The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), with support of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), is organizing an international seminar on environment statistics and accounting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 21 to 22 September 2009. The seminar aims at raising awareness in Brazil and the region more generally, of the importance of integrating environmental, economic and social statistics into a common framework, the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), to produce information needed for policy and decision making related to the environment and sustainable development. The seminar seeks to develop a dialogue between the main users and producers of environmental information in Brazil by identifying the information needed for policy making and by discussing how the environmental accounting framework meets these needs. Experience in other regions of the world as well as in countries more advanced in the implementation of the SEEA will help in stimulating the discussion on how the integrated information system could be implemented in Brazil.

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), is conducting a technical workshop to assist countries with the implementation of the System of Environmental Economic Accounting for Water (SEEA-Water). The workshop is being hosted by ECLAC in Santiago, Chile and will take place from 1 to 4 June 2009. The workshop has a practical focus and will provide countries with the necessary training to implement the System of Environmental and Economic Accounts for Water (SEEA-Water). The workshop will cover the SEEA-Water standard tables, how they are compiled, and global implementation of the SEEA-Water. Participating countries will share experiences in implementing the SEEA-Water, compile SEEA-Water Standard tables using national data and develop a plan for the implementation of the SEEA-Water in participating countries.

Topic 6.4 Data for All

The World Water Forum is the held every three years and the 5th Forum was held in Istanbul, Turkey from 16 to 22 March 2009. It was attended by more than 20,000 people and covered 6 themes and 23 topics, including the Topic 6.4 Data for All. Under this topic the UNSD and the National Water Commission of Mexico coordinated Session 6.4.2 “Data Integration and Dissemination: From Data to Information”. Other sessions under Topic 6.4, addressed: data needs and data acquisition (Session 6.4.1); barriers to data availability (Session 6.4.3), and; actions to ensure data for all (Session 6.4.4).

Session 6.4.2 examined the frameworks and indicators for data integration and analysis, including the newly adopted international statistical standard the System of Environmental Economic Accounting for Water (SEEAW). It also addressed: how to effectively integrate data already collected into a common framework to provide users with a comprehensive picture and better understanding of the issues surrounding water and how to decide what additional data collection could most benefit decision-making.

Jointly organized by MEDSTAT II Environment Sector, UNESCWA and UNSD. This training course aims at providing a sound knowledge on the compilation and practical and operational use of the SEEAW.

Jointly organized by UNSD and the Central Bank and Ministry of Environment of the Dominican Republic. The objectives of the workshop are: (a) to provide an overview of environmental accounting; (b) to present the framework and uses of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts for Water (SEEAW); and (c) to discuss the requirements for the advancement of the implementation of the SEEAW in the ECLAC region.

The meeting was organized jointly by the ESCWA, UNSD/DESA and UNEP-ROWA. It focused on the uses, benefits and implementation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts for Water or SEEAW. Water is an important issue for the ESCWA region as it is among the poorest in the world in terms of volume of freshwater available. The development and provision of high quality information on both the environmental and economic aspects of water is critical to the development and monitoring of effective water policy in the ESCWA region. The meeting involved participants from national statistical offices as well as environment and water agencies.

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) organized a training course on the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water Resources (SEEAW), New York, 13-17 November 2006, in response to the request of technical assistance from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS).

This training is part of a joint project of the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on the ‘Pilot Compilation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water (SEEAW) in China’.

Jointly organized by the Government of Morocco, the Division for Sustainable Development and UNSD.

Jointly organized by UNSD and the Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) of the Republic of Indonesia. The Workshop was the second on environmental accounting held under the United Nations project "Strengthening the Regional Capacity for Statistical Development in South-East Asia".

Jointly organized by UNSD, the Natural Resource Accounting in Southern Africa (NRASA) funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Regional Center for Southern Africa, and the Resource Accounting Network for Eastern and Southern Africa (RANESA) funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).

Jointly organized by UNSD, UNDP and the National Statistical Coordination Board of the Philippines as part of the United Nations project "Strengthening the Regional Capacity for Statistical Development in South-East Asia”.

Jointly organized by UNSD, the Natural Resource Accounting in Southern Africa (NRASA) project (funded by USAID Regional Center for Southern Africa) and the Resource Accounting Network for Eastern and Southern Africa (RANESA) (funded by SIDA).

Jointly organized by UNSD and FAO.

Organized by UNSD.

Jointly organized by UNSD and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

Jointly organized by UNSD and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Jointly organized by UNSD and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).