The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) express the commitment of countries to integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national planning. The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EEA) is an emerging international standard measurement framework for national ecosystem accounting. The international official statistics community proposes the SEEA-EEA as a means of integrating ecosystem and biodiversity values into national planning by providing guidance on measuring ecosystems and their contribution to the economy. Implementation of such a common measurement framework requires agreement among diverse ethical perspectives, disciplines, national contexts and roles on what to measure, how to measure it and how to interpret those measures to support a common policy direction. This thesis asks the question: If the aim is to provide guidance to countries on integrating ecosystem and biodiversity values into national planning, how could one foster convergence on a common national ecosystem accounting framework that is sufficiently comprehensive to capture the important linkages between ecosystems and human well-being, sufficiently convergent to be accepted by diverse perspectives, sufficiently rigorous for national official statistics, sufficiently consistent to allow for time-series and international comparisons and sufficiently feasible to be affordable for national governments to implement and maintain? To address this broader question, this thesis investigates the sources of divergence in national ecosystem accounting and develops tools to assess and to foster convergence. To accomplish this, I focussed on the following four research questions in four separate papers: 1. How should we think about ecosystem measurement if the aim is comprehensiveness, practicality, and convergence? [Chapter 2] This ethical analysis concludes that for ecosystem accounting to be universal, it needs to explicitly and simultaneously address broad human values, long time-frames, and the concepts of Critical Natural Capital and precaution. 2. What approaches to ecosystem accounting have already been developed and are they sufficient? [Chapter 3] This review of 16 state-of-the-art frameworks finds that none addresses all requirements for convergence on a common national ecosystem accounting framework. Collectively, they provide insufficient guidance on ecosystem classification, measurement in general, delineating Critical Natural Capital, incorporating broad human values and measuring statistical uncertainty. 3. Where is the divergence of values and preferences within the broader community of practice (researchers, users, analysts)? [Chapter 4] This cluster analysis of a survey of 131 expert stakeholders in national ecosystem accounting revealed agreement on the need for broadening the scope, addressing multiple decision contexts and furthering the development of national ecosystem accounting. The most important divergence issues in this community of practice were attributed to different ethical perspectives and differences in interpretation of core concepts. 4. Are current classifications of ecosystems and ecosystem services sufficient for national ecosystem accounting? [Chapter 5] This meta-analysis integrates nine comprehensive ecosystem assessments. It concludes that the lack of rigour in current classifications impedes consensus on aggregating information on “Which ecosystems produce which services?” and therefore current approaches are insufficient for national ecosystem accounting. I suggest an improved ecosystem classification for future studies. In the concluding chapter, I present a synthesis of research arguments and findings of the previous four chapters. The main outcome of this research has been not only the specific findings of the individual chapters, but also the development of a normative and empirically-supported toolkit to improve convergence and aggregation in future national ecosystem accounting frameworks: - Four normative criteria to assess frameworks and to incorporate into future designs and revisions, - A critical comparative assessment of current frameworks, - An empirically supported analysis of the preferences of the community of practice, and - A systematic approach for determining priority ecosystems and services for national ecosystem accounting. This thesis concludes that national ecosystem accounting can be a valuable tool for national planning. The approaches suggested can be applied to establishing a constructive national dialogue on national environmental priorities, to provide evidence to inform those priorities and to apply this evidence to support common policy platforms. However, care must be taken in its implementation to minimize the inherent risks of oversimplification and homogenization of the diverse stakeholder and scientific perspectives.

Environmentally extended multiregional input-output (EE MRIO) tables have emerged as a key framework to provide a comprehensive description of the global economy and analyze its effects on the environment. Of the available EE MRIO databases, EXIOBASE stands out as a database compatible with the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) with a high sectorial detail matched with multiple social and environmental satellite accounts. In this paper, we present the latest developments realized with EXIOBASE 3-a time series of EE MRIO tables ranging from 1995 to 2011 for 44 countries (28 EU member plus 16 major economies) and five rest of the world regions. EXIOBASE 3 builds upon the previous versions of EXIOBASE by using rectangular supply-use tables (SUTs) in a 163 industry by 200 products classification as the main building locks. In order to capture structural changes, economic developments, as reported by national statistical agencies, were imposed on the available, disaggregated SUTs from EXIOBASE 2. These initial estimates were further refined by incorporating detailed data on energy, agricultural production, resource extraction, and bilateral trade. EXIOBASE 3 inherits the high level of environmental stressor detail from its precursor, with further improvement in the level of detail for resource xtraction. To account for the expansion of the European Union (EU), EXIOBASE 3 was developed with the full EU28 country set (including the new member state Croatia). EXIOBASE 3 provides a unique tool for analyzing the dynamics of environmental pressures of economic activities over time.

The aim of the thesis is a framework analysis of the current situation and the use of environmental accounting in relation to sustainable development in the Czech Republic. To achieve the goal of this work were used analytical methods, content analysis, comparison and statistical data. In particular, official documents at the level of the European Union and the Czech Republic on sustainable development and environmental accounting were examined. The European Union has the main influence on the environmental accounting in the Czech Republic and Czech Republic, as a member of the European Union, therefore, act in accordance with established European objectives. Also, the institutions concerned were contacted by structured interview. The work provides a comprehensive description of the development and current state of environmental accounting in the Czech republic. Based on the findings also work provides an overall assessment of the situation and suggestions for potential improvement.

