Study on Water Assets Accounting under the Concept of Sustainable Development

Abstract

Abstract. The economic accounting of natural resources assets, especially for water resources assets, is still in the exploratory stage in China. The contents and scope of water assets accounting need to be further improved. In order to explore the coordination between social and economic development and population, resources and environment, combined with the definition and attributes of assets in economics, accounting, statistics and management, this paper is based on the research about accounting of natural resources assets in recent years. The classification of water assets and its main accounting scope were put forward, and the intrinsic relationship between the concept of sustainable development and water accounting was systematically analyzed. The clear content of water assets is conducive to consolidating the construction of water assets accounting system, which can provide the theoretical basis for the decision makers to implement the sustainable development strategy, and to realize the rational allocation of water resources. It plays a catalytic role for the sustainable development of water resources and the protection of water ecological environment.

Environmental-economic accounting for water: a global comparative analysis

“…Based on water accounts, decision-makers can make informed choices about the allocation of resources, which can impact economic growth and environmental protection Lynch, 2012). With the assistance of macroeconomic regulation and market control, water resources can be allocated optimally, promoting its sustainable use and socioeconomic development (Sun et al, 2017).…”

“…Although the SNA is a universal economic statistical system that provides effective economic analysis for decision-makers, it does not cover concepts related to sustainable development. Therefore, in 1993, the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank launched the first System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) to complement the SNA (Sun et al, 2017). The SEEA was created by the statistical community in collaboration with ecologists, economists, and other scientists to provide countries with a framework for compiling environmental and natural resources statistics (Esen;Hein, 2020).…”