1. System of Environmental- Economic Accounting for Material Flows (SEEA-MFA) Process leading to the publication Third Meeting of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting (New York, 26-27 June 2008)

2. Background UNCEEA meeting July 2007: UNCEEA discussed the issue of harmonizing the OECD guidance manuals on Material Flow Accounts and the SEEA UNCEEA recommended that a document SEEA- MFA harmonized with the SEEA be prepared and submitted to the UN Statistical Commission for its adoptionUNCEEA recommended that a document SEEA- MFA harmonized with the SEEA be prepared and submitted to the UN Statistical Commission for its adoption UNSD has started working on the preparation of the SEEA-MFA with the assistance of a consultant and in cooperation with Eurostat and the OECD

3. Scope and coverage of SEEA- MFA MFA accounts together with water accounts and energy accounts make up the three subsystems of the system of physical flow accounts MFA in principle cover all flows of materials including energy and water measured in mass units i.e. tons The 3 subsystems are fully consistent in terms of concepts, definitions and classifications SEEA-MFA covers physical flow accounts, linking them to the monetary accounts allowing for the development of hybrid accounts

4. Draft outline (1) Chapter 1: Introduction: objectives, target audience and relevance Chapter 2: The SEEA-MFA framework: the accounting framework and basic principles (e.g. material balance); boundaries between the economy and the environment used in MFA context Chapter 3: Physical supply and use table: physical flows by economic activity from the environment to the economy, within the economy and from the economy to the environment Chapter 4: Economy-wide MFA: standard tables for EW-MFA

5. Draft outline (2) Chapter 5: MFA sub-accounts for specific materials or groups of materials: Standard supply and use tables for e.g. water, agricultural products, wood products, waste etc. Chapter 6: Applications: indicators, I-O analysis and decomposition analysis Chapter 7: Other MFA Accounts: Life Cycle Analysis, Substance Flow Accounts, SUT for physical service flows (e.g. land use), regional accounts Annexes: a) standard tables b) classifications c) list of indicators Glossary

6. Process - past Issue papers on (a) terminology (b) consumer durables (c) residence vs. territory principle (d) waste, and (e) cultivated crops and trees were discussed at the 12th session of the London Group on Environmental Accounting (Rome, Italy, 17-19 December 2007) The outcomes of the London Group were subsequently discussed at the Meeting of the Task Force on MFA (Luxemburg, 6-7 March 2008) A preliminary draft of chapters 1-4 of the SEEA-MFA was discussed with UNSDA preliminary draft of chapters 1-4 of the SEEA-MFA was discussed with UNSD

7. Process - future 2008 Q3:Establishment of a drafting-group consisting of members of the Eurostat Taskforce on MFA, OECD experts as well as other experts in NSOs and academia; Drafting of a number of technical papers addressing some of the remaining issues on the research agenda for the SEEA revision for discussion at the 13 th London Group meeting; Q4:Draft of Chapters 1-4 circulated to drafting Group 2009 Q1:Draft of Chapters 5-7 circulated to drafting Group Q2:Organization of an Expert Group Meeting on material flow accounts and statistics to discuss the complete draft of the SEEA-MFA Q3:World wide consultation on the SEEA-MFA Q4: Approval by UNCEEA and recommendation to UNSC for adoption in 2010

8. Questions to the UNCEEA Does the UNCEEA agree with the scope and coverage of the SEEA-MFA [Section B]? Does the UNCEEA agree with the process and timetable for the preparation of the SEEA-MFA [Section C]? Does the UNCEEA agree in principle with the draft Annotated Outline of the SEEA-MFA [Annex I]?