Recording Ecological Debts and Assets in the National Accounts: Possibilities Offered by the...

Recording Ecological Debts and Assets in the National Accounts:

Possibilities Offered by the Development ofEcosystem Capital Accounts

Jean-Louis WeberSpecial Adviser on Economic-Environmental Accounting

European Environment Agency

[email protected]

Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme“Green Banking in the Mediterranean” November 22nd -23rd 2011, Barcelona (Spain)

NKUA

mailto:[email protected]

Jean-Louis Weber Green Banking in the Mediterranean” November 22nd -23rd 2011, Barcelona

National Accounts & the Environment:Recurrent demands for improved economic indicators and aggregates

• Historical pioneer “green accounting” projects: Norway, Canada, France, Philippines, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Spain…

• Rio1992, Agenda 21• UN SEEA1993 to “adjust” the UN System of National Accounts. SEEA revised in 2003• New SEEA revision by2012/13, including now a special volume on ecosystem accounts and

valuation• Recent initiatives:

– Beyond GDP Conference 2008– Potsdam 2008 G8+5 initiative and TEEB– Stiglitz/ Sen/ Fitoussi report on the measurement of economic performance 2009– New CBD Aishi-Nagoya Strategy 2010: demand for the inclusion of biodiversity and ecosystem value

into national accounts – World Bank’s new Global Partnership for “Green Accounting” and Ecosystem Valuation– References to environmental accounts for measuring progress in Green Economy, Green Growth,

Resource Efficiency…• Initiative(s) in preparation for Rio+20• In Europe, new Regulation on Environmental Accounts: Eurostat (the economy-environment

interface) and the EEA (ecosystem capital accounts)

UN manual for environmental-economic accounting: SEEA2003Enlargement of the System of National Accounts (SNA)

Natural resources EcosystemsEconomic

assets (SNA) Non-economic

assets

Openingstocks

Opening stocks Opening State

SNAtransactions

and otherflows

Changes instocks

Changesin stocks

Economicactivities,

naturalprocesses,

etc.

Changesin state

Closing stocks Closing stocks

Closing state

Described in SNA

RM HASSAN - UN The System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (UN 2003) - RANESA Workshop June 12-16, 2005 Maputo

Volume 1

The SNA satellite accounts for the

environment

expenditure, taxes, hybrid accounts, physical flows,

sub-soil, energy, water, land,economic assets depletion

Volume 2

Ecosystem capital accounts

Ecosystem stocks and quality, ecosystem services, benefits and maintenance

costs…

Revision SEEA2012/13

Negative feedbacks of ecosystem degradation on production and wellbeing

Impacts on ecosystem capacity of delivering services/benefits

Products &

economic assets

Fossil energy & materials

Biomass/carbon

Water

Land systemic services

Economy performance

Economic growthTradeValue-added, income, profit… ConsumptionInvestment Wealth (non-financial and financial assets)

Economic health(net savings, assets and debt quality, accountability, prices, well-being, knowledge)

Ecosystem potential (capacity to deliver services)

Ecosystem productivityFlowsAccumulation Stocks

Ecosystem health (biodiversity, integrity, resilience, interdependence)

Capital maintenance(to remediate degradation)

Accounting for the performance(s) of 2 co-evolving systems: resources, productivity and health

Economic systemEc

osys

tem

Use of natural

resources


Maintaining & restoring capital

• Maintaining capital is maintaining its wealth, productivity, capability, health, options…

• Capital depreciation (business accounts) or consumption (national accounts) is an estimation of the money to set aside in order to maintain or replace capital.

• Recording depreciation is a major concern of accounting standards, the issue being fairness of measurement of income, of actual price of commodities, and of economic performance.

• Calculation of company’s net income or profit must be net of capital depreciation (IFRS)

• “To be reliable, the information in financial statements must be complete within the bounds of materiality and cost. An omission can cause information to be false or misleading and thus unreliable and deficient in terms of its relevance”

• http://www.ifrs-portal.com/Texte_englisch/Framework/index.htm

• In National Accounts, calculation of net domestic product, net national income and net savings is net of consumption of fixed capital (SNA2008).

http://www.ifrs-portal.com/Texte_englisch/Framework/index.htm


Natural resources are a capital: depreciation should be calculated IFRS and SNA recommend recording depletion of economic natural assets (such as

oil, coal, ores, timber or fish stocks) which owned and managed for profit. IFRS adjusts net income calculation from natural resource depletion

(depreciation). The SNA2008 doesn't adjust Net National Income from depletion (because the

calculation is optional, measurement issues). Degradation of ecosystem functions is not recorded either by IFRS or SNA. Basic

ecological functions are simply ignored although they supply services to people and to the economy itself.

