Environmental Accounts: Environmental Grants Account and Other Similar Transfers

• 1. Contact

  • 1.1. Contact organisation
    • National Statistics Institute of Spain
  • 1.5. Contact mail address

    • Avenida de Manoteras 50-52 - 28050 Madrid

• 2. Metadata update

  • 2.1. Metadata last certified
    • 22/07/2026
  • 2.2. Metadata last posted
    • 16/12/2025
  • 2.3. Metadata last update
    • 22/07/2026

• 3. Statistical presentation

  • 3.1. Data description

    • The Environmental Accounts (EA) are a synthesis statistical operation with the general objective of integrating environmental information in the central system of National Accounts, following the methodology of the United Nations' System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), which constitutes the conceptual framework of the EA.

      They include a group of satellite accounts compiled using accounting formats that are applicable to different sectorial and territorial scopes, with a great amount of physical data. The use of similar concepts, classifications and norms that the National Accounts allow to expand analysis, without overloading the central system. The result is an indispensable tool for analysing the interrelations between the environment and the economic in general, and in particular, for evaluating sustainable development through the design and construction of the Sustainable Development Indicator Systems, and for monitoring the actions of environmental policies at national and international levels. In this context, the Environmental Subsidies and Other Similar Transfers Account (ESOSTA) presents data on support measures (in the form of subsidies and transfers) financed by national public administrations and other international organizations for activities and products that have a positive impact on various environmental areas (climate, energy, waste, biodiversity, etc.) in a manner consistent with the data reported under the European System of Accounts (ESA).

      The ESOSTA presents the data classified by:

      • type of transfer, using the SEC 2010 distribution operation codes;
      • institutional sectors that pay and receive transfers, also in accordance with the SEC 2010 definitions;
      • environmental areas, using the classification of environmental objectives (CEP); and
      • economic activity for certain transfers, using the NACE-2009 classification.

       

  • 3.2. Classification system
    • • Clasificaciones utilizadas

        • Type of transfer:

          The following distribution transactions included in the ESA 2010:

          -Grants (code D.3 of the ESA 2010);

          -Other current transfers (ESA 2010 codes D.6 and D.7);

          -Capital transfers (ESA 2010 code D.9).

          Institutional Sectors:

          As payers: the General Government sector (S13) and the Rest of the World (S2).

          Recipient sectors include Corporations (financial and non-financial—S11 and S12), General Government (S13), Households (S14), Nonprofit Institutions Serving Households (S15), and the Rest of the World (S2).

          Classification by Environmental Objectives:

          Classifies economic activities, expenditures, and other transactions into categories that group the different areas of the environment. The categories are:

          -CEP 01 Air and Climate

          -CEP 0201 Energy from Renewable Sources

          -CEP 0202 Energy Conservation and Management

          -CEP 0301 Wastewater management

          -CEP 0302 Water conservation and management of natural water resources

          -CEP 0401 Waste management

          -CEP 0402 Material recovery and conservation

          -CEP 0501 Protection of soil, surface water, and groundwater

          -CEP 0502 Protection of Biodiversity and the Landscape

          -CEP 0503 Forest Resource Management

          -CEP 0601 Protection Against Noise and Vibrations

          -CEP 0602 Protection Against Radiation

          -CEP 07+08 Research and Development + Cross-Cutting Measures and Other Environmental Measures.

          Economic Activities:

          For transfers received by the Corporate Sector from General Government, an additional breakdown will be provided based on the following CNAE-2009 aggregation:

          • NACE A – Agriculture, livestock, forestry, and fishing
          • NACE B – Mining and quarrying
          • NACE C – Manufacturing
          • NACE D – Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply
          • NACE E – Water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities
          • NACE F – Construction
          • NACE G – Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
          • NACE H – Transportation and storage
          • NACE I–U – Other NACE sections.
  • 3.3. Sector coverage

    • The sectors covered—which in turn constitute a classification variable in their own right—are those mentioned in section 3.2, namely, General Government (S13) and the Rest of the World (S2) as payers, and (financial and nonfinancial—S11 and S12), General Government (S13), Households (S14), Nonprofit Institutions Serving Households (S15), and the Rest of the World (S2) as recipients.

