Global Ocean Accounts Partnership Secretariat · GOAP Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting · circular
None. This Circular serves as a standalone reference.
The Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) represents a commitment to improving, harmonising, and applying ocean-related data in accordance with international standards and in keeping with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Partnership was established in response to growing recognition that no single organisation has the mandate or influence to improve how the ocean is measured, how its benefits are realised, or how it is protected. Effective ocean accounting requires collaboration across levels, countries, disciplines, and sectors. ESCAP initiated the first Asia and the Pacific Regional Expert Workshop on Ocean Accounts in August 2018 and supported pilot studies in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Samoa, Thailand, Vanuatu, and Viet Nam during 2019.
The GOAP Panel of Technical Experts comprises specialists in various aspects of ocean accounting from around the world. Its work is framed towards improving understanding of the economic and scientific factors affecting the health of the ocean, and towards generating information that will make more effective action possible. The Panel identifies new challenges in ocean accounting, provides advisory assistance to countries undertaking ocean accounts, and defines priority areas for technical guidance development. The UN Statistical Commission requested ESCAP and UN Environment to take the lead in developing guidance for ocean statistics. The Technical Guidance also provides input to, and benefits from, the revision of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) and the development of SEEA for Oceans.
Founding and hosting institutions
United Nations system
International organisations
Research institutions and consultancies
Government agencies and national statistical offices
The contributors below are recorded as they appear in the First Edition of the Technical Guidance; the Second Edition’s authors and reviewers are listed at 2.3.6.
The Technical Guidance benefited from the enthusiasm and technical excellence of the participants in the ESCAP pilot studies.
China
Chen Shang, Guo Yue, Huang Qi, Jiang Hongyou, Li Feixue, Li Li, Luo Huilin, Shi Jianbin, Tan Lun, Wang Qian, Xing Wenxiu, Yang Yang, Ye Haiyuan, Yuan Xiutang, Zhang Hongke, Zhang Qiufeng, Zhang Yunlan, Zhao Peng, Zhu Chunquan, Zhu Zuhao, Zuo Ping
Malaysia
Aziz S., Azizan Abu Samah, Husni Alhan bin Md Salimun, Illyani Ibrahim, Ismail bin Abdul Rahman, Jillian Ooi, Khazlita Adzim binti Abdol Aziz, Loh Kar Hoe, Mary George, Rizman Idid, Sahadev Sharma, Siti Zakiah binti Muhamad Isa, Sumiani Yusoff, Wafa, Wee Cheah
Samoa
Asiata Gerard Anapu, Frances Reupena, Kitiona Pogi, Leota Aliielua Salani, Papalii Benjamin Sila, Robert Ah Sam, Silafau Paul Meredith
Thailand
Arthit Kraaomkaew, Kanjana Phumalee, Katesaraporn Wimonrat, Krisada Bamrungwong, Narissara Chanpet, Pinsak Suraswadi, Ukkrit Satapoomin, Yuwanan Santitaweeroek
Viet Nam
Dang Thi Phuong Ha, Hoang Viet Anh, Kim Thi Thuy Ngoc, Le Thi Le Quyen, Ngo Nhu Ve, Nguyen The Chinh
Asia and the Pacific Regional Expert Workshop on Ocean Accounts, Bangkok, August 2018
Zeba Ali (Canada), Atifah Binti Mohd Alwi (Malaysia), Wycliff Bakeo (Vanuatu), Om Bhandari (Thailand), Caridad Canales (ESCAP), Narissara Chanpet (Thailand), Youjin Choe (UNITAR), Ratana Chuenpagdee (Canada), Daniel Clarke (ESCAP), Elisa Maria da Silva (Timor Leste), Faviana Bosco De Sousa (Timor Leste), Sangita Dubey (UN-FAO), Maria Corazon Ebarvia (PEMSEA), Mark Elisha Eigenraam (IDEEA Group), Achmad Fahrudin (Indonesia), Giuseppe “Joe” Filoso (Canada), Eugenia Merayo Garcia (IIED), Mary George (University of Malaya), Gaetano Grilli (Cefas UK), Kavinda Gunasekara (AIT), Rikke Munk Hansen (ESCAP), A.K. Enamul Haque (Bangladesh), Ampai Harakunarak (Thailand), Natalie Harms (ESCAP), Shanaka Herath (University of Wollongong), Jeremy Hills (Climalysis), Asaad Irawan (Indonesia), Md.
