IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v124y2016icp145-152.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The accounting push and the policy pull: balancing environment and economic decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Vardon, Michael
  • Burnett, Peter
  • Dovers, Stephen

Abstract

The use of information in environmental and economic policy has been a theme for over 100years but standards for integrating environmental and economic information were not adopted until 2012, through the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). For 20years the technical ‘push’ to develop accounts proceeded largely independently of the ‘pull’ from the intended or likely end-users of accounts. Consequently governments have little knowledge of the accounting or how it might be used. We examine why public policy imperatives have not yet pulled environmental accounting into the mainstream and explain how accounting can help reshape government decision-making. As part of this a model showing the place of accounts in the information system and the policy cycle is presented along with a research agenda and principles for the decision-centred design of accounts. We conclude that a phased implementation of the accounts as well as additional research into their applications will be needed to build practical understanding and political acceptance of the accounts.

Suggested Citation

  • Vardon, Michael & Burnett, Peter & Dovers, Stephen, 2016. "The accounting push and the policy pull: balancing environment and economic decisions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 145-152.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:124:y:2016:i:c:p:145-152
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.01.021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800916301215
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.01.021?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. William D. Nordhaus & James Tobin, 1973. "Is Growth Obsolete?," NBER Chapters, in: The Measurement of Economic and Social Performance, pages 509-564, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Smith, Robert, 2007. "Development of the SEEA 2003 and its implementation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 592-599, March.
    4. Mark Burgman, 2015. "Governance for Effective Policy-Relevant Scientific Research: The Shared Governance Model," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies 201535, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    5. Boyd, James & Banzhaf, Spencer, 2007. "What are ecosystem services? The need for standardized environmental accounting units," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2-3), pages 616-626, August.
    6. Hezri, Adnan A. & Dovers, Stephen R., 2006. "Sustainability indicators, policy and governance: Issues for ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 86-99, November.
    7. Vardon, Michael & Lenzen, Manfred & Peevor, Stuart & Creaser, Mette, 2007. "Water accounting in Australia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 650-659, March.
    8. Mark Burgman, 2015. "Governance for Effective Policy-Relevant Scientific Research: The Shared Governance Model," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 441-451, September.
    9. William D. Nordhaus & James Tobin, 1972. "Economic Research: Retrospect and Prospect, Volume 5, Economic Growth," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number nord72-1.
    10. Edens, Bram & Hein, Lars, 2013. "Towards a consistent approach for ecosystem accounting," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 41-52.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anna Normyle & Michael Vardon & Bruce Doran, 2022. "Ecosystem accounting and the need to recognise Indigenous perspectives," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. Bordt, Michael, 2018. "Discourses in Ecosystem Accounting: A Survey of the Expert Community," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 82-99.
    3. David Lindenmayer, 2017. "Halting natural resource depletion: Engaging with economic and political power," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 28(1), pages 41-56, March.
    4. Onil Banerjee & Martin Cicowiez & Renato Vargas & Mark Horridge, 2019. "The SEEA-Based Integrated Economic-Environmental Modelling Framework: An Illustration with Guatemala’s Forest and Fuelwood Sector," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 72(2), pages 539-558, February.
    5. Yaxiong Ma & Sucharita Gopal & Xinyue Ma & Kevin Gallagher & Magaly Koch & Les Kaufman, 2023. "The Deforestation and Biodiversity Risks of Power Plant Projects in Southeast Asia: A Big Data Spatial Analytical Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-25, October.
    6. Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Ingram, Jane Carter & Shapiro, Carl D. & La Notte, Alessandra & Maes, Joachim & Vallecillo, Sara & Casey, C. Frank & Glynn, Pierre D. & Heris, Mehdi P. & Johnson, Justin A. & Lau, 2021. "Lessons learned from development of natural capital accounts in the United States and European Union," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    7. Ingram, Jane Carter & Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Vardon, Michael & Rhodes, Charles R. & Posner, Stephen & Casey, Clyde F. & Glynn, Pierre D. & Shapiro, Carl D., 2022. "Opportunities for businesses to use and support development of SEEA-aligned natural capital accounts," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    8. Sylla, Marta & Harmáčková, Zuzana V. & Grammatikopoulou, Ioanna & Whitham, Charlotte & Pártl, Adam & Vačkářová, Davina, 2021. "Methodological and empirical challenges of SEEA EEA in developing contexts: Towards ecosystem service accounts in the Kyrgyz Republic," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    9. J B Ruhl & Stephen M Posner & Taylor H Ricketts, 2019. "Engaging policy in science writing: Patterns and strategies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-10, August.
