OECD Green Growth Papers
The OECD Green Growth Strategy, launched in May 2011, provides concrete recommendations and measurement tools to support countries’ efforts to achieve economic growth and development, while at the same time ensure that natural assets continue to provide the ecosystems services on which our well-being relies. The strategy proposes a flexible policy framework that can be tailored to different country circumstances and stages of development.
OECD Green Growth Papers complement the OECD Green Growth Studies series, and aim to stimulate discussion and analysis on specific topics and obtain feedback from interested audiences.
- ISSN: 22260935 (online)
- https://doi.org/10.1787/22260935
Towards Complete Balance Sheets in the National Accounts
The case of Mineral and Energy Resources
Despite its importance, regular measurement of the value of natural resources at national level is still in its infancy and often disconnected from valuation approaches for other assets. We show that there exists a consistent approach towards valuation that applies to subsoil assets and produced capital alike. We further align accounting in physical and monetary terms and construct standard volume and price indexes of energy and mineral resources with an application to Australia. Finally, we examine the link between our measure of subsoil wealth and indicators of sustainability. Overall, this paper demonstrates how the bodies of work on capital theory, index number measurement and growth accounting on the one hand, and valuation and measurement of natural resources on the other can be aligned. From a practical accounting perspective this alignment should aid in the implementation of broader measures of wealth at national level which are required for policy and analysis.