Sustainability assessment and causality nexus through ecosystem service accounting: The case of water purification in Europe

Alessandra La Notte,Silvana Dalmazzone

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.06.072

Alessandra La Notte, Silvana Dalmazzone

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.06.072

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Abstract

The paper builds on the Supply and Use Tables module within the System of integrated Environmental and Economic Accounts - Experimental Ecosystem Accounts (SEEA EEA) developed by the UN. We explore the evolution of Supply and Use Tables from the System of National Accounts (SNA) to the System of integrated Environmental and Economic Accounts - Central Framework (SEEA CF) and then to the SEEA EEA, and we propose a further extension: we propose that ecosystem types should be treated as accounting units able to produce, consume and exhibit changes in regeneration and absorption rates. The implications are first explained in the methodological section and then shown in the application where the water purification service is tested against two major policy issues: sustainability assessment (we show how to assess whether the ecosystem service is used sustainably by comparing the quantification of potential and actual flow) and causality nexus (we quantify the connection between the value of agricultural production and that of the ecosystem service used). The paper highlights how the overall outcomes change when considering different scales. A contrast emerges, for example, between the positive balance at the continental scale, where water purification services appear to be used sustainably (thanks to the high potential flow of Northern European countries) and the negative balance of almost all European countries when considered at a national scale. Taking advantage of the experimental opportunities offered by operating with external satellite accounts, we are able to show how the proposed complementary tables could support policy action.

Highlights

A separate analysis of the economy on the one hand and of ecosystem services on the other does not adequately reflect the fundamental relationship between humans and the environment
In the result section we report complementary Supply tables reporting the potential flows from the providing ecosystem types; Use tables reporting actual flows allocated to enabling actors; and the difference between potential and actual flows allocated to the providing ecosystem types
By reporting results aggregated at the European and at the national scales, highlights that the choice of scale enables to look at ecosystem services from different perspectives and obtain additional information

Summary

Introduction

A separate analysis of the economy on the one hand and of ecosystem services on the other does not adequately reflect the fundamental relationship between humans and the environment. The integration of ecosystem and economic information would allow mainstreaming evidence on ecosystems and their services within public and private decision making (UN et al, 2015). Accounting systems enable the organization of information in an integrated and conceptually coherent manner. This information can be employed to create scientifically rigorous indicators to be used to inform environmental management and policy choices. The strength of the SNA is its robust articulation that allows for a certain deal of flexibility while still remaining integrated, internally consistent and economically complete

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