Progress report for
Strengthening data partnerships for Oceans in Asia and the Pacific
Achievement at a glance
National pilot studies on ocean accounting<br>Five countries in Asia and the Pacific, China, Malaysia, Samoa, Thailand and Viet Nam are implementing pilot ocean account projects with the support of ESCAP. All five have established national inter-agency working groups and aligned the pilots to national ocean policy priorities.
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<br>Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting for Sustainable Development
<br>Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting for Sustainable Development has been developed. The Guidance still requires further development, testing and experimentation and will be reviewed by the United Nations Statistical Commission and the Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting (UNCEEA) in 2020 and 2021. The Guidance is expected to contribute to the revision of the SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting.
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<br>Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP)
<br>A milestone development in 2019 was the establishment of the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership, GOAP, co-founded by ESCAP and the University of New South Wales, Australia. GOAP held its first Annual Meeting in conjunction with the Global Dialogue on Ocean Accounting, which was co-organized by the founding members in Sydney, Australia in November 2019. The Global Dialogue (a) reviewed the initial results of the national pilot ocean account projects, (b) generated inputs for further development of the Technical Guidance both in terms of the production and use of the accounts, and (c) established links to the High-level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy through the Blue Paper on National Accounting for the Ocean.
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<br>ESCAP and UNEP engage in several activities with partner organizations to deepen and broaden the work of GOAP, keeping in mind the SNA, the SEEA and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Sustainable Development Goal 14 on life below water. Activities include (a) research on global ocean ecosystem databases; (b) inventory of global ocean data; (c) progress assessment of ecosystem-based management of exclusive economic zones (SDG 14.2); assessment of data availability for SDG14 in Asia-Pacific; and (d) development of a demo data portal for the Pacific Ocean.
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<br>Data availability and reporting for SDG 14
<br> The ESCAP Working Paper on “SDG14: Life Below Water - Navigating Life Below Water in Asia and the Pacific" provides an overview of progress made on data availability and reporting for Goal 14 in Asia and the Pacific.
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<br>Fundraising
<br>Funding was secured by late 2018 from the United Nations Development Account. The funds have supported the Technical Guidance and the pilot studies.
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