NCAVES (Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of the Ecosystem Services) India Forum-2021 was organized by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) through virtual mode on January 14, 21, 28, 2021.
NCAVES Project:
The NCAVES project was initiated in 2017 by European Union (EU).
i.Objectives
- Spread the knowledge of Environmental-Economic accounting for Sustainable Economic Growth using the United Nations’ System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework.
- Improving the measurement of ecosystems & services (in physical and monetary terms) at the National & Sub-National level
- Mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystems for policy planning and implementation
- Contribution towards development of internationally agreed methodology & its use in partner countries
ii.Participating Countries – India, Brazil, China, Mexico & South Africa
- Implementing Agencies – United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) & Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD).
- Funding Agency & Duration – EU, It will be in force till the end of 2021.
iii.In India, it is implemented by MoSPI in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) & National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).
Natural Capital Accounting:
Natural Capital Accounting refers to the calculation of total stocks & flows of natural resources & services in a particulation region or ecosystem.
NCAVES India Forum 2021:
i.The objectives of the NCAVES India Forum 2021 would be to
- Present India’s Achievements in the area of Natural Capital Accounting (NCA)
- Prioritizing the emerging opportunities for NCA in India
- To showcase works done by International Agencies in the area of NCA to the other participants
- Providing a platform for selected Research Institutions for presenting their research in valuation of different ecosystem services
ii.During the event, MoSPI showcased various initiatives undertaken by it under NCAVES in the last three years (2017-20).
- MoSPI released ‘EnviStats India’ highlighting the efforts taken by it under the NCAVES Project
- Development of India-EVL Tool which gives values of various ecosystem services across India, it is based on 80 studies.
iii.As part of the NCAVES project,
- A system of ecosystem accounts were assessed in Karnataka on a pilot basis.
- Several ecosystem services were also assessed at the national scale.
- A web portal www.ncavesindiaforum.in was created for collecting data regarding registration, participation of environment related activities, it will also act as a repository for environment related information.
iv.Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNDP, Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Dr Kshatrapati Shivaji, Secretary of MoSPI & Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union to India participated in the event.
Click here to read more about NCAVES 2021
About Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI):
Minister of State (Independent Charge) – Rao Inderjit Singh
Headquarters – New Delhi
