Question – Environmental Economic Accounting

Questions asked by the Hon Meg Webb MLC on 13 September 2022 and answered by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 28 September 2022

With regard to the common national approach to environmental-economic accounting, can the government please:

Question 1: Confirm the Tasmanian government formally endorsed the common national approach to environmental-economic accounting at the Meeting of Environment Ministers on 28 July 2017, and also reiterated this commitment at the Seventh Meeting of Environment Ministers on 27 April 2018;

Answer 1: At the Meeting of the Environment Ministers on 25 November 2016, Environment Ministers from around Australia agreed to collaborate on a common national approach to environmental-economic accounts (EEA).

I can confirm that at the Meeting of Environment Ministers on 28 July 2017, Ministers endorsed the objectives of a common national approach to EEA and the free and open sharing of environmental data.

At the Meeting of Environment Ministers on 27 April 2018 it was agreed to take actions on a range of nationally significant matters which included, but was not limited to, “commitment to the recently agreed approach to national environmental-economic accounting”.

It should be noted that the Australian Government was also engaging Natural Resource Management organisations and academia regarding EEA and the Tasmanian Government provided in-kind support through these organisations.

Question 2: Detail whether, and if so how, environmental-economic accounting has been developed and implemented in Tasmania since those national Environment Ministers’ meetings, including, but not limited to, any training, implementation and ongoing auditing practices developed.

Answer 2: In April 2018 the Australian Government and all state and territory governments agreed on a National Strategy and Action Plan (the Strategy) to implement EEA across Australia.

The Strategy sets out how a common national approach to the implementation of the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting will provide coherent and integrated data for decision making by governments, business and the community. The Strategy encourages public and private decision-making that results in a balance between economic, social and environmental outcomes.

The Tasmanian Government has met outputs of the Strategy by agreeing on a national set of priorities, establishing collaboration and governance arrangements, making environmental data publicly available and allowing free and open sharing of data between jurisdictions for a suite of important environmental assets.

See more of Meg’s Questions to Parliament.