“Eco Domestic Product”: The Answer to Which Question?

Abstract

The Statistical Office of the United Nations (UNSO) has recently published a draft of a System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) (UNSO, (1990)). The proposed system is based on a framework for resource accounts in physical units. However, UNSO also suggests imputing monetary values on the depletion and degradation of natural resources and environmental goods, and introduces the concept of “Eco Domestic Product” (EDP); an environmentally adjusted measure of net domestic product. The valuation procedure suggested by UNSO is to estimate “the costs which would have been necessary to keep the natural capital intact” (UNSO (1990), page 123).