Depreciation or Consumption of Ecosystem Capital (CEC) is an unpaid cost. An unpaid cost is a debt. CEC is the measurement of the increase in ecological debts

(to future generations) and should be recorded accordingly.

Accounting for ecosystem capital degradation and depreciation aims at providing policy makers with measurements necessary to calculate the real national income, the true prices of the commodities that we use and when this price is not paid, to record the amount of debts to nature which are in reality debts to future generations.


The fast track implementation of ecosystem capital accounts in Europe

• Based on:– European experience– Current development of ecosystem accounts in the UN SEEA revision

• Objectives:– Meet the policy demand– Accounts for 27 EU countries– Best use of geographical information when possible, e.g. 1 km x 1km grid– Use of official statistics for socio-economic data– Annual accounts 2000-2010– Physical accounts first, by 2012, followed by monetary accounts

make it relevant but simple


The narrative behind Ecosystem Capital Accounts: 1- Ecosystems deliver altogether multiple services

Source: Gilbert Long, 1972 A propos du diagnostic écologique appliqué au milieu de vie de l'homme. Options Méditerranéennes, 13 , CHIEAM, Montpellier, Juin 1972

The narrative behind Ecosystem Capital Accounts: 2- Only a surplus is accessible for human use

Ecoproduct (of cycling and reproductive systems/ capital) are produced by means of other ecoproducts. The ecosystem production function includes a surplus ecoproduct that can be used by the economy. (from Anthony Friend 2004)

Economy

Basic eco-product

Non-basic eco-product

Sources: Kling/U Michigan_2005 & Friend/ISEE_2004

Necessary for ecosystem reproduction (conservation of ecosystem health, integrity, functions & services)

Surplus accessible for harvest/abstraction

The narrative behind Ecosystem Capital Accounts: 2- Only a surplus is accessible for human use

Basic eco-product

Non-basic eco-product

Sources: Kling/U Michigan_2005 & Friend/ISEE_2004

Possible compensation = artificial input (irrigation,

energy, fertilizers, infrastructures…)

Challenge = maximise yields while maintaining natural functions and biodiversity

Necessary for ecosystem reproduction (conservation of ecosystem health, integrity, functions & services)

Surplus accessible for harvest/abstraction

Non-sustainable harvest/abstraction Economy


About natural resource: availability vs. accessibility

• Available resource: the total resource (actual stocks and flows) which can be used in principle (but should to be shared between economy and nature…).

• Accessible resource: the surplus (actual stocks and flows) which can be used considering 1) physical constraints (timeliness and location, cyclical risks, bio-chemical quality) & 2) the amount to be left to nature for ecosystem reproduction. N.B.: When returned to the ecosystem (leftovers in agriculture or forestry, water returns…) the resource destroyed or modified during the production process becomes accessible again.

Ecosystem capital accounts refer to accessible resource and intensity of use.


Accessible resource: carbon/biomass, freshwater, systemic services

Accessible resource =Stocks (soil, forests, aquifers, reservoirs, landscapes…)Minus inaccessible stocks

Physical inaccessibility (deep aquifers …)Inappropriate quality (salted or polluted water, non arable land…)

Plus flows (NPP, effective rainfall…)Minus inaccessible flows

Physical inaccessibility (most of flood water, distance, non transportable resource, timeliness issues, water evaporated by irrigation…)

Inappropriate quality (polluted water)Maintenance of stocks (soil carbon, forests stock of timber, aquifer level,

dilution of pollutants in rivers…)

Plus/minus adjustment for stress, risk


Example of accessible water adjustment: occurrence of soil water stressNumber of days when no water was available for plants in 2001, 1 km^2 grid

Source: Blaz Kurnik, EEA, 2011


The narrative behind Ecosystem Capital Accounts: 3 – As a capital, ecosystems produce altogether 3 broad types of services between which there is no compensation or tradeoff: biomass/carbon AND freshwater AND systemic services. Ecosystem capital potential (& degradation) can be measured by combining measurements of these 3 broad services (accessible resources).

