Statistical Terms Glossary

A symmetric table makes a bridge between the physical input-output table and environmental protection expenditure, separating internal and external environmental protection services and fixed capital for environmental protection.

The products of environmental protection activities; sometimes referred for short as environmental services in the SEEA.

Environmental quality is a state of environmental conditions in environmental media, expressed in terms of indicators or indices related to environmental quality standards.

An environmental quality standard is a limit for environmental disturbances, in particular, from ambient concentration of pollutants and wastes, that determines the maximum allowable degradation of environmental media

A value, generally defined by regulation, which specifies the maximum permissible concentration of a potentially hazardous chemical in an environmental sample, generally of air or water.

Research and development (R&D) expenditures which are targeted to a great extent toward identifying more efficient means of addressing environmental problems.

An environmental refugee is a person displaced owing to environmental causes, notably land loss and degradation, and natural disaster

Refer to policy responses to regulate and establish acceptable limits for protecting the environment and human health. It entails both direct regulatory and economic instruments.

The total direct and indirect uses of natural resources or residual emissions generation; environmental requirement is calculated using input-output techniques.

Are the naturally occurring living and non-living components of the Earth, together constituting the biophysical environment, which may provide benefits to humanity.

Environmental restoration is reactive environmental protection. It includes:
(a) reduction or neutralization of residuals,
(b) changes in the spatial distribution of residuals,
(c) support of environmental assimilation, and
(d) restoration of ecosystems, landscape and so forth

Environmental restructuring refers to permanent structural change in the environment, resulting from infrastructure development such as settlements, transport, energy development and environmental rehabilitation

See Risk assessment (of pollution)

Environmental services refer to qualitative functions of natural non—produced assets of land, water and air (including related ecosystem) and their biota.
There are three basic types of environmental services:
(a) disposal services which reflect the functions of the natural environment as an absorptive sink for residuals,
(b) productive services which reflect the economic functions of providing natural resource inputs and space for production and consumption, and
(c) consumer or consumption services which provide for physiological as well as recreational and related needs of human beings

The environmental sphere includes all physical entities other than products and corresponding flows. The environmental sphere provides resources to, and receives residuals from, one or more national economies.

A condition of balance, resilience, and interconnectedness that allows human society to satisfy its needs while neither exceeding the capacity of its supporting ecosystems to continue to regenerate the services necessary to meet those needs nor by our actions diminishing biological diversity.

A tax whose tax base is a physical unit (or a proxy of it) that has a proven specific negative impact on the environment. Four subsets of environmental taxes are distinguished: energy taxes, transport taxes, pollution taxes and resources taxes. Taxes should not be confounded neither with payments of rent nor with purchase of an environmental protection service.

A specific environmental phenomena or concern: greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion, acidification, eutrophication, etc. Various residuals are converted into theme equivalent using conversion factors.

Environmentally adjusted net domestic product equals depletion adjusted NDP less maintenance costs.

These activities which may be primarily undertaken for economic reasons but yield substantial environmental benefits even though the primary purpose is not the protection of the environment.

See Adapted products

Environmentally related taxes are defined as any compulsory, unrequited payment to general government levied on tax-bases deemed to be of particular environmental relevance.

Environmentally sound technologies are techniques and technologies capable of reducing environmental damage through processes and materials that generate fewer potentially damaging substances, recover such substances from emissions prior to discharge, or utilize and recycle production residues.
The assessment of these technologies should account for their interaction with the socioeconomic and cultural conditions under which they are implemented

Investments or measures which result in both improved environmental performance and commercial performance (i.e. profitability).

Environment-related defensive activities are activities that may include:
(a) preventive environmental protection,
(b) environmental restoration,
(c) avoidance of damage from repercussions of environmental deterioration, and
(d) treatment of damages caused by environmental repercussions

EONIA (euro overnight index average) is a measure of the effective interest rate prevailing in the euro interbank overnight market. It is computed as a weighted average of the interest rates on unsecured overnight contracts on deposits denominated in euro, as reported by a panel of contributing banks