The research agenda of the System of Environmental-Economic
Accounting–Central Framework (SEEA CF), the UN standard on environmental
accounts, includes developing an integrated framework for monetary environmental
accounts. At the 2017 London Group meeting, Eurostat (European Commission),
leader on this topic, presented a proposal for a framework, calling, in the following
year, EU member states for experimental compilation of the proposed tables. ISTAT
(Italian Institute of Statistics) completed a pilot exercise in 2020, compiling the tables
covered by the Eurostat layout: Supply Table, Use Table, Production account, and
Expenditure account.
This chapter recalls the main accounting features of the integrated monetary framework
and presents the results of the Italian pilot compilation.
Based on the same equations underlying national accounts, the integrated framework
aims at assuring consistent estimates on the supply and demand of environmental
products and it can be compiled starting from existing environmental accounts, EGSS
mainly providing estimates on the supply of environmental goods and services, and
Environmental Protection Expenditure Accounts (EPEA) providing, at present,
estimates on expenditures for environmental protection purposes.
In the Italian exercise, putting EGSS and EPEA into the integrated framework layout
allowed us to highlight and quantify differences in scope, coverage, and definitions
between the two accounts. However, the most interesting findings concern the
improvements derived from the combined use of the two accounts: the production of
balanced estimates allowed for checking and adjusting inconsistencies among data,
filling in gaps, and optimizing calculation processes. Furthermore, it allowed us to
enlarge the supply of statistical information on the economy and the environment for
Italy, beyond the present scope of EGSS and EPEA.
The exercise carried out by ISTAT is an example of how statistical information can be
enhanced to better comply with the requirements of the European Green Deal and,
more generally, with the demand arising from the effort towards mainstreaming
environmental sustainability in all EU policies.
Keywords: Environmental products classifications, Integrated framework of accounts, Monetary environmental accounts, Supply-use tables.