1 - Accessible carbon surplus

2 - Accessible water surplus

3 - Accessibleecosystem systemic services

Total Ecosystem Capital Potential

&

Ecosystem Capital Degradation

Measurement with a new physical currency: EPUE for Ecosystem Potential Unit-Equivalent

GDP,National Income,

Final Consumption at Purchasers’ price

Healthy ecosystem deliver services to the economy

& to the public well-being

Ecosystem assets/capital () Ecosystem assets/capital ()

The narrative behind Ecosystem Capital Accounts:4 – The simplified ecosystem capital accounting circuit

The narrative behind Ecosystem Capital Accounts:4 – The simplified ecosystem capital accounting circuit

Adjusted macro economic aggregates

Adjusted capital consumptionFinal demand at full price

Adjusted net domestic product (or net national income)

ES based economic

benefits (€)

ES based economic benefits (€)

ES based economic

benefits (€)

ES based economic benefits (€)

ES based economic benefits (€) ES based economic benefits (€)

Ecosystem degraded

by over-use ()

(Unpaid) costs needed to remediate ecosystem

degradation (€)

Economic system(including natural assets & ecosystem services

Economic system(including natural assets & ecosystem services (and €)

Jean-Louis Weber

Physical accounts of E-services Physical accounts

of E-services

t1

t2

()

t2 t1

Degradation of ecosystem capital

…based on remediation costs

…based on assets values

&

addition

€t2 t1 €

Valuation of E-services

€

Valuation of E-services

€ €Assessment of

remediation costs by issues

Asse

ts

Flow

s

()

Estimation of ecosystem capital depreciation: 2 possible ways

NPV & addition

€

NPV & addition

€

Asse

ts €

Calculation

of unit costs

Account of pressures

responsible of degradation

Jean-Louis Weber


From theory to statistics and accountsTheoretical background (very incomplete…):

– Georgescu-Roegen (The Entropy Law and the Economic Process (1971), – Odum (emergy) – Resource depletion: Hotelling, El Serafy– System approach : Joel de Rosnay (The macroscope, 1975)– Dissipative structures: Prigogine (The New Alliance, 1986)– L'économique et le vivant: René Passet (1977)– Natural resource economy: Naredo (1987)– Urban metabolism: Duvignaud– Global biotic regulation: Gorshkov– Co-evolving systems: Norgaard– Ecosystem services: Long (1972), Costanza and De Groot, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

(2003)– Interaction between scales: Hollin (“panarchy”)– Landscape ecology (UK)– Ecosystem units: socio-ecological systems (Gallopin, Carpenter, Rockström, MA2003…)– Ecosystem health (D. J. Rapport), resilience (the Resilience Alliance)

from economic-ecological theory to statistical practice and accounts : statistical units and classifications

Main relations between classifications & statistical units in the revised SEEA

(from UNCEEA 2009 – EEA & FAO)

Monetary Statistics of Products

Physical Statistics of Products

Land Use: productive land

functions

Land Cover: biophysical land units

Ecosystems:Socio-ecological landscape units (SELU)

(terrestrial, marine & atmospheric)

Land Functions & Ecosystem Services

Institutional & Production Units

(sectors & industries)

Land Ownership(private & public)

SNA & SEEA: assets “shared” by the economic and the ecosystem

Dw

ellin

gs &

oth

er

build

ings

and

st

ruct

ures

Mac

hine

ry a

nd

equi

pmen

t

Cul

tivat

ed b

iolo

gica

l re

sour

ces

Inve

ntor

ies

Oth

er p

rodu

cts

Land

Min

eral

and

ene

rgy

rese

rves

Non

culti

vate

d bi

olog

ical

res

ourc

es

Wat

er a

nd o

ther

na

tura

l res

ourc

es

Inta

ngib

le a

sset

s (c

ontr

acts

, lic

ence

s…)

Land x xLand cover systems x x O x xBiomass/carbon x x O x OWater O xBiodiversity O O O O OSelf regulating capacity O O O O OHealth, overall regenerative capacity N N N N

x explicitly recorded as economic assetO partly or indirectly recorded as economic assetN not recorded, externality

Assets hold by ecosystem units (forests, agro-systems,

wetlands…)

