2025, Vol. 7, Issue 10, Part B

Traditional national accounting systems, which focus primarily on marketed economic output, fail to capture the critical costs associated with environmental degradation and the depletion of natural capital. Green Accounting (GA) emerges as the indispensable corrective methodology, providing the necessary statistical infrastructure for the global transition to a sustainable Green Economy (GE). Central to this global initiative is the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), which measures resource depletion and the costs of environmental preservation. The ultimate quantitative output of this methodology is the Environmental Domestic Product (EDP), which redefines net domestic product by incorporating the net accumulation or depletion of non-produced natural assets. The adoption of SEEA Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) in 2021 marks a critical milestone, demonstrating high-level political commitment to moving "beyond GDP". This article examines the framework, implementation, and convergence of SEEA with corporate standards (such as the ISSB), while critically analysing the conceptual and practical challenges inherent in this global undertaking, particularly concerning the contentious issue of monetary valuation of ecosystem services. GA is found to be crucial for operationalizing the GE principles of Wellbeing and Justice, although its success hinges on addressing data complexity and high implementation costs, especially for smaller enterprises.