A new statistical framework to better account for biodiversity and ecosystems in national economic planning and policy decision-making, approved yesterday, allows countries worldwide to use a common set of rules and methods to track changes in ecosystems and their services. The European Commission supported the United Nations in the development of this framework with contributions from scientists, statisticians and policymakers. The new framework goes beyond the commonly used statistic of gross domestic product (GDP) and ensures that natural capital accounts—the contributions of forests, oceans and other ecosystems—complements existing economic accounts.
The Knowledge Innovation Project on Integrated Natural Capital Accounting, a project of the Commission and the European Environment Agency, produced EU statistics and trends on the extent of different ecosystems, their condition and ecosystem services, which are compliant with the new framework for natural capital accounting.
