Towards SEEA - Energy

The United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting (UNCEEA) at its second meeting discussed the project management framework for the preparation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Energy (SEEA-E). Following the UNCEEA recommendation, the United Nations Statistics Division in collaboration with the London Group on Environmental Accounting and the Oslo Group on Energy Statistics started working on the drafting of the SEEA-E. The UNCEEA at its third meeting discussed the scope and coverage of the SEEA-E, the process for its drafting and a timetable for its finalization

The SEEA-E will provide the international statistical standard for energy and energy-related air emission accounts consisting of agreed concepts, definitions, classifications and inter-related tables and accounts. The drafting of the SEEA-E will provide input in the revision of the SEEA and in particular in solving the list of issues related to energy accounts in the research agenda to elevate the SEEA to the level of an international statistical standard.

The drafting of the SEEA-E is fully coordinated with the drafting of the International Recommendation of Energy Statistics (IRES), which is also being drafted by UNSD in cooperation with the Oslo Group. IRES will cover a broad range of issues in energy statistics ranging from basic concepts, definitions and classifications to data sources, data compilation strategies, energy balances and dissemination. IRES will comply to the extent possible with the SEEA-E conceptual structure and data needs and the SEEA-E will develop its accounting standards on the basis of the IRES (e.g., using IRES definitions of data items and classifications of energy products and flows).

In the preparation of the SEEA-E, UNSD is assisted by a drafting group consisting of members from the London Group on Environmental Accounting and the Oslo Group on Energy Statistics.