Assessing Ecological Civilization Performance: An Application of Systematic Economic-Ecological Accounting (SEEA)

Abstract

China's central authority has included constructing ecological civilization among the top-five development strategies of China, but there is no well-developed tool to assess the the local governments' performances on ecological conservation or provide sustained incentives for the local officials. This paper shows that the Systematic Economic-Ecological Accounting (SEEA), an accounting system that records the productive and asset activity of both man-made and ecological capital of the society, is a necessary and feasible assessment tool for ecological civilization. Framework of the accounting system and potential improvements built on current studies are provided. An experimental case that calculates the value of the annual ecosystem services in Kunshan, a county in Jiangsu Province, demonstrates the application of the accounting framework and methods within the current data limitation.