The initiatives in natural capital accounting have multiplied in the recent years, particularly concerning ecosystem accounts. Yet, natural capital accounting has been rarely used to inform public policy decisions. Based on a survey for statistical offices and ministries and independent experts worldwide, we confirm that there is very little use of natural capital accounts for public policy decisions and, more so, in developing countries. The most relevant obstacles are the lack of political support by key people and institutional leadership unable to promote policy use by other ministries. Concerning developing countries, the factor which is considered as the most relevant in preventing the use of natural capital accounts for policy making is the stage of development of the country. In addition, respondents from statistical institutes and developing countries are particularly concerned about institutional obstacles and, to a lesser extent, data availability and cooperation. Respondents from ministries and independent experts are particularly concerned about design obstacles. A key result of the survey is the need to evaluate the value-added of natural capital accounts with respect to statistics. Most probably, natural capital accounts will only be integrated in national accounts in the aftermath of a major environmental disaster.
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