Vol. 5 | January 2024

GOAP Secretariat -

A note from GOAP's Co-Chairs

Dear friends and colleagues,  

We are thrilled to introduce ourselves as the new Co-Chairs of the Partnership, elected at the GOAP Members Meeting, December 2023. We are strongly committed to supporting the development and use of ocean accounts for sustainable ocean development. We are proud that the GOAP is now co-chaired by organisations from two developing economies and look forward to driving global collaboration and knowledge sharing.  

We thank the previous GOAP Co-Chairs, UNESCAP and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, for their leadership over the past four years, under which the Partnership has grown to over 30 Members, significantly increased global engagement with ocean accounting, and has held many collaborative events. Their leadership and vision have driven the success to date and, as we take over as Co-Chairs, we look forward to working with all Members to build on this valuable work.  

Over the next two years we aim to strengthen the GOAP regional Communities of Practice and expand their coverage to welcome all interested stakeholders in Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America. We will continue to work with the Partnership to explore the practical utility of ocean accounting for broader sustainable ocean development processes—for example implementation of Sustainable Ocean Plans, Marine Spatial Planning, ocean-based climate action, and sustainable finance. We also strongly support the global agenda for biodiversity under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We look forward to optimising communication and international collaboration with regional and international organisations. We are working closely with the Secretariat to produce a two-year Agenda outlining our ‘vision’ for the Partnership during our time as Co-Chairs. This will be shared shortly. 

Preparations have begun for the Global Dialogue on Sustainable Ocean Development, the 5th Global Dialogue from the GOAP, which will take place in Bali, Indonesia from 1-5 July 2024. Full registration will open 12 February.  We welcome your ideas for side events, plenary discussions and training workshops. All event details can be found here. 

The GOAP Secretariat and partners continued to engage in discussions and workshops across the globe including presentations on the use of ocean accounting to monitor blue carbon projects in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and account for marine and coastal natural capital in Sri Lanka, Latin America, Norway and the Western Indian Ocean region. For more details, see the ‘recent events’ section below.   

Thank you for your continued support and happy reading,   

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