Non produced assetsProduced assetsAssets hold by economic units (enterprises, government bodies, households…)

Adapted from Ivo Havinga and Daniel Clarke, 2011


Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (draft EEA, UNEP & UNSD)

Theme Class GroupTerrestrial plant and animal foodstuffs

Freshwater plant and animal foodstuffs

Marine plant and animal foodstuffs

Potable water

Biotic materials

Abiotic materials

Renewable biofuels

Renewable abiotic energy sources

Bioremediation

Dilution and sequestration

Air flow regulation

Water flow regulation

Mass flow regulation

Atmospheric regulation

Water quality regulation

Pedogenesis and soil quality regulation

Lifecycle maintenance & habitat protection

Pest and disease control

Gene pool protection

Aesthetic, Heritage

Religious and spiritual

Recreation and community activities

Information & knowledge

Symbolic

Intellectual and Experiential

Provisioning

Regulation and Maintenance

Cultural

Nutrition

Materials

Energy

Regulation of wastes

Flow regulation

Regulation of physical environment

Regulation of biotic environment

CICES: Table E.2: Proposed Thematic, Class and Group Structure – source: EEA & Roy Haines-Young, Presented at UNCEEA 2010

Jean-Louis Weber Green Banking in the Mediterranean” November 22nd -23rd 2011, Barcelona sampling, questionnaires

Land cover classification based on FAO LCCS3Land Cover Types (SEEA vol. 1)

zoning

and derived Land Cover Functional Units (SEEA vol.2)

Code Title 01 Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) 01.a Artificial surfaces from 10 to 50 % 01.b Artificial surfaces from 51 to 100 % 02 Herbaceous crops 02.a Small size fields of herbaceous crops rainfed 02.b Small size fields of herbaceous crops irrigated or aquatic (rice) 02.c Medium to large fields of herbaceous crops rainfed 02.d Medium to large fields of herbaceous crops irrigated or aquatic (rice) 03 Woody crops 03.a Small size fields of woody crops 03.b Medium to large fields of woody crops 04 Multiple or layered crops 05 Grassland 05.a Natural grassland 05.b Improved grassland 06 Tree covered area 06.a Tree covered area from 10 to 30-40 % 06.b Tree covered area from 30-40 to 70 % 06.c Tree covered area from 70 to 100 % 07 Mangroves 08 Shrub covered area 08.a Shrub covered area from 10 to 60 % (open) 08.b Shrub covered area from 60 to 100 % (closed) 09 Shrubs and/or herbaceous vegetation aquatic or regularly flooded 09.a From 2 to 4 months 09.b More than 4 months 10 Sparsely natural vegetated areas 11 Terrestrial barren land 11.a Loose and shifting sand and/or dunes 11.b Bare soil, gravels and rocks 12 Permanent snow and glaciers 13 Inland water bodies 14 Coastal water bodies and inter-tidal areas 14.a Coastal water bodies (lagoons and/or estuaries) 14.b Inter-tidal areas (coastal flats and coral reefs)

01 Urban and associated developed areas 02 Medium to large fields rainfed herbaceous cropland 03 Medium to large fields irrigated herbaceous cropland 04 Permanent crops, agriculture plantations 05 Agriculture associations and mosaics 06 Pastures and natural grassland 07 Forest tree cover 08 Shrubland, bushland, heathland 09 Sparsely vegetated areas 10 Natural vegetation associations and mosaics 11 Barren land 12 Permanent snow and glaciers 13 Open wetlands 14 Inland water bodies 15 Coastal water bodies 16 Sea (pro memory)

Source: FAO (DiGregorio and Ramaschielo) & EEA (Steenmans & Weber) 2011

provisional

Ecosystem accounting and statistical units (continued)

SNA’s statistical units don’t record ecosystem degradation need for other units…

Theoretical units vs. observation units (proxies for collecting data)

• Theoretical units: characteristic systems into which natural and socioeconomic elements interact to transform ecosystem functions into goods and services:

– Functional units producing elementary services

– “Socio-ecological systems”, “socio ecosystems” or “Socio-ecological production landscapes” (the Japanese satoyama and satoumi)

• Observation units: – For which we can collect data in a systematic

way– Mostly surface units: “geo-systems”, land

cover units, functional administrative units, ownership units…

Japan Satoyama Satoumi Assessment, 2010.Satoyama-Satoumi Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Socio-ecological Production Landscapes of Japan – Summary for Decision Makers.United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan.

