BLM gives presentation at the 30th Meeting of the London Group on Environmental Accounting

The 30th meeting of the London Group on Environmental Accounting was hosted by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) from September 30 to October 3, 2024, in Washington, D.C. 

The London Group on Environmental Accounting is an expert group created in 1993 with its first meeting convened in 1994 in London, England, to allow practitioners to share their experience of developing and implementing environmental accounts. Its members are primarily national statistical agencies and international organizations. One of the significant accomplishments of the London Group is its contribution to the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA-CF) which was adopted as the international statistical standard for environmental economic accounts by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSD) in 2012. 

This is the third time the United States has hosted the annual meeting of the London Group, the other two occasions being in 1995 and 2006. The meeting welcomed about 40 international delegates from the United Nations, international organizations, and national statistical agencies who traveled from four continents to Washington D.C. There were about 20 participants from Federal agencies and research institutes in the United States. London Group Chair Dr. Sven Kaumanns, BEA Director Dr. Vipin Arora, BEA Chief Economist Dr. Dennis Fixler, BEA Senior Economist Dr. Scott Wentland, UNSD Environmental Economic Accounts Section Chief Dr. Ilaria Di Matteo, and SEEA-CF Technical Committee Chair Dr. Sjoerd Schenau delivered the opening remarks. This was followed by 27 presentations within eight sessions, including (1) treatment of human-induced flows within the environment; (2) treatment of emission trading systems and issues in taxes and subsidies accounts; (3) natural capital; (4) SEEA applications; (5) monetary values connected to ecosystem services; (6) issues in ecosystem accounting and forest accounts; (7) climate change mitigation and adaptation expenditures and (8) treatment of water in the SEEA CF. 

Staff from a dozen Federal agencies which are leading or supporting the development and implementation of the White House initiative on the U.S. National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions (SEED) (January 2023) attended the meeting and actively participated at the discussions. Six economists from BEA, BLM, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S Forest Service delivered eight presentations. BLM Sun-Zone Socioeconomic Specialist Dr. Hebin Lin delivered a presentation entitled “Ecosystem Accounting for Land, Water, Riparian, and Mineral Resources in Semi-Arid Climate Zones,” which was appreciated by the meeting hosts and participants.

Dr. Kaumanns commented, “It is good to see that ecosystem accounts contribute to land management policies and are being incorporated into practice.”

Dr. Wentland commented, “We have noticed the seasonal change of resources from the satellite images just as you presented. This is a good contribution to inform our natural capital account teams.”    

Developing a system of high-quality statistics for environmental-economic decisions is a very technical yet meaningful challenge for all the countries of the world. It contributes to the collective sustainability of our ecosystems and human societies. The London Group has provided a great service in building partnerships and friendships to promote consensus and knowledge sharing across borders. All the participants expressed gratitude to be part of the London Group as heartfeltly expressed at the Celebratory Session of the 30 Year Anniversary at the historic Willard InterContinental Hotel.