Accounts of the extent, condition and services provided by Australia’s ecosystems for the 2020-21 year were delivered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in the first national foray into accounting for nature.
This ground-breaking report estimates the monetary benefits of ecosystem services as well as just plain accounting for their extent and condition – allowing natural accounts to match our very detailed national financial accounts such as GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and CPI (Cost Price Index).
This is an approach explored by BIEN and partners prior to Covid 19, which was shelved due to resource constraints and perceived complexity. It is heartening to see the baton grasped by our Commonwealth Government.
John Hawkins, writing in The Conversation, speaks cogently about the utility of this approach, highlighting that we need to be tracking the loss of nature-created ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, climate dampening and water filtration to compare to growth in the human-created economy. All too often, nature loses out to the economy.
BIEN is keen to nurture and repair the Island’s natural assets and the services they deliver to our communities and would love to return to detailed environmental accounting as resources permit.
