OPINION PIECE: “Public Sector Accounting Board must seize options to begin allowing governments to consider natural assets on the balance sheet,” says Roy Brooke (Nov 2018)
Note to Reader:
Under the current framework, accountants cannot recognize inherited natural resources as municipal assets, on the basis that “the costs, benefits and economic value of such items cannot be reasonably and verifiably quantified using existing methods.” Even purchased natural assets can only be recognized when they meet certain criteria.
This matters to local governments that want to manage their natural assets deliberately and strategically.
Josephine Creek – a community water supply source on Bowen Island, BC
It’s Time to Place a Real Value on Nature in Canada’s Accounting Framework
Roy Brooke
“Every day, decisions are made in communities across Canada about where and how to build new developments and infrastructure. There are many factors to consider in these decisions. Time and again they tend to omit the value of nature. It isn’t because all decision makers do not value nature, but because no one is including its value in their decision-making processes,” wrote Roy Brooke and Michelle Sawka in an opinion piece published by the Vancouver Sun newspaper.
About the Authors
Roy Brooke is executive director of the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative (MNAI); Michelle Sawka is program manager of the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition.
To Learn More:
To read the complete article as published in the Vancouver Province newspaper in November 2018, download a PDF copy of It’s time to place a real value on nature in Canada’s accounting framework.