The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) prescribes cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) as an economic tool for the minimisation of costs when formulating programmes of measures to be implemented in the European river basins by the year 2009. The WFD does not specify, however, which approach to CEA has to be taken by the EU member states. In this paper the lack of a standardised approach to CEA for the implementation of the WFD is taken as the point of departure. The aim of the paper is to discuss and evaluate two pragmatic approaches to CEA based on case studies recently performed in The Netherlands and Denmark. The case studies allow for the comparison of a quantitative and a qualitative approach to CEA at the water body and river basin level and for an evaluation of the approaches in terms of their practical applicability, their transparency and the extent to which they render sound results for decision-making. Conclusions are drawn with regard to the suitability of the two approaches for the implementation of the EU WFD.

Ecosystem Accounting provides a framework to measure and value relationships amongst ecosystems, society and the economy. The accounts measure ecosystem extent, condition and services, providing the means to identify and internalise ecological degradation, as well as understanding the risks and dependencies of economic activities on the environment and tracking progress towards sustainable development. The OSPAR Convention, which concerns the protection of the Marine Environment for the North-East Atlantic, has committed to accounting for natural capital and ecosystem services, where the UN System of Environmental Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) provides an international accounting standard for guidance in compiling accounts. Here, we describe the first attempt in compiling accounts aligned with SEEA EA at a Regional Sea scale. We: (i) identified existing open access data, (ii) produced accounts for selected ecosystems and valued their services and asset value and (iii) identified challenges and lessons learned. For ecosystem services, we measured fish provisioning, carbon sequestration and outdoor recreation from coastal and marine environments across OSPAR contracting parties. The exercise identified lack of fitting data at regional level, spatially-explicit linkages and harmonisation need to be overcome to further expand accounts. This work represents an initial step to progress on ecosystem accounting and demonstrates that even with limited data and incomplete time-series, accounts can start being compiled to identify data gaps and prioritising next steps.

This paper presents the Dutch ‘Delta Plan for Agricultural Water Management’ (in Dutch: ‘Deltaplan Agrarisch Waterbeheer’; DAW). This is a voluntary, tailor-made initiative in which farmers, water authorities and their organisations work together to achieve environmental objectives, and to prevent damage caused by droughts and floods, while ensuring an economically strong and sustainable agricultural sector. Drawing on a decade of DAW experiences, this study highlights achievements, lessons learned, and future challenges. Results show that, even though DAW is under pressure due to a shortage of independent advisors, DAW facilitated information and knowledge exchange, and trust-building, which supports participating farmers to improve agricultural management practices. Furthermore, the voluntary nature of DAW, while a strength in that it enables farmers to adopt measures tailored to their specific circumstances, also results in a fragmented pattern of participation. This uneven uptake makes it difficult to assess the effectiveness of measures at the farm scale in relation to the realisation of contributing to EU objectives, such as the European Water Framework Directive (WFD).

Ecosystem Accounting provides a framework to measure and value relationships between ecosystems, society and the economy. The accounts measure ecosystem extent, condition, and services, providing the means to identify and internalise ecological degradation, as well as understanding the risks and dependencies of economic activities on the environment and tracking progress towards sustainable development. The OSPAR Convention, which concerns the protection of the Marine Environment for the North-East Atlantic, has committed to accounting for natural capital and ecosystem services, where the UN System of Environmental Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) provides an international accounting standard for guidance in compiling accounts. Here, we describe the first attempt in compiling accounts aligned with SEEA EA at a Regional Sea scale. We (i) identified existing open access data, (ii) produced accounts for selected ecosystems and valued their services and asset value, and (iii) identified challenges and lessons learned. For ecosystem services, we measured fish provisioning, carbon sequestration, and outdoor recreation from coastal and marine environments across OSPAR contracting parties. The exercise identified lack of fitting data at regional level, spatially explicit linkages and harmonisation need to be overcome to further expand accounts. This work represents an initial step to progress on ecosystem accounting and demonstrates that even with limited data and incomplete timeseries, accounts can start compiling to identify data gaps, and prioritize next steps.