The need to account for natural resources as capital, in the same way as we account for economic and financial resources, is getting more and more attention. The recently published EU Roadmap for a Resource Efficient Europe sets the policy framework for action in the coming years and decades for which robust data and indicators are needed. In this respect, there is a contrast between the natural resources which are recorded by the System of National Accounts 2008, the basis for GDP, and other natural resources which are ignored because they are not seen as economic assets by the market. The latter is typically the case for many important ecosystem functions and services.
