MPO




MPO - Root Cause


GDP and per capita income are key economic indicators which are the basis for generating future output and income. They are misleading because they conceal the depletion and degradation of natural assets, and, therefore, do not measure the level of output or income that can be sustained. More accurate indicators are those that are net of the erosion of assets, both human-made and natural. By comparing the amount of total investment and asset erosion, we can observe whether net investment, over time, has been increasing or not. Positive net investment is the condition for sustaining and raising the current standards of living.

In the last few years, the MPO has been advocating changes in the current national accounting system with a view to integrate the values of natural resources and environmental services into product and income calculations. These efforts culminated in two WWF-initiated international conferences in 1995. "Taking Nature into Account" was co-sponsored by the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Club of Rome. "Accounting for the Future" was co-sponsored by the World Bank, World Conservation Union (IUCN), National Wildlife Federation (NWF), and the Bank Information Center (BIC). A WWF publication, "Real Value for Nature - An Overview of Global Efforts to Achieve True Measures of Economic Progress", served as the basic document for these conferences.

Currently, the MPO is developing projects to apply green accounting to specific sectors: forests, fisheries, minerals, and energy. The focus is to apply the results from green accounting to specific policy issues. The MPO is also represented on a United Nations expert group ("Nairobi Group") mandated to produce an operational and training manual for green accounting.

For further information, please contact:
MPO
Email: MPO@wwfus.org

  • List of Studies on Resource Accounting
  • Papers on related topics: Public environmental expenditure
  • Paper on the Cost of Pollution







  • Fish stocks, an undervalued asset

    Public protests have recently decried the dramatic depletion of world fishing stocks, a trend so grave as to threaten whole coastal regions and fishing industries with loss of livelihood. Yet no traditional economic indicator measures the value of this important "natural capital"; no depletion allowance accounts for the cost of running it down. The current system of accounts provides positive incentives for negative behavior, encouraging destruction of finite natural resources by treating them as if they were free.