Offshore fishing vessels of Phu Quy island (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Ocean accounting, which is built based on the Systemof Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), helps experts and policy-makersevaluate the actual contribution the seas make to the economy, heard a workshopheld in Hanoi on October 11.
The event was held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’sInstitute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPNRE) incollaboration with Germany’s Hanns Seidel Foundation and the United NationsEconomic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Experts said that SEEA is a framework that integrates economic andenvironmental data to provide a more comprehensive and multi-purpose view ofthe interrelationships between the economy and the environment, and the stocksand changes in stocks of environmental assets. SEEA provides criteria to buildphysical data on the environment, and link it with the monetary data in theSystem of National Account (SNA).
Michael Bordt, an ESCAP expert, laid stress on the significance of ocean tolivelihoods, nutrition and economic growth in Asia-Pacific, saying oceanaccounting will help experts estimate exact statistics on the totalcontribution of the fishery sector to the economy as well as maximumsustainable yield.
Meanwhile, Nguyen The Chinh, ISPNRE director, said the institute is joininghands with ESCAP to carry out a pilot study on national ocean accounting tointegrate information from all scientific sectors, policy frameworks andmechanisms to follow the progress of implementing the Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs).
The move is also aimed at improving interdisciplinary policies to optimisesustainable ocean exploitation and reduce the risks of ecosystem degradationand natural disasters, he added.
Chinh said the workshop created opportunities for the institute to share andconsult related stakeholders on the initial findings of the pilot study inQuang Ninh province which focused on pollution from the mainland and theimpacts of tourism on the ocean.
At the event, experts shared their views on identifying mainland pollutionsources, the impacts of tourism on the ecosystem in the piloted areas, andopportunities to expand ocean accounting cooperation in other localities./.
VNA
