Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) and Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) report to Statistics Finland for provisioning of various material, environmental and ecosystem accounts in Finland. The ENVECOPACK project, co-financed by Eurostat action grants for Environmental accounts and Ecosystem accounting, was led by Syke and implemented between March 2021 and February 2023.
The project had three independent research themes, organized into different work packages (WP), within the statistical frameworks of environmental and ecosystem accounting and waste statistics. Firstly, in WP2, marine and freshwater ecosystem accounts with cultural and provisioning services for fishing were prototyped. The overall objective of WP2 was to develop national pilot aquatic ecosystem accounts (supply, use, asset) in physical and monetary terms including cultural ecosystem services for recreational fishing and provisioning services for commercial fishing.
In the second theme (WP3), urban green ecosystem accounts for three volunteering Finnish municipalities were piloted. Our objectives included exploring and identifying feasible datasets and methods for urban accounting, collaborating with municipalities to find out their needs and to get continuous feedback on the process, and to compile pilot ecosystem accounts (extent and ecosystem service supply and use accounts in physical and monetary terms) based on the identified data, methods and municipal needs. The overall aim was to show how to make urban and municipal blue-green spaces, and the benefits they give to people (based on ecosystem services they provide), inclusive, visible and accountable in urban planning and decision making.
Finally in WP4, material-specific accounts on packaging materials and packaging waste were developed. Here, the overall objective was to develop methodology and to compile accounts for packaging materials brought to the market – including imports and foreign trade – and for the generation of packaging waste.
All the above topics are novel in Finnish ecosystem and environmental accounting research. Thus, in this project, new data had to be collected, combined and harmonized, and methods had to be tested and developed. The accounts developed in this project should be considered experimental pilots and not official accounts.
Result highlights
Ecosystem service and asset accounts for freshwater and marine ecosystems in Finland were piloted. Included services are recreational fishing related services and biomass production for fish harvest from both commercial and recreational perspectives. The methodological report describes the methods used to quantify and value services and assets, different data used in the quantification as well as valuation results and compiled accounts.
Urban green ecosystem accounts were piloted for three volunteering municipalities: Helsinki, Tampere and Pirkkala. The accounts were compiled in collaboration with the municipalities, where municipalities had a strong role in stating their user needs, sharing data and helping to collect new data through surveys, and providing feedback on the results. A comprehensive inventory of existing datasets and methods was done, and their feasibility for fulfilling the identified user needs was assed. For all three municipalities, ecosystem typologies and ecosystem extent accounts focusing on urban green were compiled. An attempt to align the typologies with the proposed EU ecosystem typology (version February 2023) was made. The following ecosystem service supply and use accounts in physical and monetary terms were compiled for the following cultural and regulation ecosystem services: recreation (Helsinki and Pirkkala), nature education (Pirkkala) and flood mitigation (Tampere). Limitations of the pilot study were also discussed and recommendations for further testing given.
For packaging accounting, data on the different life-cycle stages of packaging materials was first collected and then supplemented and analyzed to compile comprehensive packaging and packaging waste accounts for five materials, namely fibres (paper and cardboard), plastics, metals, wood and glass in Finland in 2020. The methodological report describes the data sources used, calculation and accounting methods developed and the final outcomes (tables) with a brief summary of key shortcomings, uncertainties and data gaps. Possibilities for operationalization of the accounting in accordance to the developed methodology are also discussed.
Final webinar of the ENVECOPACK project
The final webinar presenting the main outputs of the project was held on 16th February 2023. We are in the process of making them accessible, after which they will be uploaded here.
- Liisa Saikkonen, Tin-Yu Lai, Tommi Tikkanen, Tuija Lankia, Heidi Pokki, Miikka Husa: Marine and freshwater EA for fishing: valuation and integration.
- Leena Kopperoinen, Laura Costadone, Tin-Yu Lai, Pekka Hurskainen: Co-creating Urban / Municipal Ecosystem Accounting
- Annika Johansson, Henna Jylhä, Jaana Sorvari, Jani Salminen: Developing pilot accounts for packaging materials
Methodological report
The main deliverable of ENVECOPACK is the Methodological report. The accounting tables are included in the report as supplementary materials. You can access them here:
Workshop on Aquatic Ecosystem Services and their Valuation
One of the imporant dissemination activities carried out by WP2 was a workshop on Aquatic Ecosystem Services and their Valuation, which was organized on 14th February 2023. The workshop langaugae was Finnish, no English translations are available. The presentations are available on request. The workshop programme included the following sessions and presentations:
Johdanto
- Liisa Saikkonen, Syke: Akvaattisten ekosysteemipalveluiden markkinat ja palveluiden huomioiminen talouden mallintamisessa.
Sessio 1: Akvaattisten ekosysteemipalveluiden vaihdantaan, arvoon ja markkinoihin vaikuttavat tekijät.
-
Antti Belinskij, Syke: Vesialueiden omistajuus, omistajien oikeudet ja velvollisuudet, sekä akvaattisten ekosysteemipalveluiden markkinoiden kehittäminen lainsäädännön näkökulmasta.
-
Petteri Vihervaara, Syke: FEO sekä Ympäristön tilan seurannan ja luontotiedon tulevaisuus sisävesien ja Itämeren kannalta.
-
Terhi Arola, Syke: Luontotiedon käyttö päätöksenteon ja yhteiskunnan tukena: mahdollisuudet ja pullonkaulat.
-
Mari Pohja-Mykrä, Suomen merialuesuunnitteluyhteistyön koordinaattori, Varsinais-Suomen liitto: Merellisiä ekosysteemipalveluita käyttävien sidosryhmien huomioiminen merialuesuunnittelussa: kuinka merialuesuunnittelulla voidaan vaikuttaa sidosryhmien mahdollisuuksiin käyttää ekosysteemipalveluita?
- Soile Oinonen, Syke: Maistiaisia YM:n rahoittamasta VESIETILI-hankkeesta.
Sessio 2: Akvaattisen luontopääoman ja ekosysteemipalveluiden huomioiminen talousmallinnuksessa.
-
Jukka Muukkonen, Tilastokeskus: Ympäristö- ja ekosysteemitilinpito-skenen tila ja tulevaisuudennäkymät
-
Hannu Savolainen, Syke: Ympäristötilinpitoaineistojen yhdistäminen kansantalousmalliin – esimerkkinä ENVIMAT-malli
-
Jani Salminen, Syke: Vesi-, jätevesi- ja vesistökuormitustilinpidon hyödyntäminen vesijalanjäljen laskemiseksi ENVIMAT-mallilla, sekä vesijalanjäljen kytkentä vesien kestävään käyttöön ja ekosysteemitilinpitoon
-
Sara Hellemaa, VM: Valtiovarainministeriön tietotarpeista: Miten luontoarvot voidaan ottaa mukaan päätöksenteon valmisteluun?
-
Liisa Saikkonen, Syke: Yhteenveto