Rafiqul Islam (Bangladesh), Philip James (The Pacific Community), Soparatana Jarusombat (Thailand), Thitiwat Kaew-Amdee (Thailand), Ahmed Khan (IIED), Sooyeob Kim (ESCAP), Thi Thuy Ngoc Kim (Viet Nam), Praewpan Kongprakhon (Thailand), Alan Frendy Koropitan (IPB Indonesia), Bimlesh Krishna (Fiji), Carolyn Kumul (Papua New Guinea), Anastasia Rita Tisiana Dwi Kuswardani (Indonesia), Feixue Li (Nanjing University), Jian Liang (China), Xinming Liu (China), Yilun Luo (ESCAP), Ilham Atho Mohamed (Maldives), Essam Mohammed (IIED), Jose Luiz Moutinho (AIR Centre), Putri Ari Hendra Murti (ASEAN), Aminath Mushfiqa Ibrahim (Maldives), Sanjesh Naidu (ESCAP), Elizabeth Nguyen (AIT), Vivienne Rhea Padura (De La Salle Lipa), Jingjue Pei (ESCAP), Zhao Peng (China), Xuan Luong Pham (Viet Nam), Kanjana Phumalee (Thailand), Rosimeiry Gomes Portela (Conservation International), Somyod Prajunban (Thailand), Ismail Bin Abdul Rahman (Malaysia), Insang Ryu (Republic of Korea), Yuwanan Santitaweeroek (Thailand), Roger Sayre (USA), Christina Schönleber (APRU), Sri Setyarini (Indonesia), Gerald Singh (University of British Columbia), Sirod Sirisup (Thailand), Vong Sok (ASEAN), Suthasinee Sontirat (Thailand), François Soulard (Canada), Sanjay Srivastava (ESCAP), Andy Steven (Australia), Sarah Taylor (SOLSTICE-WIO), Kelera Lawenitekini Tokalau (Fiji), Christopher Charles Tremewan (APRU), Engr.
Md Waji Ullah (Bangladesh), Gemma Van Halderen (ESCAP), Michelle Voyer (Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security), Katinka Weinberger (ESCAP), Janaka J Wijetunge (University of Peradeniya), and Frank Yrle (AIT).
First Global Dialogue on Ocean Accounting, Sydney, November 2019
Ethan Addicott (Yale University), Umaira Ahmed (Maldives), Rear Admiral (Retd) Mohammad Khurshed Alam (Bangladesh), Gerard Tuii Anapu (Samoa), Nafha Aujaaz (Maldives), Khazlita Adzim Abdol Aziz (Malaysia), Zak Baillie (Australia), Anthony Bennie (Australia), Frances Brown (Samoa), Peter Burneth (Australian National University), Mario Cabral (Timor-Leste), Wee Cheah (Malaysia), The Chinh Nguyen (Viet Nam), Charles Colgan (Center for the Blue Economy), Estefânia Luís Simon da Costa (Timor-Leste), Bikash Kishore Das (Bangladesh), Subramanyam Divvaakar (ESCAP), Jose Ferrer (UNSW), Ken Findlay (Cape Peninsula University of Technology), Keldi Forbes (Canada), Mary George (University of Malaya), Yimnang Golbuu (Palau), Acácio Guterres (Timor-Leste), Rikke Munk Hansen (ESCAP), Shanaka Herath (University of Technology Sydney), Michael Huang (Ocean Policy Research Institute), Vivian Ilarina (Philippines), Siti Zakiah binti Muhamad Isa (Malaysia), Musrat Meh Jabin (Bangladesh), Philip James (Independent marine economist), Hongyou Jiang (China), Wenjia Jin (IUCN), David Keith (UNSW), Arthit Kraaomkaew (Thailand), Bimlesh Krishna (Fiji), Fredrick Kuelinad (Papua New Guinea), Thaung Kyaing (Myanmar), Glenn-Marie Lange (World Bank), Chhan Lay (Cambodia), Feixue Li (Nanjing University), Phuong Loan Dang (Viet Nam), MD Abdul Mannan (Bangladesh), Laurence McCook (World Wide Fund for Nature), Alistair McIlgorm (Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security), Reiss McLeod (IDEEA Group), Paul David Meredith (Samoa), Ben Milligan (UNSW), Pakeer Mohideen Amza (Sri Lanka), Niyangama Balasooriyage Monty Ranatunge (Sri Lanka), Shafiya