vulnerable sectors of the community. In this
context, Dr. Meegama was a member of the UNICEF
group which analyzed the social impact of structural
adjustment on the poorer communities and social
groups in Third World countries in the international
effort to urge the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and others on the urgency of following
a policy of "Adjustment with a Human Face".
During his eight years in SIAP Dr. Meegama
oversaw the transformation of the status of
the institute from a project to a regional institution
of ESCAP, culminating in 1995 when the ESCAP
Commission adopted the statute of SIAP.
Mr Ilpo Survo, who has been serving
in various capacities in the Division, was appointed
Programme Officer, in-charge of the public sector
computerization programme, in the Statistics
Division effective from 9 June 1996. |
Mr A.J. Flatt, Director, Statistics
Division, undertook missions to:
- New York (5-13
May) to represent ESCAP at the 30th session
of the ACC Subcommittee on Statistical Activities,
and to consult with the secretariat of the
Efficiency Board.
- Seoul (25 May -
1 June) together with Loh Meng Kow, Statistician,
Jagdish Kumar, Regional Adviser on National
Accounts and Ms. Woranuch Thiusathien, Secretary,
to organize and service the Seminar on Environmental
and Resource Accounting which was convened
in Seoul.
- Paris (9-14 June)
to represent ESCAP at the Conference of European
Statisticians, and to strengthen ESCAP/ECE
cooperation in the field of statistics.
Mr Loh Meng Kow, Statistician, Statistics
Development Section, undertook missions
to :
- Addis Ababa (14-24
June) to attend the Workshop on Statistics
on Services in the Informal Sector.
Mr Jagdish Kumar, Regional Adviser
on National Accounts visited:
- Thailand (16-30
April) to advise the Office of Agricultural
Economics on conceptual aspects of national
accounts, to examine the database and methodology
used by OAE in estimating gross value added
in the agricultural sector at the provincial
level vis-a-vis the approach followed for
stimulation estimated by of NESDB and to suggest
other aggregate measures at the provincial
land that are useful to meet policy and planning
requirements.
Mr L.H. Lewis, UNFPA/CST Adviser
on Population Statistics, located in Suva,
visited the following countries:
- Cook Islands (10-21
April) to review the Population and Development
Sector and to advice the Statistics Office
in the preparations for the 1996 population
and housing census.
- Kiribati (16-24
May) to serve as resource person at the National
Seminar on Population and Development planned
for parliamentarians and senior officials.
- Tonga (8-15
June) to provide technical assistance to the
Statistics Department relating to preparations
for the 1996 population and housing census.
Mr M.N. Ozsever, UNFPA/CST Adviser
on Population Data Processing and Database Management,
located in Bangkok undertook missions as
follows:
- Mongolia (22 April
- 4 May) to assist state statistical Office
in reviewing the project document "Support
to the state Statistical Office of Mongolia
for Conducting the Population Census of 1999";
the state center for Civil Registration and
Information in reviewing the draft project
proposal for strengthening of the CR; and
the Mongolian National University in organizing
a training workshop on the use of ISSA at
the Population Teaching and Research Center
and in the preparation of the Family Planning
Survey.
- Cambodia (16-22
June): to assist the Ministry of Health, Save
the Children Fund, CARE International and
UNFPA in future analysis of the KAP Survey
on Fertility and Contraception in Cambodia.
Ms Luisa T. Engracia, UNFPA/CST Adviser
on Population Statistics, located in Kathmandu,
undertook a mission to
- Azerbaijan (3-7
June) to assess the capability of the State
Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan
to plan and implement and formulate a proposal
for assisting the country in conducting the
census.
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- Mr Rommel R. Delfin, Researcher,
Asia Times, Thailand.
- Eric J. De Silva, International
Consultant, Member, Evaluation Team for UNDP
Global, Inter-regional and Regional Programmes,
Sri Lanka.
- Mr Manuila Tausi, Government
Statistician, Central Statistics Division,
Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning, Commerce
and Industry, Funafuti, Tuvalu.
- Mr Andrey E. Kossarev,
Head of National Accounts and Balance of Payments
Department, State Committee on Statistics
of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russian
Federation.
- Mr Alexander D. Gulidov,
Vice-President of State Committee of the Russian
Federation of Statistics, Moscow, Russian
Federation.
- Mr Menno P. Pradhan, Economic
and Social Institute, Free University Amsterdam,
the Netherlands.
- Ms Sun Ying, Assistant
Computer Engineer, Yunnan Provincial Research
Institute of International Trade, Kunming,
Yunnan, China.
- Mr Zhang Wei Lie, Engineer,
International Trade Information Center, International
Trade Research Institute, Yuannan Province,
China.
- Mr Liu Dezhong, Foreign
Trade Information Office, Guizhou Province,
China.
- Ms Xia Wangchun, Foreign
Trade Information Office, Guizhou Province,
China.
- H.E. Mr Sher Afgan Khan,
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of
Pakistan to ESCAP.
- Mr Mussadaq M. Khan, Alternate
Permanent Representative of Pakistan to ESCAP.
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