NAMEA: methodology
The NAMEA shows the link between a number of important economic indicators and the environment. It compares, for example, the size of the Dutch economy and various sectors with the environmental pressure they exert.
National Accounts
The National Accounts describe the national economy using a worldwide standardised system of integrated statistics. These annual, official overviews of the economy are made by bringing together all the available financial and economic information to produce coordinated and consistent figures. The best-known macro-economic variables are economic growth, national income and the public sector borrowing requirement.
The National Accounts record environmental pollution on the principle that the value of a product or of work performed is equal to what people pay for, or earn from, the product or work. If environmental damage is not charged to the polluter, no costs are deducted from the national income. After all, the damage was not deducted from employees' salaries or from the shareholder dividend, and the consumption of the households concerned did not fall. In the same way, free use of environmental functions, such as bathing in clean sea water, does not lead to a higher national income.
NAMEA
In 1989, Statistics Netherlands started to develop a system for describing environmental aspects in conjunction with the National Accounts. The system, known as the National Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts (NAMEA) creates a link between the National Accounts and environmental statistics. The NAMEA shows the relationship between a number of important economic indicators (gross domestic product, balance of payments etc.) and the environment.
Two accounts for the environment have been added to the national accounts matrix in the NAMEA: a substance account and an account for environmental themes. These accounts contain observed environmental data in physical units (emissions and waste in kg and energy use in joules). They show not only emissions (pollution originating from products and consumers) but also immissions (for example, deposition of pollutants) in the environment.
Environmental data in the NAMEA and elsewhere in this Compendium
The environmental data in the NAMEA are based on the definitions used in the National Accounts. In other words, these data may not be the same as the environmental data given elsewhere in this Compendium. The major differences arise from the calculation of traffic emissions. In contrast to the methodology used in environmental policy, the NAMEA does not include traffic emissions under Traffic and Transport, but allocates them to the separate economic activities in which the transport actually takes place. It also includes the emissions from Dutch people living abroad, but excludes emissions from "foreigners" in the Netherlands. Since Dutch international transport companies conduct a major part of their operations outside the Netherlands, they make a substantial contribution to the emissions.
This methodology for calculating emissions is consistent with the method used to calculate gross domestic product. When calculating the production costs of transport companies, the NAMEA methodology includes fuel consumption both in the Netherlands and abroad. The National Accounts are therefore a significant source of information when compiling emission data.
There are two advantages to calculating the emissions from people living abroad. Firstly, it generates global emission data which can be allocated in their entirety to separate national economies. Secondly, it allows for the comparison of the environmental and economic performance of different countries, and sectors. However, this does mean that the emissions no longer correspond to the actual geographical source.
Application of the NAMEA: an analysis of CO2 emissions
One way the NAMEA can be used is for a systematic analysis of a number of individual causes of changes in the emissions of environmentally-harmful substances. An example is a statistical analysis which splits the total increase of CO2 emissions from producers (following the National Accounts definition) into three separate factors: volume development, efficiency improvement and structural effects. This analysis reveals that if, in the period 1987-2000, the economic structure had remained the same and environmental efficiency (pollution per euro of production) had remained stable, the CO2 emissions in 2000 would have been 38% higher than in 1987. The gradual changes in the economic structure (more services and less goods) and an increase of almost 13% in environmental efficiency finally resulted in a lower increase in the CO2 emissions by producers of almost 16%.
References
- CBS (1994). Een uitbreiding van Nationale Rekeningen met een systeem van milieurekeningen. Publicatiereeks Methoden en Onderzoek, nr. 7501-94-H.E8/extern. Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg/Heerlen.
- CBS (2003). De Nederlandse economie 2002. Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg/Heerlen.
- CBS (2003). Nationale Rekeningen. Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg/Heerlen.
- CBS (2003). Statline, Nationale rekeningen. Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg/Heerlen.
- Haan, M. de (1999). Decomposing annual changes in pollution according to their causes: a NAMEA time series analysis. Eurostat report, concerning the project entitled: 'The further development of the NAMEA and its application in the Netherlands', module 2, ref.num.: 98/562/2040/b4/mm. Eurostat, Luxembourg.
Relevant sections and indicators in the Environmental Data Compendium
Relevant information outside of the Environmental Data Compendium
- Note on the National Accounts on the website of Statistics Netherlands.
- Detailed data for the best-known macro-economic variables, economic growth, national income and the public sector borrowing requirement (Statline, Statistics Netherlands).
- Information about the NAMEA can be found in the printed version of the National Accounts.