Naeem (Maldives), Sanjesh Naidu (ESCAP), Thi Thuy Ngoc Kim (Viet Nam), Kien Nguyen (Viet Nam), Ngo Nhu Ve (Viet Nam), Eduardo Pereira (Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-sustainability), Stephanie Perkiss (University of Wollongong), Kanjana Phumalee (Thailand), Kitiona Pogi (Samoa), Prapasri Pongwattana (Thailand), John Lourenze Poquiz (Philippines), Ismail bin Abdul Rahman (Malaysia), Yesheng CUI Raymond (UNSW), Russel Reichelt (Australia), Rear Admiral Ruwan Perera (Sri Lanka), Leota Aliielua Salani (Samoa), Husni Alhan Md Salimun (Malaysia), Robert Ah Sam (Samoa), Azizan Bin Abu Samah (Malaysia), Yuwanan Santitaweeroek (Thailand), Ukkrit Satapoomin (Thailand), Nelson Shem (Vanuatu), Jianbin Shi (The Paulson Institute), Papali’i Benjamin Sila (Samoa), Rodolfo Soares (Timor-Leste), François Soulard (Canada), Andy Steven (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Pinsak Suraswadi (Thailand), Sarah Taylor (National Oceanography Centre), Tony Harrison Tevi (Vanuatu), Van Thanh Nguyen (Viet Nam), Gemma Van Halderen (ESCAP), Michael Vardon (Australian National University), Katesaraporn Wimonrat (Thailand), Peng Zhao (China), Peng Zheng (Dalian Ocean University), and Ping Zuo (Nanjing University).
[To be completed upon finalisation of all circulars.]
The global consultation on the Second Edition invites comment from anyone who produces, checks or uses ocean accounts. Two lists will be published here when the consultation closes.
Consultation respondents — everyone who commented under their own name and asked to be recognised, listed alphabetically with their organisation, with no comment attributed to any individual.
Named contributors to a circular — respondents whose comments were accepted and substantively changed a circular are additionally named on that circular itself, in its contributor list, and are carried in its citation. The threshold, per circular, is one accepted substantive comment that supplied the replacement wording or a supporting reference, or three or more accepted substantive comments; a substantive comment is one that changes a definition, method, classification, recommendation, data source, numeric value or factual claim, as distinct from a typographic or formatting correction. Anonymous comments carry no identity and cannot be credited. Every entry is confirmed with the person before it is published. The full criteria are set out in How to comment.
[To be completed upon closure of the global consultation.]
The GOAP Secretariat is hosted by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), which provides institutional support for the coordination of partnership activities and the development of this Technical Guidance. The ESCAP pilot studies in China, Malaysia, Samoa, Thailand, and Viet Nam were funded by ESCAP.
[Additional funding acknowledgements to be confirmed.]
Cite this report
General Acknowledgements (2026) (GOAP Technical Guidance on Ocean Accounting, TG-0.3, v0.3.0). GOAP Secretariat. https://guidance.oceanaccounts.org/circulars/section-0/0-3-acknowledgements/
guidance.oceanaccounts.org/circulars/section-0/0-3-acknowledgements
© 2026 Global Ocean Accounts Partnership Secretariat · CC BY-NC 4.0 · The report, its PDF and this deck are built from the same source.
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