Valuing Ecosystems & Natural Capital

Conventional national income accounting systems measure economic performance by determining the value of goods and services produced in a country and aggregating them to develop economic indicators, such as the GNP and GDP.

Senate Bill 9, otherwise known as the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS) will include what was formerly considered “externalities,” not valued as capital, in the national income accounts.

Filed by Sen. Loren Legarda the bill aims to incorporate both environmental and non-environmental inputs to allow policymakers to make relevant laws and programs necessary for national development.

For Sen. Legarda “Good housekeeping requires that you work on what you have and not live beyond your means. It is the same for national patrimony. Not taking into account how much we have and how to allocate it drives our ecosystems to ruin,”

Co-organized by Climate Action and Sustainability Alliance, in cooperation with Management Association of the Philippines and Kamayan Restaurant.