Users and Uses of Environmental Accounts : A Review of Select Developed Countries

The findings of this study are presented in the main body of the report on a country-by country basis in alphabetical order. For each country, a brief overview of the environmental accounting system in terms of the scope, frequency of update, length of time series, and any other relevant information regarding the accounts making up the system is given. This is followed by a table listing each of the accounts that make up the system and describing them in terms of the basic information noted above (name, frequency, and so on). The summary table is then followed by in-depth descriptions of the most policy-relevant users and uses for each country. The purpose of these descriptions is to show who is using the accounts and for what purpose and how the uses are related to policy. For the most part, the discussion around these points is factual and drawn directly from the material collected during the research for the study. In addition, comments are offered in various places regarding the features of the accounts that may make them appealing to their users. These comments are the opinion of the author and are based on his experience developing environmental accounts in Canada and internationally