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

- The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) was adopted in 2012, after decades of technical debate.
- Development of the SEEA proceeded with little reference to the needs of the intended users: policy analysts and decision-makers in government and elsewhere.
- A model and research agenda is presented to ensure that SEEA can inform policy comprehensively.
- We conclude that phased implementation of SEEA will be needed to build practical understanding and political acceptance.

The use of information in environmental and economic policy has been a theme for over 100 years but standards for integrating environmental and economic information were not adopted until 2012, through the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). For 20 years 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.