Navigating the Technical Guidance

Field	Value
Circular ID	TG-0.5
Version	1.0
Status	Completed
Last Updated	February 2025

1. Outcome

This Circular provides readers with a comprehensive navigation guide to the Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting. Readers will understand how the conceptual framework in Circular 0.1 maps to specific circulars, identify dependencies between circulars, and find appropriate reading pathways based on their role and interests.

2. Requirements

This Circular requires familiarity with:

TG-0.1 General Introduction – for the conceptual framework

3. Structure Overview

3.1 Stability Classification (Badges)

Each circular carries a stability badge indicating its relationship to underlying standards:

Badge	Meaning	Update Trigger	Example
Core	Based on adopted international standards (2025 SNA, SEEA CF, SEEA EA)	Only when standards are formally revised by UNSC	0.1 General Introduction
Applied	Interprets standards for ocean context; stable but may evolve with practice	Annual review cycle	3.1 Assets
Emerging	Addresses topics where standards are still developing (SEEA-Oceans)	Updated as standards crystallise	3.6 Traditional Knowledge
Pilot	Experimental methods being tested; may be withdrawn	After pilot evaluation period	Country-specific innovations

3.2 Version Numbering

Format: TG-[Section].[Number]-v[Major].[Minor]

Example: TG-0.1-v2.0 (Technical Guidance, Section 0, Circular 1, Version 2.0)

Major version increment: Substantive content changes (new standards, corrected errors)
Minor version increment: Editorial improvements, clarifications, added examples

4. Conceptual Map: Figure 2 to Circulars

This table maps the components from Circular 0.1 Figure 2 to specific circulars:

Figure 2 Component	Primary Circular(s)	Prerequisites
Stocks: Produced and financial assets	3.1 Assets (produced portion)	0.1, 0.2
Stocks: Social assets and conditions	3.5 Social accounts	0.1, 3.7
Stocks: Environmental assets (individual)	3.1 Assets	0.1, 0.2
Stocks: Environmental assets (ecosystem)	3.1 Assets	0.1, 0.2
Flows: Within economy (SNA)	3.3 Economic activity	0.1, 0.2
Flows: Within society	3.5 Social accounts	0.1
Flows: Within environment	3.2 Flows env→econ	0.1, 3.1
Flows: Env→Economy (ecosystem services)	3.2 Flows env→econ	0.1, 3.1
Flows: Economy→Env (pollution, residuals)	3.4 Flows econ→env	0.1, 3.1, 3.3
Flows: Monetary (asset transactions)	3.1 Assets, 3.3 Economic activity	0.1, 0.2
Flows: Social↔Economic contributions	3.5 Social accounts	0.1, 3.3
Flows: Env services→Society	3.5 Social accounts, 2.3 Livelihood dependencies	0.1, 3.2

5. Audience Pathways

Seven user archetypes with curated reading sequences:

5.1 Policy Executive

Audience: Ministers, senior government officials, heads of agencies

Entry Point	Core Sequence	Extensions
0.1 General Introduction	0.1 → relevant 1.x (policy context) → one 5.x case study	Delegate detail to technical staff

Suggested reading: ~2 hours total

5.2 National Statistician

Audience: NSO compilers, official statisticians building ocean accounts

Entry Point	Core Sequence	Extensions
0.2 Standards Overview	0.1 → 0.2 → 3.1-3.5 (all accounts circulars) → 4.x (data)	2.x for indicator production

Suggested reading: Full engagement with Section 3

5.3 Ecosystem Analyst

Audience: Technical staff measuring ecosystem assets, condition, and services

Entry Point	Core Sequence	Extensions
0.1 → 3.1 Assets	0.1 → 3.1 → 3.2 (env→econ flows) → 2.4 (ecosystem goods/services)	1.9 Valuation, 5.x cases

Suggested reading: Focus on asset and flow circulars

5.4 Blue Finance / MSP-MPA Practitioner

Audience: Development finance practitioners, spatial planners, MPA managers

Entry Point	Core Sequence	Extensions
1.x (their context)	0.1 → relevant 1.x (1.2, 1.3, 1.7, 1.8) → supporting 2.x indicators	5.x (Belize, Maldives, Indonesia)

Suggested reading: Use-case driven, selective depth

Audience: Researchers on livelihoods, equity, governance, traditional knowledge

Entry Point	Core Sequence	Extensions
3.5 Social Accounts	0.1 → 3.5 → 3.6 (traditional knowledge) → 3.7 (governance)	2.3 Livelihood dependencies

Suggested reading: Social-focused subset

5.6 Implementation Lead

Audience: Country project managers launching ocean accounts pilots

Entry Point	Core Sequence	Extensions
5.x Case Study	0.1 → 0.4 (structure) → relevant 5.x → then 3.x as needed	All circulars, phased by pilot scope

Suggested reading: Case-study first, then work backwards to methodology

5.7 Research Frontier

Audience: Academics, methodologists extending ocean accounting state of the art

Entry Point	Core Sequence	Extensions
0.2 + "Emerging" circulars	0.1 → 0.2 → all "Emerging"-badged circulars → "Pilot" circulars	Contribute to new Pilot circulars

Suggested reading: Comprehensive; focus on unresolved questions

6. Dependency Graph

The following diagram shows dependencies between circulars. Arrows indicate "enables" relationships (A → B means A must be read before B).

