Feasibility and uses of the NAMEA-type framework applied at the local level: case studies in North-Western Italy

The National Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts (NAMEA) is currently applied at the national level in most industrialized countries. At the local level, the implementation of integrated environmental and economic accounts based on proper accounting schemes with a regular, long term structure and integrating the pre-existing standard economic accounting, is still experimental. We present the indications stemming from pilot applications of NAMEA accounts in the Piedmont Region (Italy) at the regional, provincial and municipal level conceived with the specific purpose of testing the feasibility and reliability of integrated environmental and economic accounts at all sub-national levels of government. The aim is showing how to apply NAMEA at different scales, identifying criticalities and possible solutions, and checking to what extent the obtained results prove to be useful.