[EN] New European policies established in the Blueprint (EC, 2012) propose the use of water accounting for the allocation and reservation of water resources. This course correction contrasts with the calculation of water balances that has been used since the last century in Spain for this purpose. According to the European Commission (EC, 2015) the difference between the two approaches is the inclusion of the economic component. This argument is indisputable, but it would also add that both "asset accounts" and the physical supply and use tables require a type of information that had not been considered until now. In view of this new challenge, the use of hydrological and water resources management models is essential. This thesis aims to implement a methodology for the transition between water balances and water accounting considering the special characteristics of the Mediterranean basin (with a high degree of regulation and the use of unconventional resources). In the same line, it raises the need for the definition of an indicator to assess the performance of a water resources system taking into consideration the origin of the water resources as a measure of the degree of stress suffered by the systems. This thesis is presented by publications and seeks to address the methodologies and indicators used to date in the planning and management of water resources. First, the state of the art is analyzed in the first publication of the thesis, as detailed in Annex 1. The second publication, analyzes the key elements for formulating water balances that will determine, to a large extent, results obtained, as detailed in Annex 2. The third publication, in Annex 3, tries to explain how in those basins where the use of water resources is close, or even higher, to their availability, the use of balances based solely on variables such as rainfall and temperature are not sufficient. And due to the high regulation of water resources they should also include the results of water management models. This approach contrasts with the proposals made by the countries of northern Europe focused mainly on hydrological models. In order to address the water accounting approach a pilot case located in the Andalusian Mediterranean basins was analysed. This work is presented in the fourth publication, reproduced in Annex 4. This initial analysis has served to highlight the need to develop a complementary software that allows unify the results of hydrological and water management models for calculating water accounts. The development of this software, which has been called AQUACCOUNTS, and its application to a general case with all the detail required in water resources planning has been published in the fifth article presented in Annex 5, taking the Júcar River Basin as a case study. From these results, a classification of water exploitation systems was carried out according to their degree of stress. These results were compared with the ones in Annex 2 which proposes the use of the indicator of exploitable water resources and which has been obtained with the traditional water balances approach. Finally, Annex 6 includes the last publication of this thesis focused on the effects of climate change in the Po River Basin (Italy) by using water accounting. This work has served to identify those key elements within the simulation models and opens the door to improve them within the approach proposed by the SEEA-W. This thesis aims to collaborate with those responsible for European policies in water resource planning for the application of those methodologies and tools appropriate to each territory. / [ES] Las nuevas políticas europeas establecidas en el Blueprint (EC, 2012) proponen el uso de la contabilidad del agua para la asignación y reserva de los recursos. Esta corrección del rumbo (cambio de paradigma) contrasta con el cálculo de balances que se ha venido utilizando desde el siglo pasado en España para dicho fin. Según la Comisión Europea (EC, 2015) la diferencia entre ambos planteamientos se halla en la inclusión de la componente económica. Este argumento es indiscutible, pero habría que añadir además que tanto las "asset accounts" como las tablas físicas de uso y suministro requieren un tipo de información que hasta ahora no se había considerado. A la vista de este nuevo reto, el uso de los modelos hidrológicos y de gestión de los recursos hídricos se hace imprescindible. Con esta tesis se pretende llevar a cabo una metodología que permita la transición entre los balances hídricos y las cuentas del agua teniendo en cuenta las especiales características de las cuencas mediterráneas (con un elevado grado de regulación y el uso de recursos no convencionales). En esta misma línea se plantea la definición de un indicador que trate de discutir el comportamiento conjunto de un sistema de recursos hídricos y que tenga en consideración el origen de los recursos empleados como medida del grado de estrés de los sistemas. Esta tesis se presenta por compendio de publicaciones y trata de abordar las metodologías e indicadores utilizados hasta la fecha en la planificación y gestión de los recursos hídricos. En primer lugar se analiza el estado del arte que constituye la primera publicación de la tesis, tal y como se detalla en el Anexo 1. La segunda publicación, analiza los elementos clave para la formulación de balances que determinarán, en gran medida, los resultados obtenidos, tal y como se detalla en el Anexo 2. La tercera publicación, en el Anexo 3, trata de explicar cómo en las cuencas donde el aprovechamiento de los recursos es cercano o incluso superior a su disponibilidad, el uso de los balances basados únicamente en variables como la precipitación y la temperatura no son suficientes, sino que debido a la alta regulación de los recursos debe recurrirse además a los modelos de gestión. Este planteamiento contrasta con las propuestas planteadas por los países del norte de Europa centrados principalmente en los modelos hidrológicos. Para abordar el tema se ha partido de un caso piloto localizado en las cuencas mediterráneas andaluzas. Este trabajo se presenta en la cuarta publicación, que se reproduce en el Anexo 4. A partir de este análisis inicial, se vio la necesidad de desarrollar un software complementario que permitiese unificar tanto la información de partida como los resultados de los modelos hidrológicos y de gestión para el cálculo de la contabilidad del agua. El desarrollo de este software, que ha sido denominado AQUACCOUNTS, y su aplicación a un caso general con todo el detalle requerido en planificación se ha publicado en el quinto artículo que se presenta en el Anexo 5, siendo la Demarcación Hidrográfica del Júcar el caso de estudio. A partir de los resultados obtenidos se ha llevado a cabo una clasificación de los sistemas de explotación según su grado de desarrollo comparándose con los resultados obtenidos en el Anexo 2 que propone el uso del indicador de recursos explotables y que se ha obtenido con las metodologías tradicionales de balances. Por último, el Anexo 6 recoge la última publicación de esta tesis en la que se analizan los efectos del cambio climático en la cuenca del río Po (Italia) mediante el uso de la contabilidad del agua. Este trabajo ha servido para identificar aquellos elementos clave dentro de los modelos de simulación y abre las puertas a una mejora de los mismos dentro del enfoque planteado por el SEEA-W. Esta tesis pretende colaborar con los responsables de las políticas europeas en materia de planificación para la apl / [CAT] Les noves polítiques europees establides en el Blueprint (EC, 2012) proposen l'ús de la comptabilitat de l'aigua per a l'assignació i reserva dels recursos hídrics. Esta correcció del rumb (o canvi de paradigma) contrasta amb el càlcul de balanços que s'ha utilitzat des del segle passat a Espanya per a aquesta finalitat. Segons la Comissió Europea (EC, 2015) la diferència entre ambdós plantejaments es troba en la inclusió de la component econòmica. Este argument és indiscutible, però caldria afegir a més que tant les "asset accounts" com les taules físiques d'ús i subministrament requerixen un tipus d'informació que fins ara no s'havia considerat. A la vista d'este nou repte, l'ús dels models hidrològics i de gestió dels recursos hídrics es fa imprescindible. Amb esta tesi es pretén dur a terme una metodologia que permeta la transició entre els balanços hídrics i els comptes de l'aigua tenint en compte les especials característiques de les conques mediterrànies (amb un elevat grau de regulació i l'ús de recursos no convencionals). En esta mateixa línia es planteja la definició d'un indicador que tracte de discutir el comportament conjunt d'un sistema de recursos hídrics i que tinga en consideració l'origen dels recursos empleats com a mesura del grau d'estrés dels sistemes. Esta tesi es presenta per compendi de publicacions i tracta d'abordar les metodologies i indicadors utilitzats fins a la data en la planificació i gestió dels recursos hídrics. En primer lloc s'analitza l'estat de l'art que constituïx la primera publicació de la tesi, tal com es detalla en l'Annex 1. La segona publicació, analitza els elements clau per a la formulació de balanços que determinaran, en gran manera, els resultats obtinguts, tal com es detalla en l'Annex 2. La tercera publicació, en l'Annex 3, tracta d'explicar com en les conques on l'aprofitament dels recursos és pròxim o inclús superior a la seua disponibilitat, l'ús dels balanços basats únicament en variables com la precipitació i la temperatura no són suficients, sinó que a causa de l'alta regulació dels recursos ha de recórrer-se a més als models de gestió. Este plantejament contrasta amb les propostes plantejades pels països del nord d'Europa centrats principalment en el models hidrològics. Per a abordar el tema s'ha partit d'un cas pilot localitzat en les conques mediterrànies andaluses. Este treball es presenta en la quarta publicació, que es reproduïx en l'Annex 4. A partir d'aquest anàlisi inicial, es va veure la necessitat de desenrotllar una ferramenta complementaria que permetera unificar tant la informació de partida com els resultats dels models hidrològics i de gestió per al càlcul de la comptabilitat de l'aigua. El desenrotllament d'esta ferramenta, que ha sigut denominat AQUACCOUNTS, i la seua aplicació a un cas general amb tot el detall requerit en planificació s'ha publicat en el quint article que es presenta en l'Annex 5, sent la Demarcació Hidrogràfica del Xúquer el cas d'estudi. A partir dels resultats obtinguts s'ha dut a terme una classificació dels sistemes d'explotació segons el seu grau de desenrotllament comparant-se amb els resultats obtinguts en l'Annex 2 que proposa l'ús de l'indicador de recursos explotables i que s'ha obtingut amb les metodologies tradicionals de balanços. Finalment, l'Annex 6 arreplega l'última publicació d'esta tesi en què s'analitzen els efectes del canvi climàtic en la conca del riu Po (Itàlia) per mitjà de l'ús de la comptabilitat de l'aigua. Este treball ha servit per a identificar aquells elements clau dins dels models de simulació i obri les portes a una millora dels mateixos dins de l'enfocament plantejat pel SEEA-W. Esta tesi pretén col·laborar amb els responsables de les polítiques europees en matèria de planificació per a l'aplicació d'aquelles metodologies i ferramentes més adequades a cada territori. / Pedro Monzonís, M. (2016). Assessment of water exploitation indexes based on water accounting [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/71677 / TESIS