    10. Sylla, Marta, 2024. "The application of ecosystem accounting principles at the local scale for a protected landscape: A case study of the Sleza Landscape Park in Poland," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    11. Zabel, Astrid & Bokusheva, Raushan & Bozzola, Martina, 2024. "Dealing with negative monetary ecosystem services values in environmental and economic accounting," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    12. Maes, Mikaël J.A. & Jones, Kate E. & Toledano, Mireille B. & Milligan, Ben, 2020. "Accounting for natural capital has cross-cutting relevance for UK public sector decision-making," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    13. Warnell, Katherine J.D. & Russell, Marc & Rhodes, Charles & Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Olander, Lydia P. & Nowak, David J. & Poudel, Rajendra & Glynn, Pierre D. & Hass, Julie L. & Hirabayashi, Satoshi & In, 2020. "Testing ecosystem accounting in the United States: A case study for the Southeast," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    14. Gabriella De Sario & Giovanni Marin & Agnese Sacchi, 2023. "Citizens' attitudes towards climate mitigation policies: The role of occupational exposure in EU countries," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(2), pages 255-280, May.
    15. Capriolo, A. & Boschetto, R.G. & Mascolo, R.A. & Balbi, S. & Villa, F., 2020. "Biophysical and economic assessment of four ecosystem services for natural capital accounting in Italy," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    16. Comte, Adrien & Sylvie Campagne, C. & Lange, Sabine & Bruzón, Adrián García & Hein, Lars & Santos-Martín, Fernando & Levrel, Harold, 2022. "Ecosystem accounting: Past scientific developments and future challenges," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    17. Vardon, Michael & May, Steve & Keith, Heather & Burnett, Peter & Lindenmayer, David, 2019. "Accounting for ecosystem services – Lessons from Australia for its application and use in Oceania to achieve sustainable development," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    18. Alexander, David & Blum, Véronique, 2016. "Ecological economics: A Luhmannian analysis of integrated reporting," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 241-251.
    19. Lomas, Pedro L. & Giampietro, Mario, 2017. "Environmental accounting for ecosystem conservation: Linking societal and ecosystem metabolisms," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 346(C), pages 10-19.
    20. Ioannis Souliotis & Nikolaos Voulvoulis, 2021. "Natural Capital Accounting Informing Water Management Policies in Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-24, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zoltán Nagy & Tekla Sebestyén Szép, 2017. "Sustainable Energy in Post-Communist East- Central Europe - A Comprehensive Study," Theory Methodology Practice (TMP), Faculty of Economics, University of Miskolc, vol. 13(02), pages 59-70.
    2. Quentin Couix, 2019. "Natural resources in the theory of production: the Georgescu-Roegen/Daly versus Solow/Stiglitz controversy," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(6), pages 1341-1378, November.
    3. Peter Bartelmus, 2014. "Environmental–Economic Accounting: Progress and Digression in the SEEA Revisions," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(4), pages 887-904, December.
    4. Zhichao Li & Tianqu Shao, 2019. "An Improved Ecological Services Valuation Model in Land Use Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Banerjee, Onil & Cicowiez, Martin & Vargas, Renato & Obst, Carl & Cala, Javier Rojas & Alvarez-Espinosa, Andrés Camilo & Melo, Sioux & Riveros, Leidy & Romero, Germán & Meneses, Diego Sáenz, 2021. "Gross domestic product alone provides misleading policy guidance for post-conflict land use trajectories in Colombia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    6. Vardon, Michael & Keith, Heather & Lindenmayer, David, 2019. "Accounting and valuing the ecosystem services related to water supply in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    7. Günseli BERIK, 2020. "Measuring what matters and guiding policy: An evaluation of the Genuine Progress Indicator," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 159(1), pages 71-94, March.
    8. Savatore Puglisi & Ionuț Virgil Șerban, 2019. "Beyond Gdp: Which Options To Better Represent Modern Socio-Economic Progress?," Sociology and Social Work Review, International Society for projects in Education and Research, vol. 3(1), pages 17-32, June.
    9. Goletsis, Y. & Chletsos, M., 2011. "Measurement of development and regional disparities in Greek periphery: A multivariate approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 174-183, December.
    10. Hamilton,Kirk E. & Helliwell,John F. & Woolcock,Michael, 2016. "Social capital, trust, and well-being in the evaluation of wealth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7707, The World Bank.
    11. Hoff, Jens V. & Rasmussen, Martin M.B. & Sørensen, Peter Birch, 2021. "Barriers and opportunities in developing and implementing a Green GDP," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    12. Carl Obst & Lars Hein & Bram Edens, 2016. "National Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Assets and Their Services," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 64(1), pages 1-23, May.
    13. Kenneth Kuttner & Adam Posen, 2011. "How Flexible Can Inflation Targeting Be and Still Work?," Department of Economics Working Papers 2011-10, Department of Economics, Williams College, revised Sep 2011.
    14. Simonis, Udo E., 1990. "Beyond growth: elements of sustainable development," EconStor Books, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 112255, September.
    15. Céline Antonin & Thomas Melonio & Xavier Timbeau, 2012. "L'epargne nette ré-ajustée," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(1), pages 259-286.
    16. Dimitrios A. Giannias, 1998. "A Quality of Life Based Ranking of Canadian Cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 35(12), pages 2241-2251, December.
    17. Anselm Schneider & Erika Meins, 2012. "Two Dimensions of Corporate Sustainability Assessment: Towards a Comprehensive Framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 211-222, May.
    18. Madsen, Jakob & Strulik, Holger, 2020. "Technological change and inequality in the very long run," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    19. Valeria Andreoni, 2010. "Material Flows Accounting: A Biophysical Approach to Macroeconomic Sustainability," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 17(1), pages 217-228, May.
    20. Häyhä, Tiina & Franzese, Pier Paolo & Paletto, Alessandro & Fath, Brian D., 2015. "Assessing, valuing, and mapping ecosystem services in Alpine forests," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 12-23.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:124:y:2016:i:c:p:145-152. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.