Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (NCAVES)

The National Statistical Office (NSO), Govt of India has the mandate for ‘development of methodology, concepts and preparation of National Resource Accounts for India’. In line with the mandate, NSO, India is participating in the European Union (EU)-funded “Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (NCAVES)” project launched in 2017 by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) in five piloted countries- the other countries being Brazil, China, South Africa and Mexico.

This project is jointly implemented by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) in close collaboration with national stakeholders, and is likely to propel India in the path of compilation of ecosystem accounts.

The main objective of the UNSD-led project is to mainstream natural capital accounting and the valuation of ecosystem services in data-driven decision and policy-making at the national, regional and local levels.