The 2025 System of National Accounts (SNA) includes important changes compared with the 2008 SNA when it comes to the measurement and recording of natural resources. These changes aim to enhance the usefulness of the SNA to respond to data needs on the environment and the economy for analysis and policy making. However, they also present practical measurement challenges, in particular when it comes to the monetary valuation of natural resources and their depletion or regeneration.
In response and at the request of the Intersecretariat Working Group on National Accounts (ISWGNA), the OECD Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy (CSSP) established the OECD informal Expert Group on Natural Capital1 (EGNC) in 2023. The main objective of the EGNC was to develop practical guidance for countries to implement the recommendations as included in the 2025 SNA in the area of natural resources. This compilation guide is the result of the work by the expert group.
The compilation guide was drafted by Bram Edens (OECD) with major contributions from Sarah Barahona (formerly OECD). The text boxes with country examples were provided by members of the EGNC, in alphabetical order (country example, author(s)): Austria: Sylvia Gierlinger (Statistics Austria); Canada: Matthew Hoffarth, Matthew Kelly, David Krochmalnek (Statistics Canada); Costa Rica: Silvia Arguedas (Central Bank of Costa Rica); France: Sylvain Larrieu (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques); Indonesia: Zanial Firdaus (Statistics Indonesia); Netherlands; Sjoerd Schenau (Statistics Netherlands); Mexico: Cesar Cabrera, Raul Figueroa, Federico Gonzalez (Mexican National Institute of Statistics and Geography - INEGI); Norway: Trude Nygård Evensen, Sindre Midttun, Steinar Todsen (Statistics Norway); United Kingdom: Adam Dutton (formerly United Kingdom Office for National Statistics). Annex A was drafted by Timothy Na (University of Leiden) during his internship at the OECD.
The development of the guidelines was overseen by the EGNC, initially chaired by Sarah Barahona, later by Jorrit Zwijnenburg (OECD). Special thanks go to the members of the EGNC who discussed and reviewed successive drafts of the guidelines:
Sylvia Gierlinger, Milla Neubauer (Statistics Austria); Kamran Kazemzadeh (Permanent Delegation of Austria to the OECD); Pavlina Hristova, Iliyana Ivanova (Bulgarian National Statistical Institute); Brenda Bugge, Matthew Hoffarth, Roxane Jaffray, Matthew Kelly, Dave Krochmalnek, Joe St. Lawrence (Statistics Canada); Enrique Calfucura (Central Bank of Chile); Diego Cobaleda, Angie Contreras Sanabria (National Administrative Department of Statistics Colombia - DANE); Silvia Arguedas; Monica Rodriguez (Central Bank of Costa Rica); Marina Adly; Youstina Adel, Nada Fadel, Nouran Mabrouk, Nadeen Magdy, Nariman Sayed (Ministry of Planning and Economic Development Egypt); Simon Schürz, Lenka Valenta (Federal Statistical Office Germany); Adrien Bonomo, Sylvain Larrieu (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques); Ria Arinda, Theresa Novalia, Zanial Fahmi Firdaus (Statistics Indonesia); Kuniko Moriya (Bank of Japan); Jihyeon Lee, Sanghyup Lee (Bank of Korea); César Cabrera; Natalia del Campo, Raúl Figueroa Díaz, Federico González, Hector Olguin, Dania Pilotzi, Mónica Rodríguez-Zúniga; Eduardo De La Torre (Mexican National Institute of Statistics and Geography - INEGI); Trude Nygård Evensen, Gang Liu, Sindre Midttun, Steinar Todsen (Statistics Norway); Nils Brown (Statistics Sweden); Caswell Monyela, Tsholofelo Shumba (South African Reserve Bank); Robert Parry (Statistics South Africa); Sonia Carrera, Ellen Clowser, Aram Hara, Richard Heys, Aaishah Goollam-Kader, Jonny Mudge (United Kingdom Office for National Statistics); Adam Dutton (formerly United Kingdom Office for National Statistics); Dennis Fixler (United States Bureau of Economic Analysis); Giuliano Amerini, Louis Bê Duc, Melinda Verebelyine Dosa (Eurostat); Alessandra Alfieri, Emmanuel Manolikakis, Richard Wild (International Monetary Fund); Edwin Ng, João Fonseca (International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board); Ilaria Di Matteo, Marko Javorsek, Edem Kossi Kludza (United Nations Statistics Division); Grzegorz Peszko (World Bank); Sjoerd Schenau (Statistics Netherlands and Chair of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting Technical Committee on SEEA Central Framework); David Boko, Issoufou Seidou Sanda (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa); Tihomira Dimova, Rami Peltola (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); Wafa Aboul Hosn (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA); Michael Nagy (OECD/UNECE Seminar on SEEA Implementation); Galina Braverman (representative on behalf of the Government Finance Statistics community); Carl Obst (IDEEA Group); Rob Smith (Midsummer Analytics).
Special appreciation is also due to the Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts, the Intersecretariat Working Group on National Accounts, the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting, and the OECD Working Party on National Accounts, for providing useful comments.
The EGNC was coordinated by Bram Edens with support from Chloe Acas. The subgroups established under the EGNC were chaired and coordinated by Bram Edens. The final version of the report was edited by Chloe Acas and Dongwook Choi.