Glossary of Key Terms

1. Outcome

This Circular provides a comprehensive glossary of key terms used throughout the Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting. Terms are aligned with the SEEA Glossary, 2025 SNA, and other relevant international statistical standards to ensure consistency across all circulars.

2. Requirements

None—this Circular serves as a standalone reference for terminology.

3. Glossary

A

Abiotic : Relating to non-living components of an ecosystem, including physical and chemical characteristics such as water temperature, salinity, and substrate type. (SEEA EA)

Accounting period : The time span over which accounts are compiled, typically one year. Accounts measure stocks at the beginning and end of the accounting period, and flows during the period. (SNA/SEEA)

Aquaculture : The farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Farming implies some form of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding and protection from predators. (FAO/SEEA CF)

Asset : A store of value representing a benefit or series of benefits accruing to the economic owner by holding or using the entity over a period of time. In Ocean Accounts, this includes produced assets, financial assets, natural resources, and ecosystem assets. (SNA)

Asset account : An account that records the opening stock, changes during the accounting period, and closing stock of an asset. (SEEA)

B

Basic Spatial Unit (BSU) : The fundamental geographic unit used for spatial accounting in Ocean Accounts. BSUs may be differentiated into terrestrial, coastal, and marine units, and can incorporate depth layers for three-dimensional representation.

Biodiversity : The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. (CBD)

Biotic : Relating to living components of an ecosystem, including compositional, structural, and functional characteristics. (SEEA EA)

Blue economy : The sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem. (World Bank)

C

Capacity (of ecosystem) : The ability of an ecosystem to generate a specific ecosystem service under current ecosystem condition, management, and uses, at the highest yield or use level that does not negatively affect the future supply of the same or other ecosystem services. (SEEA EA)

Carbon sequestration : The process by which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored in carbon pools such as oceans, forests, or soils. (IPCC)

Coastal zone : The area where land and sea meet and interact, including both the land and water components of the shoreline environment.

Condition (ecosystem) : The quality of an ecosystem measured in terms of its abiotic and biotic characteristics. Condition is assessed by reference to an ecosystem's composition, structure and function which, in turn, underpins the ecological integrity of the ecosystem and supports its capacity to supply ecosystem services. (SEEA EA)

Cultivated biological resources : Biological resources that are subject to direct control, responsibility and management by institutional units. In the ocean domain, this primarily refers to aquaculture. These are classified as produced assets in the SNA. (SNA/SEEA CF)

D

Degradation (ecosystem) : A decline in an ecosystem asset reflected in a decline in the condition of the ecosystem asset and an associated decline in the value of the asset. (SEEA EA)

Depletion : The decrease in the quantity of the stock of a natural resource over an accounting period that is due to the extraction of the natural resource by economic units occurring at a level greater than regeneration. (SEEA CF)

Depreciation : See "Consumption of fixed capital."

E

Ecosystem : A dynamic complex of plant, animal, and microorganism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. (SEEA EA, following CBD)

Ecosystem accounting : The measurement of ecosystem assets and ecosystem services, including their condition, extent, and the flows of services they provide. Defined in SEEA Ecosystem Accounting. (SEEA EA)

Ecosystem asset : Contiguous spaces of a specific ecosystem type characterised by a distinct set of biotic and abiotic components and their interactions. (SEEA EA)

Ecosystem condition : See "Condition (ecosystem)."

Ecosystem Condition Typology (ECT) : A hierarchical classification of ecosystem condition variables into three groups (abiotic, biotic, and landscape characteristics) and six classes used in SEEA EA. (SEEA EA)

Ecosystem extent : The size of an ecosystem asset. Measured in terms of area for each ecosystem type. (SEEA EA)

Ecosystem service : The contributions of ecosystems to the benefits that are used in economic and other human activity. (SEEA EA)

Ecosystem type : A category in a classification of ecosystem assets based on similar ecological, biophysical, or functional characteristics. The Global Ecosystem Typology provides a standard classification. (SEEA EA)

Enhancement (ecosystem) : An increase in an ecosystem asset reflected in an increase in the condition of the ecosystem asset and an associated increase in the value of the asset. (SEEA EA)

Environmental asset : The naturally occurring living and non-living components of the Earth, together constituting the biophysical environment, which may provide benefits to humanity. (SEEA CF)

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) : A sea zone over which a state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, extending 200 nautical miles from the coast. (UNCLOS)

Extent account : An account that records the opening extent, changes during the accounting period, and closing extent of ecosystem assets by ecosystem type. (SEEA EA)

F

Final ecosystem service : Those ecosystem contributions that are directly used, consumed or enjoyed by people and thus directly affect human wellbeing. Contrasted with intermediate ecosystem services. (SEEA EA)

Flow : A quantity measured over a period of time, such as production, income, or physical transfers. Contrasted with stocks. (SNA/SEEA)

G

Global Ecosystem Typology (GET) : An international standard classification of ecosystem types developed by IUCN, providing a framework for ecosystem accounting. (IUCN)

