Introductory workshop on Cuba’s environmental accounts

In light of the technical cooperation activities previously implemented between the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) and the Statistics Division of ECLAC, which have contributed to developing actions to strengthen the statistical capacities of ONEI, ECLAC was asked to continue its current technical support. ECLAC carried out an official mission in October 2023 to strengthen technical capacities in the field of environmental statistics and indicators. The objectives of the workshop were: to disseminate the importance of developing environmental statistics and indicators, to learn about the internationally available frameworks on them, to integrate a set of environmental indicators relevant to the country, to promote and facilitate the use of international statistical recommendations and frameworks, and thereby strengthen the technical capacities of the institutions that make up the National Statistical System.

The purpose of this technical assistance, as a continuation of previous work, is to develop technical capacities in environmental accounts, providing an introduction to the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA), based on the review of the general principles, the central framework and the accounts that comprise it; as well as a first review of ecosystem accounting, among others. We will review the inventory of all basic environmental statistics in the country that will serve as a basis for practical exercises that will exemplify the construction of environmental accounts. By holding this workshop, ECLAC is supporting Cuba in identifying information gaps, strengthening the quality of basic statistics, and encouraging mechanisms for inter-institutional cooperation on information. Additionally, environmental accounts provide useful information for indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and, with that, to follow up on the 2030 agenda.

Specific objectives:

• Strengthen technical capacities in the construction of environmental accounts.
• Construct an environmental account for a given period.
• Identify and build indicators that contribute to the construction of public policies for sustainability based on the information produced by environmental accounts.

The workshop will enable users of economic and environmental information to understand how accounts can assist in planning and decision-making processes.

Expected results and products:

• A trained inter-institutional technical team, with a common conceptual basis on environmental statistical processes to build environmental accounts.
• The elements necessary to strengthen the national process to improve economic-environmental accounts within the National Statistical System (SEN).
• Brief report with recommendations and findings from the training.

Participants:

The training is aimed at national technicians and managers who work in processes of constructing official statistics, indicators and environmental accounts within the Cuban National Statistical System.