Multi-scale environmental accounting: Methodological lessons from the application of NAMEA at sub-national levels

•We test the feasibility of hybrid accounts at intermediate and local government levels.•NAMEA-air emissions/wastes are applied to a Region, a Province and a Municipality.•We show the feasibility of gathering the needed environmental and economic data.•We provide a multi-scale view of economy–environment interactions useful for policy design.

Extending the application of integrated environmental and economic accounts from the national to the local level of government serves several purposes. They can be used not only as an instrument for communicating on the state of the environment and reporting the results of policies, but also as an operational tool – for setting the objectives and designing policies – if made available to the local authorities who have responsibility over the administration of natural resources, land use and conservation policies. The aim of the paper is to test the feasibility of applying hybrid flow accounts at the intermediate and local government levels. As an illustration, NAMEA for air emissions and wastes is applied to a Region, a Province and a Municipality, thus covering the three nested levels of local government in Italy. The study identifies the main issues raised by multi-scale environmental accounting and provides an applied discussion of feasible solutions.