The Satellite Account of Expenditures on Environmental Protection: Methodological Aspects of Its Introduction in Ukraine

Abstract

The article is devoted to methodological aspects addressed in building up the framework for the satellite account of the expenditure on environmental protection in Ukraine. It is argued that any study of the environment need computations and analyses of quantitative indicators based on the statistics data. Problems of statistical accounting are, therefore, the central ones in investigating the expenditure on environmental protection. One of the most urgent tasks is to ensure comparability of data, to enable comparisons of data at all the levels in order to find output key tendencies and patterns in the expenditure on environmental protection, comparisons of figures relating to environmental protection and macroeconomic situation. 
 The article contains an analysis of the phases of creating the European standard of the system for environmental-economic accounting on the whole and the environmental protection expenditures account in particular. The sources of data for creating the satellite account for the expenditure on environmental protection in Ukraine, and the indicators included in the EU questionnaire designed to collect data on national expenditures on environmental protection are highlighted.
 It is demonstrated that data from many sources are used to build the satellite account for the expenditure on environmental protection. It is mentioned that by now Ukraine has not introduced ad hoc surveys of households on the expenditures on environmental protection.
 Results of the study show that the main sources of data for computations of the expenditures on environmental protection in Ukraine can be the official statistical observation by type of expenditure, collected by form 1 – environmental expenditure (annual) “Expenditures on environmental protection and environmental payments”, where the expenditure are recorded according to the Classification of Environmental Protection Activities.
 The sources of secondary information, i. e. the data from regular official statistical observations and administrative data that are collected with other purposes and reflect selected aspects of expenditure on EP, are recommended for use when developing the methodology.