Japan Satoyama Satoumi Assessment, 2010.Satoyama-Satoumi Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Socio-ecological Production Landscapes of Japan – Summary for Decision Makers.United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan.

Land cover functional units & Socio-ecological landscape units(SELU)

ZOOM: SELU in Central Europe

ZOOM: Land cover functional units by SELU

t0

Total ecosystem capital potential & change

t1

Improvement

Degradation

Ecosystem physical degradation, sustainable benefits from ecosystem services and non-paid maintenance costs

Consumption of ecosystem capital (non-paid costs)

Sustainable benefits

(income from key ecosystem services)

Sustainable use

coefficients

Economic statistics & national accounts

Mean restoration

prices Improvement

Degradation

Sustainable benefits

(Value Added from key ecosystem

services)


Ecosystem-Economy integrated accounts

Stock

Natural production

Natural consumption

Storage/Accumulation

Stock

Extraction/ harvesting

Returns/ Formation (sectors)

Final Consumption (sectors)

Extraction/ harvesting

Returns/ Formation

Final Consumption

PHYSICAL BALANCES

QUALITY/HEALTH INDEXESQUALITY/HEALTH INDEXES

LINKAGE TABLESLINKAGE TABLES

USE OF ECOSYSTEM RESOURCE

…USE OF FOSSIL RESOURCE

…USE OF FOSSIL RESOURCE

EMISSIONS, RESIDUALS

From resource

From fossil resource

EMISSIONS, RESIDUALS

From resource

From fossil resource

EXPENDITURES

IMPORTS-EXPORTS

Actual

Virtual (embedded)

IMPORTS-EXPORTSIMPORTS-EXPORTS

Actual

Virtual (embedded)

To land accounts

To water accounts

To biodiversity indexes

VigourStability, integrity Resilience Taxes, voluntary payments

Ecosystems Economy

SEEA Volume 2SEEA Volume 1


The draft framework

Tables by Ecosystem Units Tables by Economic Units

Countries and biophysical geographical breakdowns or administrative regions

Countries and administrative regions or biophysical

geographical breakdowns

Ecosystem statistical and accouting units: socio-ecological landscape units, elementary functional units

(land cover, river reaches…), ecosystem assets, ecosystem service units

Economic statistical and accouting units:

institutional units, establishments, economic assets, commodities

[A] Land cover stocks and flows basic account: Gross and Net Land Cover Change

Land use statistics

[B] Ecosystem Capital Carbon/biomass Account: Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance (NECB)

& Net Ecosystem Accessible Carbon Surplus (NEACS)

Physical supply and use tables & economic assets accounts. Agriculture, forestry & fishery statistics

[C] Ecosystem Capital Water Account: Total Ecosystem Accessible Fresh Water (TEAW)

& Net Ecosystem Accessible Fresh Water Surplus (NEAWS)

Physical supply and use tables & economic assets accounts. Water use statistics

[D] Landscape green infrastructure accounts: Landscape Ecosystem Potential (LEP),

Green Accessible Landscape Infrastructure (GALI) & Rivers Ecosystem Potential (REP)

[E] Ecosystem Capital Biodiversity Account: Biodiversity Infrastructure Integrity (BII) & Ecosystem's Biodiversity Rating (EBR)

[F1] Ecosystem Total Potential Account, Net Change & Ecosystem Capital Degradation (ECD),

in Ecosystem Potential Unit Equivalents (EPUE)

[F2] Account of Territorial Ecosystem Capital Degradation (TECD) by Stress Factors (in EPUE)

[G] Demand and Accessibility to Ecosystem Services: Ecosystem Carbon/biomass per capita,

Ecosystem Fresh Water per capita, Green Infrastructure Neighbourhood Ecosystem Services (GINES)

[I] Estimation of unit costs of ecosystem capital restoration by Stress Factors

Environmental protection and management expenditure (part)

[J] Ecosystem Capital Depreciation: Territorial Consumption of Ecosystem Capital in money

[K] Account of Ecosystem Capital Degradation & Depreciation Embedded into Imports and Exports,

in EPUE & in money

[M] Economic aggregates and additional adjustments for CEC, in money: Gross Domestic Consumption of Ecosystem Capital