Governance : The structures and processes by which societies share power and shape individual and collective actions, including formal and informal rules, rule-making systems, and actor-networks. (IPBES)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) : The sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. (SNA)

Gross Value Added (GVA) : The value of output less the value of intermediate consumption. (SNA)

I

Individual environmental asset : Environmental assets as defined in the SEEA Central Framework, classified according to the SNA's five categories of natural resources: land, mineral and energy resources, biological resources, water resources, and other natural resources. Contrasted with ecosystem assets. (SEEA CF)

Intermediate ecosystem service : Ecosystem contributions that support the functioning of ecosystems and the supply of final ecosystem services but are not directly used or consumed by people. (SEEA EA)

M

Marine Protected Area (MPA) : A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values. (IUCN)

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) : A public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives. (UNESCO-IOC)

N

Natural biological resources : Biological resources that are not subject to direct control, responsibility and management by institutional units. In the ocean domain, this includes wild fish stocks. These are classified as non-produced assets. (SNA/SEEA CF)

Natural capital : Natural resources and ecosystem assets. Defined in the 2025 SNA as the combination of: (a) natural resources (such as mineral and energy resources, biological resources, and water resources, recognised within the integrated framework of national accounts); and (b) ecosystem assets (spatially defined areas of ecosystems, measured through SEEA Ecosystem Accounting). (SNA 2025)

Natural resource : A component of the natural environment from which resource inputs and other flows are derived. (SEEA CF)

Net Domestic Product (NDP) : Gross Domestic Product less consumption of fixed capital. The 2025 SNA emphasizes NDP as the conceptually preferred measure of economic performance as it accounts for capital depreciation and, when properly measured, resource depletion. (SNA 2025)

O

Ocean accounts : A structured framework for compiling and integrating data about marine and coastal environments and their relationship with human societies and economies, compatible with international statistical standards (SNA and SEEA) and adhering to principles of official statistics. (GOAP)

Ocean economy : Economic activities that take place in the ocean, use the ocean as an input, or produce goods or services for ocean-related activities. (OECD)

P

Physical Supply and Use Table (PSUT) : A table that records the supply and use of products and natural inputs in physical units, extending the monetary supply and use framework of the SNA. (SEEA CF)

Produced asset : A non-financial asset that has come into existence as a result of production. Includes fixed assets, inventories, and valuables. (SNA)

Production boundary : The boundary that defines the scope of production in the national accounts. Activities within the boundary are counted as production; activities outside are not. (SNA)

Provisioning service : Ecosystem contributions to the growth or development of biotic resources that may be harvested and used in production or directly consumed. (SEEA EA)

R

Reference condition : A state against which ecosystem condition is measured, typically representing the natural or undegraded state of an ecosystem. (SEEA EA)

Regulating and maintenance service : Ecosystem contributions that moderate or regulate the ambient environment, including physical, chemical, and biological conditions. Includes services such as coastal protection, climate regulation, and water purification. (SEEA EA)

Residual : Materials discarded by economic units after production or consumption. Includes solid waste, air emissions, water emissions, and other substances released to the environment. (SEEA CF)

S

SEEA : System of Environmental-Economic Accounting. Comprises the SEEA Central Framework (SEEA CF) and SEEA Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA). (UN)

SNA : System of National Accounts. The international standard for measuring economic activity. The current version is the 2025 SNA. (UN)

Stock : A quantity measured at a point in time, such as asset holdings or population. Contrasted with flows. (SNA/SEEA)

Supply and use table : A table that records the supply of goods and services by domestic industries and imports, and the use of goods and services by industries (intermediate consumption) and final demand. (SNA)

Sustainability : Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (Brundtland Commission)

T

Thematic account : An account that focuses on a particular environmental or economic theme, such as energy, water, or the ocean. The 2025 SNA formally recognizes ocean accounting as a type of thematic account. (SNA 2025)

Traditional knowledge : Knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. (CBD)

V

Valuation : The process of assigning monetary values to assets or services. In environmental-economic accounting, valuation methods must be carefully matched to the purpose of the analysis. (SEEA)

Value added : See "Gross Value Added."

W

Wellbeing : A state of being that includes having basic material needs met, freedom and choice, health and bodily well-being, good social relations, security, peace of mind, and spiritual experience. (IPBES, adapted from MEA)

4. Sources and Abbreviations

Key Sources

• CBD: Convention on Biological Diversity
• FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• GOAP: Global Ocean Accounts Partnership
• IPBES: Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
• IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature
• MEA: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
• OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• SEEA CF: System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Central Framework (2012)
• SEEA EA: System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (2021)
• SNA 2025: System of National Accounts 2025
• UN: United Nations
• UNCLOS: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
• UNESCO-IOC: UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

Standard Abbreviations Used in Technical Guidance

5. Acknowledgements

Authors: GOAP Secretariat

This glossary draws on definitions from the SEEA Glossary, 2025 SNA, and other international statistical standards. Terms are adapted for the ocean accounting context where appropriate.