The AICCAN, the geGDP, and the Monetisation Frontier: a typology of 'environmentally adjusted' national sustainability indicators

Abstract

This paper discusses the policy uses, and limits, of three key concepts for defining 'environmentally adjusted' macro-economic indicators for a national economy. The first is change in the system boundary, an enlargement of the scope of national economic accounting to include natural assets; this yields an 'Aggregate Indicator of the Change, during the Current year, in the economic Assets of the Nation' (AICCAN). The second is adjustment of the economy itself, to a new pattern of production processes, levels of production and consumption activity; this yields a 'greened economy GDP' (geGDP). The third, from consideration of the 'openness' of an economy, is adjustment of an AICCAN or geGDP to account for direct and indirect 'inter-country environmental load displacement' associated with trans-boundary pollution flows and trade.