Lunchtime Seminar on Introduction to the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (SEEA AFF) Tuesday 3 March 2015, 1:15 – 2:30 pm Venue: Conference Room 1 (CB) United Nations, New York

It is increasingly recognized that the role of agriculture, fisheries and forestry will be central in achieving the sustainable development goals at both national and international level. These activities are fundamental to the provision of basic needs, are commonly at the heart of the relationship between economies and the environment, and are activities that provide employment and social structure to many millions of people, often living in poverty. There is also recognition that integrated solutions are required to balance the economic, environmental and social outcomes of those involved and connected to agriculture, forestry and fisheries activity. Integrated information must be one part of this equation.

In response to the increasing demands for integrated information on economic, environmental and social issues the UNSC adopted, at its forty-third session in 2012, the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012 – Central Framework (SEEA Central Framework) as the international statistical standard for environmental-economic accounting.

Reflecting both the need for integrated information on agriculture, forestry and fisheries and the developments in the SEEA, work commenced on the drafting of what has become known as the SEEA for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (SEEA AFF) under the auspices of the UN Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting and the support of the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics. The SEEA AFF has been discussed in several statistical fora (e.g. the UNCEEA, the London Group on Environmental Accounting, an expert group meeting organized to review the draft, etc.) and several agricultural statistics events.

At the end of 2014, a draft SEEA AFF was circulated for global consultation and will undergo further revision and consultations during the course of 2015. It is expected that the SEEA AFF will become part of the SEEA “family” and it is intended to be issues jointly by FAO and UNSD.

This seminar will be organized as panel discussion and aims to:

• Raise awareness of the SEEA AFF work with high-level leaders within national statistical offices and the international statistical community;
• Demonstrate the potential for the implementation of SEEA AFF at country level;
• Highlight the relevance of the SEEA AFF for the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics;
• Highlight the connections between the SEEA AFF, the SEEA implementation and the development of indicators for the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Chair and Panelists
Chair:
	Ivo Havinga, Assistant Director, United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)
Panelists:
	Carl Obst, Lead author of the SEEA AFF, presentation
	Former SEEA Editor Dr. Suryamin, Chief Statistician, Statistics Indonesia, presentation
	André Loranger, Assistant Chief Statistician, Statistics Canada, presentation
Concluding remarks:
	Pietro Gennari, Chief Statistician and Director Statistics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, presentation