Webinar. Integrating social data into ocean accounts

30 October 2025

Ocean Accounts compile and present structured data across environmental, social and economic domains. But, to date, there has been limited focus on the social domain and how Social Accounts can be developed and implemented in practice. 

This webinar:

• Increased awareness of Social Accounts as an essential component of Ocean Accounts
• Launched the Social Accounts Data Audit Tool and accompanying Technical Report and How-to-Guide, developed by the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership and World Resources Institute.
• Demonstrated practical application of the Social Accounts Data Audit Tool across diverse contexts and launch the accompanying technical report.
• Shared experiences and insights from countries exploring the use of social data in Ocean Accounts and using the data audit tool across Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia.

The Social Accounts Data Audit Tool is a comprehensive data audit approach for identifying available social data in countries for use in integrating social domain into ocean accounts.

Continuing this research, the Social Accounts Working Group, established by the GOAP Secretariat, provides a structure for diverse individuals and organizations with a common interest in ensuring that social, cultural and equity data are appropriately accounted for in Ocean Accounting and decision-making processes. Interested in joining?

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Social Accounting is the process of capturing, analysing, and reporting of data related to the social, cultural and equity dimensions of the human-ocean relationship within the Ocean Accounts framework.

Recording

Agenda

Presentations from
Dr Philip James
GOAP Secretariat, UNSW Centre for Sustainable Development Reform
Rachel Thoms
World Resources Institute 

The template and methodology developed to assess national data systems, along with high-level findings from initial audits conducted across eight countries.

Panel discussion exploring how this approach can be implemented in-country to ensure coastal communities are visible in national decision-making processes.

• Jefte Abivadab Jair Ochaeta (Belize) - Ocean Accounts Fellow, SIB
• Nilton Chauque (Mozambique) - Economist, Instituto Nacional de Estatística
• Akua Amoa Okyere-Nyako (Ghana) - University of Cape Coast, Africa Centre of
Excellence in Coastal Resilience.
• Dr Juliet Karisa (Kenya) - Research Scientist, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute

Resources

Social Accounts

• Briefing paper on Social Accounts 
• Briefing paper Towards Social Accounts_Rethinking How We Understand and Use Social Information
• Report- Ocean Accounts for Sustainable Ocean Plans: Enabling Decision-Makers to Measure Progress 
• Expert insight on The importance of Social Accounts on the pathway towards Ocean Equity
• Expert insight on The Vital Role of Data in Inclusion, Equity, and Justice in Coastal Communities
• Journal article authored by the Social Accounts Working Group - Social Accounts for the ocean: A path to inclusive and equitable ocean decision-making (November 2025)