UNSW joins Global Ocean Accounts Partnership for Sustainable Development

UNSW Sydney recently accepted an invitation from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) to join the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership for Sustainable Development (GOAP) as a founding member.

UNSW’s involvement in this initiative was led by Ben Milligan, a recently appointed Scientia Fellow based at the Faculty of Law, Centre for Applied Economic Research, and Centre for Ecosystem Science.

The GOAP brings together a diverse range of stakeholders (national governments, intergovernmental organisations, research institutes and others) with a common interest to ensure that the values and benefits of oceans are recognised and accounted for in decision-making about social and economic development. The Partnership will achieve this objective by developing a shared technical framework for ocean accounting, coupled with collaborative capacity-building activities that support the development, maintenance, and ongoing use in decision-making, of ocean accounts that link together social, environmental and economic statistics.

UNSW, In partnership with UN–ESCAP, the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, and the World Bank, will host the inaugural Global Dialogue on Ocean Accounting for Sustainable Development in November 2019. This event will bring together leading researchers, governmental officials, and other stakeholders to share experiences from a range of ocean accounting pilot projects. The group will review and co-develop the zero draft UN Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting and co-develop a strategic work plan for the Partnership.