(GDCEC), GDCEC Adjusted Net Domestic Product, Final Consumption at Full Price (including GDCEC)

Jean-Louis Weber 22 September 2011

Ecos

yste

m T

otal

Po

tenti

alEc

osys

tem

D

epre

ciati

on

[H] Ecosystem Physical Balance Sheet: Stocks and Change of Physical Assets & Physical Liabilities, in EPUE

[L] Account of Macro-economic Benefits induced by Sustainable Ecosystem Services: Degradation-Adjusted Total Induced Value Added (by SELU & ISIC)

[N] Ecosystem Financial Balance Sheet: Change of Financial Assets and Stocks and Change of Financial Liabilities

Ana

lyti

cal a

nd

repo

rting

uni

ts,

clas

sific

ation

sBa

sic

acco

unts

Polluting emissions and waste generation by sectorsAgriculture, forestry & forestry statistics, Land use accounts

Basic accounts

Synthesis tables in physical units

Monetary accounts


The basic accounts

by ecosystem units by economic sectors


The synthesis tables



The monetary accounts


N


Key Indicators and Aggregates• Net Ecosystem Accessible Carbon Surplus (Use/NEACS reflects intensity of use;

it integrates resource efficiency and ecosystem)• Net Ecosystem Accessible Fresh Water Surplus• Green Accessible Landscape Infrastructure (and demand of services in the

Neighbourhood of human settlement (GINES))

• Net Total Ecosystem Capital Potential and Ecosystem Capital Degradation (integrates acessible carbon, water and landscape and mean biodiversity rating basis to calculate Consumption of Ecosystem Capital in €)

• Final Consumption at Full Price (the full cost of commodities in € integrates purchasers’ prices and non-paid domestic consumption of ecosystem capital (CEC), and relates to unfair trade and ecological debts)

• Imports at Full Price (total of imports at CIF price and Ecosystem capital depreciation virtually embedded into imports)

• CEC Adjusted Net Domestic Product (or/and Net National Income, or/and Net Savings) (a more complete adjustment of Net Product, Net Income or Net Savings includes in addition subsoil resource depletion).


About ecological debts…

• CEC is a new debt to national future generations• CEC can be embedded into imports and exports there are external debts• Other ecological debts don’t result from CEC but from collectively stated targets; they

correspond to recovery of historical or degradation demand for improvements; they are stated in legal documents (national law or programme, international conventions with quantified objectives…) which are voted by parliaments.

• Physical Debts and Monetary Debts are recorded separately; the repayment of the monetary debt doesn’t not necessarily extinguishes the physical debt is CEC has been underestimated; oppositely, unexpected natural processes or changes in land use may lead to a “cheaper” recovery cost.

• Financial ecosystem assets, physical and monetary units exist as well. They are the are the counterpart of:

– The non-financial natural assets in the SNA sense (owned and managed for profit); they should never be consolidated with debts or rights related to non-market values

– Rights for compensation in case of exported CEC; such right could be claimed in counterpart of actual restoration only;

– Rights related to verified improvements (by an international organisation)– International allocation of rights regarding global ecosystem issues and national potentilas

Bertrand de Jouvenel 1968: “Because National Accounts are based on financial transactions, they account nothing for Nature, to which we don’t owe anything in terms of payments but to which we owe everything in terms of livelihood.”


About ecological debts… other consolidation rules for ecological debts:

– Physical debts are not directly transferable; e.g. acquisition of debts from foreign country (embedded in imports) cannot be extinguished by ecosystem improvement in the buyer country;

– When created by physical debts, monetary debts are not mechanically extinguished by repayment but by the extinction (remediation) of the physical debt itself;

– Because physical ecosystem capital assets are not valued, monetary debts cannot be consolidated with monetary ecosystem non-financial assets;

– Monetary debts can be consolidated with financial ecosystem capital assets in the context of international mitigation systems if they include initial allocations of (non transferable) ecosystem capital rights and/or recording systems for ecosystem improvement and consolidation rules.

– The physical counterparts (units: Ecosystem Potential Unit-Equivalents) of approved allocations and improvement s are not transferable. However they can be leased to ecological debtors (countries, business…)


Thank you!

Jean-Louis [email protected]@gmail.com

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