Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting

Welcome to the GOAP Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting. This guidance is organised as a modular system of circulars, each addressing a specific aspect of ocean accounts.

Quick Start

New to ocean accounting? Start with Circular 0.1: General Introduction, then use Circular 0.5: Navigating the Technical Guidance to find your pathway through the material.

Circular Sections

Section 0: Concepts, Definitions and Front Matter

Foundation materials including conceptual framework, standards overview, and quality assurance principles.

ID	Title	Badge	Status
0.1	General Introduction to Ocean Accounts	Core	Completed
0.2	Overview of Relevant Statistical Standards	Core	Draft
0.3	General Acknowledgements	—	Planned
0.4	Structure and Focus of the Technical Guidance	—	Planned
0.5	Navigating the Technical Guidance	—	Completed
0.6	Glossary of Key Terms	Core	Planned
0.7	Quality Assurance Principles	Applied	Planned

Section 1: Using Ocean Accounts in Decision-Making

How ocean accounts inform policy, planning, finance, and management decisions.

ID	Title	Badge	Status
1.1	OA and national budget processes	Applied	Draft
1.2	OA and marine spatial planning	Applied	Draft
1.3	OA and marine spatial management (including MPAs)	Applied	Draft
1.4	OA and Sustainable Ocean Planning	Applied	Draft
1.5	OA and fisheries management	Applied	Draft
1.6	OA and environmental impact assessment	Applied	Draft
1.7	OA and multilateral development finance	Applied	Draft
1.8	OA and project-level finance	Applied	Draft
1.9	Safe usage of monetary valuation	Core	Draft

Section 2: Compiling Indicators from Ocean Accounts

Guidance on deriving indicators for policy monitoring and reporting.

ID	Title	Badge	Status
2.1	Aggregate biophysical indicators	Applied	Draft
2.2	Macro-economic dependencies	Applied	Draft
2.3	Social and livelihood dependencies	Applied	Draft
2.4	Ecosystem goods and services	Applied	Draft
2.5	Ocean economy structure	Applied	Draft
2.6	Ocean-related investment	Applied	Draft
2.7	Pollution and flows to environment	Applied	Draft
2.8	Climate change indicators	Applied	Draft
2.9	Disaster risk indicators	Applied	Draft
2.10	MEA indicators	Applied	Draft
2.11	Resource efficiency indicators	Applied	Draft

Section 3: Compiling Ocean Accounts from Relevant Data

Core methodology for building accounts tables.

ID	Title	Badge	Status
3.1	Asset accounts	Applied	Draft
3.2	Flows from environment to economy	Applied	Draft
3.3	Economic activity	Applied	Draft
3.4	Flows from economy to environment	Applied	Draft
3.5	Social accounts	Applied	Draft
3.6	Incorporating traditional knowledge	Emerging	Draft
3.7	Governance accounts	Emerging	Draft
3.8	Combined presentations	Applied	Draft
3.9	Aquaculture accounts	Applied	Draft
3.10	Offshore energy accounts	Applied	Draft

Section 4: Compiling and Producing Data

Data collection, processing, and quality assurance methods.

ID	Title	Badge	Status
4.1	Remote sensing and geospatial data	Applied	Draft
4.2	Survey methods	Applied	Draft
4.3	Administrative data sources	Applied	Draft
4.4	Citizen science	Emerging	Draft
4.5	Research data integration	Applied	Draft
4.6	Data harmonisation	Applied	Draft

Section 5: Geographic and Thematic Case Studies

Real-world implementation examples from partner countries.

ID	Title	Focus	Status
5.1	Indonesia	MSM, strategic planning, multilateral finance	Planned
5.2	Maldives	MSP, debt-for-nature, EIA	Planned
5.3	Thailand/Vietnam	Sustainable tourism	Planned
5.4	Fiji/Vanuatu	National budget processes	Planned
5.5	India	Blue economy planning	Planned
5.6	Australia (Geographe)	Marine park benefits	Planned
5.7	Australia (Blue carbon)	Domestic carbon markets	Planned
5.8	United States	Blue economy, natural capital	Planned
5.9	Belize	Sustainable finance, IOM	Planned

Section 6: Thematic Methodologies

Deep-dive methodologies for specific ecosystem types and sectors.

ID	Title	Badge	Status
6.1	Coral reef ecosystem accounting	Applied	Draft
6.2	Mangrove and coastal wetland	Applied	Draft
6.3	Seagrass ecosystem	Applied	Draft
6.4	Kelp forest and temperate reef	Emerging	Draft
6.5	Pelagic and open ocean	Emerging	Draft
6.6	Deep sea and ABNJ	Emerging	Draft
6.7	Fisheries/stock assessment	Applied	Draft
6.8	Aquaculture thematic	Applied	Draft
6.9	Offshore energy thematic	Emerging	Draft
6.10	Maritime transport and ports	Applied	Draft
6.11	Coastal infrastructure	Applied	Draft
6.12	Marine litter and plastics	Applied	Draft

Stability Classification

Circulars are classified by their stability:

Badge	Meaning
Core	Based on adopted international standards (2025 SNA, SEEA CF, SEEA EA)
Applied	Interprets standards for ocean context; stable but may evolve
Emerging	Addresses topics where standards are still developing
Pilot	Experimental methods being tested

See Circular 0.5: Navigating the Technical Guidance for full details on versioning and audience pathways.

The Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting is developed by the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) to support national and subnational implementation of ocean accounts. Circulars are published on a monthly cadence following review by the GOAP Technical Expert Panel.

For more information about GOAP, visit the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership.