Biography:

Professor and Director of the Center for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa, University of Pretoria. Previously worked at the CSIR in SA, CIMMYT International in east Africa, and University of Juba, South Sudan. Served as member of many national and international Boards and Science Councils including: the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP), The CGIAR Science Council (ISPC), GEF Science and Technical Advisory Panel-STAP IV, Science Panel and Co-Chair of the Condition and Trends Working Group of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, UN CFS High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) on Food Security and Climate Change, Stockholm Resilience Center Board, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Science Advisory Council, Human Sciences Research Council of SA Board. He is member of the Academy of Sciences of SA and Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Senior Fellow of ZEF at Bonn University, editor and member of editorial Boards of many international journals and has published over 170 articles and chapters and 14 books. He holds MSc and PhD degrees in economics from University of Khartoum in Sudan and Iowa State University, USA.

Abstract:

Greening National Economic Accounts Ensures Sustainable Development

National accounts are used for assessment of economic performance and strategic policy decision making worldwide in spite of their now well-known shortcomings regarding the treatment of the environment. National accounts for instance record revenue from liquidation of natural assets, such as extraction of oil and minerals and logging of forests as positive additions to current income and consumption (GDP), which is the wrong measure of change in human wellbeing as they do not account for the corresponding loss of natural wealth and degradation of natural ecosystems. Correcting deficiencies in the current system of national economic accounts related to omissions of environmental values, particularly accounting for depletion of natural capital is necessary for production of appropriate sustainability indicators to properly guide strategic development policy and economic growth decision making. Greening the national accounts is therefore a necessary condition for ensuring growth within the limits of natural ecosystems that provide the fundamentals for human existence and wellbeing.