      In turn, the existing breakdown makes it possible to calculate the transfers received by resident units by adding the transfers paid by the General Government sector (S13) to all sectors except the Rest of the World (S2) to the transfers paid by the Rest of the World sector (S2). Thus, environmental subsidies and similar transfers are available by institutional sector, type of transfer, and environmental area.

  • 3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
  • 3.5. Statistical unit

    • Institutional sectors according to the SEC-2010.

  • 3.6. Statistical population

    • Resident units classified by institutional sector according to ESA 2010, and units in the rest of the world as payers and recipients of grants and transfers

  • 3.7. Reference area

    • Economic territory as defined in the ESA 2010.

  • 3.8. Time coverage

    • This statistical survey is conducted annually. Data for 2022 and 2023 are released, along with a preliminary estimate for 2024.

  • 3.9. Base period

    • Environmental accounts must be updated periodically to incorporate relevant

      methodological and statistical changes, particularly changes to the base year of the

      national accounts.

      Currently, the base year is 2021, following the statistical revision of 2024

• 4. Unit of measure

  • 4.1. Unit of measure

    • Millions of euros

• 5. Reference period

  • 5.1. Reference period

    • Data referred to the period: Anual A: 2024

• 6. Institutional mandate

  • 6.1. Legal acts and other agreements

    • The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2025-2028, approved by Royal Decree 1225/2024, of  3 December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2025-2028. (Statistics of the State Administration).

      Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 6, 2011, on European environmental economic accounts, establishes the reference framework of common concepts, definitions, classifications, and accounting standards for the compilation of environmental accounts. This regulation is available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ES/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32011R0691 This Regulation has been amended twice to include new environmental accounts. On November 27, 2024, Regulation (EU) 2024/3024 of the European Parliament and of the Council was adopted, amending Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the introduction of new modules in the environmental economic accounts, which regulates the compilation of the Account of Environmental Subsidies and Similar Transfers. Regulation (EU) 2024/3024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 27, 2024, amending Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 with regard to the introduction of new modules in the environmental economic accounts (Text with EEA relevance).

      It details the characteristics to be reported. The data published at the national level include at least these characteristics and also include the aggregate “Environmental subsidies and similar transfers received by resident units,” as explained in section 3.2.

      The deadline for submitting data is 24 months from the end of the reference year. In their first data submission, Member States shall include annual data from 2022 through the first reference year, 2023. In each subsequent data submission to the Commission, Member States will provide annual data for the years t-2, t-1, and t, where t is the reference year. With regard to the deadline, the national publication also complies with the requirements and, in addition, provides a preliminary estimate for the year 2024.

       

  • 6.2. Data sharing
    • The exchanges of information needed to elaborate statistics between the INE and the rest of the State statistical offices (Ministerial Departments, independent bodies and administrative bodies depending on the State General Administration), or between these offices and the Autonomic statistical offices, are regulated in the LFEP (Law of the Public Statistic Function). This law also regulates the mechanisms of statistical coordination, and concludes cooperation agreements between the different offices when necessary.

• 7. Confidentiality

  • 7.1. Confidentiality - policy

    • The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society

  • 7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
    • INE provides information on the protection of confidentiality at all stages of the statistical process: INE questionnaires for the operations in the national statistical plan include a legal clause protecting data under statistical confidentiality. Notices prior to data collection announcing a statistical operation notify respondents that data are subject to statistical confidentiality at all stages. For data processing, INE employees have available the INE data protection handbook, which specifies the steps that should be taken at each stage of processing to ensure reporting units' individual data are protected. The microdata files provided to users are anonymised.

• 8. Release policy

  • 8.1. Release calendar

    • The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.

  • 8.2. Release calendar access

    • The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)

  • 8.3. User access

    • The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice

• 9. Frequency of dissemination

  • 9.1. Frequency of dissemination

    • The data is released annually

• 10. Accessibility and clarity

  • 10.1. News release

    • The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web

  • 10.2. Publications

    • Users of environmental accounts can access data on the Grants and Environmental Account and other similar transfers through the INE website:

      https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177118&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735976603

  • 10.3. On-line database

    • INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.

      Access to tables and results on INEBASE (www.ine.es) / Agriculture and Environment / Environmental Accounts

      https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177118&menu=resultados&idp=1254735976603

      Indicators AC1 and AC2 do not apply, as this is the first time data has been published.

