Investments in environmental protection
Environmental protection expenditure means investments, consumption and other expenses related to preventing, reducing, and eliminating pollution and other degradations of the environment.
Eurostat collects data on the following variables:
- investment for the production of environmental protection services
- consumption of environmental protection services
- imports and exports of environmental protection services
- transfers of funds for environmental protection
Consumption, investment, etc. follow the definitions of the European system of accounts (ESA).
These variables are classified by environmental purpose according to the classification of environmental protection activities (CEPA 2000). This allows estimating the expenditure on e.g. biodiversity or waste management.
Expenses are classified by economic actor (‘institutional sector’ as set out in ESA) as following:
- general government, including non-profit institutions serving households, as producers and consumers of environmental protection services
- corporations as producers and consumers of environmental protection services
- households, as consumers of environmental protection services
- the rest of the world as the beneficiary, or payer, of transfers for environmental protection
Data on environmental protection expenditure is one of the environmental-economic accounts. They provide information in a way that is fully compatible with concepts, principles, and classifications used in national accounts. Therefore, it enables integrated analyses of environmental, energy, and economic issues, such as through environmental-economic modelling.
The main indicator is the national expenditure on environmental protection. It measures the resources dedicated by resident businesses, households and government to the protection of the natural environment. This aggregate covers:
- uses of environmental protection services
- investment for environmental protection activities
- net transfers to the rest of the world for environmental protection
Since 2017, reporting of data to Eurostat is mandatory. The legal basis of the annual data collection is Annex IV of EU regulation 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts.