Includes bibliographies.

Foreword Preface Acknowledgements List of abbreviations and acronyms Chapter I Introduction 1.1 What is the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012: Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting)?  1.2 Policy relevance of ecosystem accounting 1.3 Objectives and challenges in ecosystem accounting 1.4 The key disciplines in ecosystem accounting 1.5 The role of national statistical offices 1.6 Structure of SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting Chapter II Principles of ecosystem accounting 2.1 An overview of ecosystems and biodiversity 2.2 Key conceptual relationships in ecosystem accounting 2.2.1 Ecosystem services 2.2.2 Central concepts in measuring ecosystem assets 2.3 Units for ecosystem accounting 2.3.1 Introduction 2.3.2 Basic spatial units 2.3.3 Land-cover/ecosystem functional units 2.3.4 Ecosystem accounting units 2.3.5 Spatial units in relation to ecosystem services 2.3.6 Relationship to economic units 2.3.7 Issues in the delineation of spatial units 2.4 Ecosystem accounting tables 2.4.1 Tables for ecosystem services 2.4.2 Tables for ecosystem assets 2.5 General measurement issues in ecosystem accounting 2.5.1 The integration of information across different spatial scales 2.5.2 The scaling of data 2.5.3 Gross and net recording 2.5.4 Length of the accounting period 2.5.5 Data quality and scientific accreditation 2.6 Relationship of SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting to the SEEA Central Framework Chapter III Accounting for ecosystem services in physical terms 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Measurement boundaries and characteristics of ecosystem services 3.2.1 Types of ecosystem services 3.2.2 Relationship between the generation and use of ecosystem services 3.2.3 Measurement boundaries for ecosystem services 3.2.4 Model for the measurement of ecosystem services 3.2.5 Other measurement issues 3.3 Classification of ecosystem services 3.4 Accounts in physical terms for ecosystem services 3.4.1 Introduction 3.4.2 Measurement units for ecosystem services 3.4.3 Possible tables for ecosystem services 3.4.4 Approaches to aggregation of ecosystem services 3.5 Measuring ecosystem services Annex A3 Models for the measurement of selected ecosystem services Chapter IV Accounting for ecosystem assets in physical terms 4.1 Introduction 4.2 General approaches to assessing ecosystem assets 4.2.1 Assessing ecosystem condition and extent 4.2.2 Assessing expected ecosystem service flows 4.2.3 Assessing changes in ecosystem assets 4.2.4 Links to standard asset accounting 4.3 Compiling ecosystem asset accounts 4.3.1 Introduction 4.3.2 Accounting tables for ecosystem assets 4.3.3 Aggregation in ecosystem asset accounting 4.4 Accounting for carbon 4.4.1 Introduction 4.4.2 Carbon stock account 4.5 Accounting for biodiversity 4.5.1 Introduction 4.5.2 Measurement of biodiversity 4.5.3 Structuring information on species and groups of species 4.5.4 Species richness and species abundance accounts Annex A4.1 Additional detail concerning accounting for carbon Annex A4.2 Additional detail concerning accounting for biodiversity Chapter V Approaches to valuation for ecosystem services and ecosystem assets 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Motivations for valuation in monetary terms 5.3 Valuation concepts 5.3.1 Ecosystem services and assets in relation to public and private goods 5.3.2 Welfare economic and exchange concepts of value 5.3.3 Aligning valuation concepts with motivations for valuation 5.3.4 Objects of valuation in ecosystem accounting 5.4 Valuation principles in the SEEA and the System of National Accounts (SNA) 5.4.1 Market prices 5.4.2 Valuation of transactions 5.4.3 SNA approaches to valuing non-monetary transactions 5.4.4 Valuation of assets 5.4.5 The decomposition of value into price, quantity and quality 5.5 Valuation of ecosystem services 5.5.1 General considerations for different types of ecosystem services 5.5.2 Approaches to pricing ecosystem services 5.6 Key measurement issues in valuation 5.6.1 Measuring regulating services 5.6.2 Aggregation 5.6.3 Benefit transfer 5.6.4 Uncertainty in valuation Chapter VI Accounting for ecosystems in monetary terms 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Combined presentations for ecosystem accounting 6.2.1 Introduction 6.2.2 Information on environmental activities 6.2.3 Linking ecosystem assets and ecosystem services to economic activity 6.2.4 Treatment of payments for ecosystem services 6.3 Accounting for ecosystem assets in monetary terms 6.3.1 Introduction 6.3.2 The structure of ecosystem asset accounts 6.3.3 Measuring ecosystem degradation in monetary terms 6.4 Integration of ecosystem accounts and economic accounts in monetary terms 6.4.1 Introduction 6.4.2 Balance sheets and wealth accounting 6.4.3 Sequence of accounts 6.4.4 Adjusted income aggregates Annex A6 Possible models for a sequence of accounts for ecosystem accounting  

Ecosystem accounting is a relatively new and emerging field dealing with integrating complex biophysical data, tracking changes in ecosystems and linking those changes to economic and other human activity. Considering the increasing demand for statistics on ecosystems within analytical and policy frameworks on environmental sustainability, human well-being and economic growth and development, there has been an increasing urgency to advance this emerging field of statistics. Although considerable experience exists in related areas of statistics such as land cover and land use statistics, the integration of these and other information into an ecosystem accounting framework is new. Also, there is considerable existing expertise in the ecosystem sciences and economics fields that is relevant, and again it is the focussing of these different areas of expertise on the proposed ecosystem accounting approach that is new. SEEA-Experimental Ecosystem Accounting provides a synthesis of the current knowledge in this area and provides a starting point for the development of ecosystem accounting at national and sub-national levels. It represents an important step forward on ecosystem accounting, providing a common set of terms, concepts, accounting principles and classifications; an integrated accounting structure of ecosystem services and ecosystem condition in both physical and monetary terms; and the recognition of spatial areas as forming the basic focus for measurement.  

OECD.