  • 10.4. Micro-data access
    • A lot of statistical operations disseminate public domain anonymized files, available free of charge for downloading in the INE website Microdata Section

      However, since this dataset is a summary statistic, it does not contain microdata.

  • 10.5. Other

    • The policy for handling customized requests is to analyze whether the conditions of statistical confidentiality and statistical significance are met. Following this analysis, a feasibility report is prepared and sent to the requester.

      Requests should be submitted through the User Services Department:

      Inicio / Servicios /Peticiones a medida

  • 10.6. Documentation on methodology

    • The manual for the “Environmental Subsidies and Other Similar Transfers” account can be found at the following link:

      https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/KS-GQ-15-005-EN-N

      In addition, the questionnaire template for reporting data to Eurostat can be found at:https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/1798247/6191541/Environmental+subsidies+and+similar+transfers+questionnaire+2025.xlsm/cb0b1657-060a-5977-fedb-f079f9ff4731?t=1759130847072 

  • 10.7. Quality documentation

    • Fields 10.7 to 17 of this document are the quality report intended for the user of this operation.

• 11. Quality management

  • 11.1. Quality assurance

    • Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.

      The quality of summary statistics, such as environmental accounts, stems primarily from the multiple sources they draw upon. In all cases, efforts are made to obtain the most accurate information possible, while minimizing the various types of errors that may affect them. Furthermore, in compiling these data, the guidelines set forth in Annex VIII of Regulation 691/2011 regarding the CSA are followed, as well as the principles outlined in the Eurostat manual.

  • 11.2. Quality assessment

    • The Commission (Eurostat) will assess the quality of the data submitted and, within one month of receiving them, may request additional information from the Member State regarding the data or a revised data set, as appropriate (Article 7(4) of European Regulation No. 691/2011).

• 12. Relevance

  • 12.1. User needs

    • The environmental accounts enable observing the pressure that the economy exerts on the environment, and studying the means to reduce it. They show the interactions between the economy, households and environmental factors, and therefore offer a greater degree of information than the national accounts in this field.

      As an essential data source regarding the environment, these are basic for decision-making in environmental policy and in the development of impact assessments, on both national and international levels. According to the principles of sustainable development included in the Europe 2020 Strategy, and in other initiatives, as well as the advance toward an economy that is efficient in the use of resources and low in emissions, it is increasingly necessary to develop and implement a data framework structure that systematically includes environmental issues as well as economics issues.

       

      Moreover, as they constitute a synthesis statistical operation in the environmental field, they enable identifying gaps and improvements in the Spanish statistical system.

      
      Worth noting among environmental account users are the following:

      • Ministries  and other public bodies

      • Territorial administrations (Autonomous Communities)

      • Researchers and Academic institutions

      • Companies and non-profit institutions (company research services, foundations, associations, etc.), trade unions and employers' organisations.

      • Press and specialised media

      
      Likewise, there are foreign institutional users (Eurostat, OECD, United Nations, etc.)

  • 12.2. User satisfaction

    • The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013,  2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...

      On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click  next link)

       

      
      At this time, since this is the first data release, it is not available for this operation.

  • 12.3. Completeness

    • The CSA includes all the characteristics listed in Annex VII of Regulation 691/2011. In addition, it provides further information as set forth in sections 3.3 and 3.8.

• 13. Accuracy and reliability

  • 13.1. Overall accuracy

    • Environmental accounts are synthesis statistics, therefore they are affected by sampling errors coming from sources from which information is collected, which are analysed in order to see if they remain within reasonable limits. Non-sampling errors may come from both the sources and the information treatment in this operation (lack of coverage, measurement errors). In summary, the direct measurement of accuracy in this case is not considered possible.

      The main instrument for analysing the accuracy is the analysis of the revisions. The revisions show the degree of proximity between subsequent estimators of the same value, and it is reasonable to assume that the estimators converge on the true value when they are based on better and more reliable data 

  • 13.2. Sampling error

    • Environmental accounts are a synthesis statistical operation, by which sampling errors that affect it come from the sources that the information is collected from, which are analysed in order to see if they remain within reasonable limits.

  • 13.3. Non-sampling error

    • Environmental accounts are a synthesis statistical operation, by which non-sampling errors that affect it may come from both the sources and the information treatment in this operation (lack of coverage, measurement errors).

• 14. Timeliness and punctuality

  • 14.1. Timeliness

    • Estimates for the Account of Environmental Subsidies and Other Similar Transfers are submitted to EUROSTAT no later than 24 months after the end of the reference year, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts, which sets forth the deadlines for data transmission.

      The indicator of the time elapsed between the end of the reference period and the dissemination in INEbase is TP1=12 months for early estimates.

      TP2=36 months

  • 14.2. Punctuality

    • The results of the Environmental Accounts are published in a timely manner, according to the INE structural statistics publication calendar.

      https://www.ine.es/en/daco/daco41/calen_en.htm

• 15. Coherence and Comparability

  • 15.1. Comparability - geographical

    • EU member states use the same methodology when compiling their estimates, which allows for comparability of the estimates in the Account of Environmental Subsidies and Other Similar Transfers estimates.

  • 15.2. Comparability - over time

    • The series is comparable for all available periods. CC2=3

  • 15.3. Coherence - cross domain

    • The Environmental Accounts are consistent with the National Accounts and with the rest of the environmental accounting system. Regarding the latter, any discrepancies in the treatment of similar concepts are limited to those described in Eurostat’s methodological documentation.

  • 15.4. Coherence - internal

    • The annual results of Environmental Protection Expenditure Accounts are coherent with each other and with the available annual series.

• 16. Cost and burden

  • 16.1. Cost and burden

    • The estimated budget appropriation needed to fund the “Environmental Accounts: Environmental Grants and Other Similar Transfers” operation is 22.20 thousand euros.

• 17. Data revision

  • 17.1. Data revision - policy

    • The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).

      This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow:  routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.

      The data in the Environmental Accounts are revised in accordance with the data revision framework of the Annual National Accounts. Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 stipulates that each annual data transmission must include data for the years t-2, t-1, and t, where t is the reference year.

  • 17.2. Data revision - practice

    • Data revisions stem primarily from changes in the Annual National Accounts as they transition from provisional to final figures, and revisions are also made as a result of improvements in estimation procedures. Furthermore, estimation procedures may be improved as a result of the availability of more detailed information or the collection of data at a more disaggregated level.

      Since this is the first time the data has been published, the MAR and RMAR indicators do not apply.

• 18. Statistical processing

  • 18.1. Source data

    • In general, the compilation of the CSA can be divided into two categories, depending on whether the payer is the General Government (S13) or the Rest of the World (S2).

      For subsidies and similar transfers paid by the General Government, the main sources of information are:

      • COFOG data, via the IGAE.
      • Information on the finalized budget
      • Reports on the operation of the CNMC’s Special Remuneration Regime for Renewable Energy.
      • Aggregates by industry sector from National Accounts

      For grants and similar transfers paid by the Rest of the World, the source of information is European programs.

      For grants and similar transfers paid to the Rest of the World, the source of information is international cooperation programs, coordinated by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)

  • 18.2. Frequency of data collection

    • Anual

  • 18.3. Data collection
  • 18.4. Data validation
  • 18.5. Data compilation

    • In general, the preparation of the account can be divided into two categories, depending on whether the payer is the General Government (S13) or the Rest of the World (S2).

      For grants paid by the General Government to the various institutional sectors, a distinction must also be made between the portion that corresponds directly to COFOG and the portion that corresponds more indirectly.

      In the first case, the data for certain transfers have a direct correspondence, as outlined in both the manual for the Account of Environmental Subsidies and Other Similar Transfers and the COFOG manual. Once this correspondence is established, the information contained in each COFOG category already specifies the remaining characteristics regarding the type of transfer and the recipient sector. In the specific case of transfers received by the Corporations sector, auxiliary information is used for their breakdown by CNAE.

      In the second case—primarily energy-related transfers—other sources (Budget) are used given the lack of a direct correspondence with COFOG, and the data are cross-checked against CNMC data.

      For grants paid by units in the rest of the world, a detailed analysis of European programs is conducted. Generally, these programs contain sufficient information to allow for their allocation by sector, type of transfer, and environmental scope.

      For grants paid to units in the rest of the world, publicly available data from the INFOAOD database, managed by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), are used. The level of detail in this database allows for a very comprehensive mapping to the environmental activities in the CEP classification.

  • 18.6. Adjustment

    • No seasonal adjustments are carried out.

• 19. Comment

  • 19.1. Comment