Do we need ecosystem accounts?

•Loose statistical frameworks are more suitable for presenting ecosystem data than rigid accounting systems•Land cover and land use data that use a common areal unit of measurement are an exception•Ecosystem accounts could support the management and conservation of particular ecosystems•Environmental and economic policies need greened national accounts; they do not need the detour of ecosystem accounts

The internationally adopted System of Environmental-Economic Accounting measures the interaction between the economy and the natural environment. Its central framework accounts for the depletion of natural resources, but omits environmental degradation, notably from pollution. A recent “companion volume” on “experimental ecosystem accounting” addresses ecosystem degradation, but excludes the depletion of natural assets. Its physical accounts, notably on land cover and use, could support the management and conservation of ecosystems. Policies of sustainable economic performance and growth require, however, integrative information on both depletion and degradation at national and sectoral levels. Integrated environmental and economic accounts can provide this information without the detour of ecosystem accounting.