Extensions of the SNA-type Systems

The fourth group builds upon the existing SNA and covers all the sectors that interact with the environment rather than focusing on just one element of the conventional accounts such as depreciation or pollution expenditure accounting. Examples of such an approach are the United Nations Satellite System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) and Environmental and Natural Resource Accounting Framework (ENRAP) (also referred to as Peskin framework).

Both the approaches require sector-specific information on the use of environmental assets, and are concerned with the management and score-keeping functions of accounting. But the principal difference between these two lies in the extent of their adherence to SNA concepts. SEEA appears much more concerned with adherence to the principle of SNA than to economic theory. The ENRAP framework, on the other hand, stresses more on the consistency with economic d theory than with the SNA (Peskin, 1998).

The SEEA attempts to overcome the limitations of the SNA by reclassifying the elements in other volume changes so as to include them in the calculation of NDP. In the absence of international consensus on how to incorporate environmental assets and the costs and benefits of their use into national accounts, the United Nations Statistical Division approved the "satellite" System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting framework rather than modifying the core SNA itself. The satellite system becomes a link between the SNA and the accounts describing the natural environment. The main success of SEEA is because of its close integration with the SNA and also due to its ability to address various flaws of conventional national accounts by means of alternative versions or modules. The building block approach allows SEEA users to choose among different approaches according to their priorities and statistical capabilities.