Geology topics

Michael Vardon

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Vardon.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2024

Leveraging natural capital accounting to support businesses with nature-related risk assessments and disclosures

Nature loss threatens businesses, the global economy and financial stability. Understanding and addressing these risks for business will require credible measurement approaches and data. This paper explores how natural capital accounting (NCA) can support business data and information needs related to nature, including disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures recommendations. As businesses seek to measure, manage and disclose their nature-related risks and opportunities, they will need well-organized, consistent and high-quality information regarding their dependencies and impacts on nature, which few businesses currently collect or track in-house. NCA may be useful for these purposes but has not been widely used or applied by businesses. National NCA guided by the U.N. System of Environmental-Economic Accounting may provide: (i) a useful framework for businesses in conceptualizing, organizing and managing nature-related data and statistics; and (ii) data and information that can directly support business disclosures, corporate NCA and other business applications. This paper explores these opportunities as well as synergies between national and corporate natural capital accounts. In addition, the paper discusses key barriers to advancing the wider use and benefits of NCA for business, including: awareness of NCA, data access, business capabilities related to NCA, spatial and temporal scales of data, audit and assurance considerations, potential risks, and costs and incentives.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B:↗

USGS2022

Opportunities for businesses to use and support development of SEEA-aligned natural capital accounts

Global understanding of the interconnections between the environment and economy has increased, driving the development of frameworks and standards that support the measurement and valuation of natural capital and ecosystem services by both governments and businesses. This paper outlines how businesses can use natural capital accounts (NCA) aligned to the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) standard described in this special issue to support identification, management, and valuation of natural capital not typically listed on corporate balance sheets. Such accounts have direct applications for business strategic planning, investment decisions, supply chain management , operations management, risk management, and corporate reporting. Businesses also have important roles to play in advancing SEEA-aligned NCA by providing information that would be useful to include in the accounts and by helping to shape accounts to provide decision-relevant information for both the private and the public sectors. Current pilot SEEA-aligned NCA data and analyses developed for the United States can help address some of the common challenges that businesses face in using natural capital data such as accessibility, quality, and credibility, important for business decision making. However, improvements are needed to fill data gaps and produce more frequent and timely estimates aligned to the temporal resolution needed by businesses.

Ecosystem Services↗

USGS2020

Integrating physical and economic data into experimental water accounts for the United States: Lessons and opportunities

Water management increasingly involves tradeoffs, making its accounting highly relevant in our interconnected world. Physical and economic data about water in many nations are becoming more widely integrated through application of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts for Water (SEEA-Water), which enables the tracking of linkages between water and the economy. We present the first national and subnational SEEA-Water accounts for the United States. We compile accounts for water: (1) physical supply and use, (2) productivity, (3) quality, and (4) emissions for roughly the years 2000 to 2015. Total U.S. water use declined by 22% from 2000 to 2015, falling in 44 states though groundwater use increased in 21 states. Water-use reductions, combined with economic growth, led to increases in water productivity for the overall national economy (65%), mining (99%), and agriculture (68%). Surface-water quality trends were most evident at regional levels, and differed by water-quality constituent and region. This work provides (1) a baseline of recent historical water resource trends and their value in the U.S., and (2) a roadmap for the completion of future accounts for water, a critical ecosystem service. Our work also aids in the interpretation of ecosystem accounts in the context of long-term water resources trends. heir value in the U.S., and (2) a roadmap for the completion of future accounts for water, a critical ecosystem service. Our work also aids in the interpretation of ecosystem accounts in the context of long-term water resources trends.

Ecosystem Services↗

USGS2018

The natural capital accounting opportunity: Let's really do the numbers

The nation’s economic accounts provide objective, regular, and standardized information routinely relied upon by public and private decision makers. But they are incomplete. The U.S. and many other nations currently do not account for the natural capital — such as the wildlife, forests, grasslands, soils, and water bodies—upon which all other economic activity rests. By creating formal natural capital accounts (NCA) and ecosystem goods and services (EGS) accounts, governments and businesses can better understand the past, peer into the future, innovate, conserve, and plan for environmental shocks. They would standardize, regularly repeat, and aggregate diverse natural resource, environmental, and social and economic data and could thereby play a significant role in advancing the science of coupled biophysical and social systems.

BioScience↗