                           ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
                           │                    SECTION 0                            │
                           │                  Front Matter                           │
                           └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                                    │
                           ┌────────────────────────┼────────────────────────┐
                           │                        │                        │
                           ▼                        ▼                        ▼
                      ┌─────────┐              ┌─────────┐              ┌─────────┐
                      │  0.1    │              │  0.2    │              │  0.6    │
                      │ General │──────────────│Standards│              │Glossary │
                      │  Intro  │              │Overview │              │         │
                      └────┬────┘              └────┬────┘              └─────────┘
                           │                        │
           ┌───────────────┼───────────────┬───────┴───────┐
           │               │               │               │
           ▼               ▼               ▼               ▼
      ┌─────────┐     ┌─────────┐     ┌─────────┐     ┌─────────┐
      │  0.5    │     │  0.7    │     │   1.x   │     │   3.x   │
      │Navigate │     │   QA    │     │Decision │     │Accounts │
      │         │     │Principles│    │  Use    │     │Compiling│
      └─────────┘     └─────────┘     └────┬────┘     └────┬────┘
                                           │               │
                                           │               │
                                           ▼               ▼
                                      ┌─────────┐     ┌─────────┐
                                      │   2.x   │     │   4.x   │
                                      │Indicators│    │  Data   │
                                      │         │     │ Methods │
                                      └────┬────┘     └─────────┘
                                           │
                                           ▼
                                      ┌─────────┐
                                      │   5.x   │
                                      │  Case   │
                                      │ Studies │
                                      └─────────┘

Detailed Section Dependencies

Section 3: Accounts Compilation

┌──────────┐
│   0.1    │
│   0.2    │
└────┬─────┘
     │
     ▼
┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐
│   3.1    │────▶│   3.2    │────▶│   3.4    │
│  Assets  │     │ Env→Econ │     │ Econ→Env │
└────┬─────┘     └──────────┘     └──────────┘
     │
     ├─────────────────────────────┐
     │                             │
     ▼                             ▼
┌──────────┐                  ┌──────────┐
│   3.3    │                  │   3.5    │
│ Economic │                  │  Social  │
│ Activity │                  │ Accounts │
└──────────┘                  └────┬─────┘
                                   │
                              ┌────┴────┐
                              ▼         ▼
                         ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐
                         │   3.6    │ │   3.7    │
                         │Trad Know │ │Governance│
                         └──────────┘ └──────────┘

7. Quick Reference: All Circulars

Section 0: Concepts, Definitions and Front Matter

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

Section 1: Using Ocean Accounts in Decision-Making

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

Section 2: Compiling Indicators from Ocean Accounts

ID	Title	Badge	Status
2.1	Aggregate biophysical indicators of environmental state	Applied	Priority
2.2	Macro-economic dependencies on ocean ecosystems	Applied	Planned
2.3	Social and livelihood dependencies on ocean ecosystems	Applied	Planned
2.4	Environmental (including ecosystem) goods and services	Applied	Planned
2.5	Structure and function of the ocean economy	Applied	Planned
2.6	Ocean-related investment	Applied	Planned
2.7	Pollution and other flows to environment	Applied	Planned
2.8	Climate change indicators	Applied	Planned
2.9	Disaster risk indicators	Applied	Planned
2.10	Multilateral environmental agreement indicators	Applied	Planned
2.11	Resource efficiency indicators	Applied	Planned

Section 3: Compiling Ocean Accounts from Relevant Data

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

Section 4: Compiling and Producing Data

ID	Title	Badge	Status
4.1	Remote sensing and geospatial data	Applied	Priority
4.2	Survey methods for ocean economic activity	Applied	Planned
4.3	Administrative data sources	Applied	Priority
4.4	Citizen science and community-based monitoring	Emerging	Planned
4.5	Integrating research data into official statistics	Applied	Planned
4.6	Data harmonisation and interoperability	Applied	Planned

Section 5: Geographic and Thematic Case Studies

ID	Title	Badge	Status
5.1	Indonesia	Applied	Planned
5.2	Maldives	Applied	Planned
5.3	Thailand and Vietnam	Applied	Planned
5.4	Fiji and Vanuatu	Applied	Planned
5.5	India	Applied	Planned
5.6	Australia (Geographe Marine Park)	Applied	Planned
5.7	Australia (Blue carbon)	Applied	Planned
5.8	United States	Applied	Planned
5.9	Belize	Applied	Planned

Section 6: Thematic Methodologies

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

8. Cross-Cutting Themes

Some topics span multiple sections and are addressed as "threads" rather than standalone circulars:

Theme	How It's Addressed
Monetary valuation	1.9 (policy framing) → 3.1-3.2 (general methods) → 6.x (context-specific) → 5.x (case studies)
Spatial methods	0.5 (BSU concept) → 3.1 (spatial asset delineation) → 4.1 (remote sensing) → 6.x (ecosystem-specific)
Uncertainty	0.7 (principles) → embedded in every 3.x and 4.x circular
Governance	3.7 (accounts) → relevant 1.x (decision use) → 5.x (country cases) → 2.x (indicators)
Traditional knowledge	3.6 (incorporation methods) → 3.5 (social accounts) → 6.x (thematic contexts)

9. Acknowledgements

Authors: GOAP Secretariat

Reviewers: GOAP Technical Expert Panel