Pilot project Natural Capital Accounting in Flanders

Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) is the accounting of all stocks (stocks) and flows (flows) of natural capital in a given region. It provides a framework for systematically monitoring changes in natural capital and their impact on our economy, prosperity and well-being. That accounting can be expressed in biophysical or monetary units. NCA aims to supplement the global system of national accounts, which is the basis for generating core economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP), with information on how changes in natural capital affect our economic welfare. To apply NCA, international standards are being developed. The UN developed an internationally accepted methodology for setting up Natural Capital accounts (SEEA-EEA). This framework was already applied in several European countries such as the UK and the Netherlands. In addition, the KIP INCA (European Union, 2019) was launched by the European Union in 2015 which aims to develop an integrated Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services Accounting system and implement it in the EU. We also apply this standard to the extent possible also in this pilot study. An important note here is that this standard represents the larger margins and does not provide very specific methods. In addition, the standard is still under development.

Publication year:2020

Accessibility:Open