Overview
Download PDF of this PageA healthy ocean sustainably delivers a range of benefits to people now and in the future.
Goals are to obtain the maximum flows of ecological, social, and economic benefits.
Each goal measures the delivery of specific benefits with respect to a sustainable target. A goal is given a score of 100 if its maximum sustainable benefits are gained in ways that do not compromise the ocean’s ability to deliver those benefits in the future. Lower scores indicate that more benefits could be gained or that current methods are harming the delivery of future benefits.
REGIONS ASSESSED
Global databases are used for annual assessment of goals in 221 regions, including all coastal countries, territories and the Antarctic, inland to 1 km from the shore and seaward to either 200 nautical miles (Exclusive Economic Zone, EEZ) or 3 nm. Areas beyond national jurisdiction ('High Seas') are assessed less frequently.
goals
For the global study, participating scientists, economists and sociologists reviewed existing studies of what people want and expect from the ocean, then grouped them into ten categories called ‘goals.’ Independent assessments at smaller scales could choose a different number of goals.
Four dimensions are measured and scored for each goal. Present STATUS is a goal’s current value compared to its reference point. TREND is the average percent change of a goal’s status over the most recent five years. PRESSURES are the ecological and social factors that decrease status. RESILIENCE includes the ecological factors and social initiatives (policies, laws, etc) that increase status by reducing or eliminating pressures.
For the global study, participating scientists, economists and
sociologists reviewed existing studies of what people want and expect from the
ocean, then grouped them into ten categories called ‘goals.’ Independent assessments at smaller scales
could choose a different number of goals.
gOAL SCOREs
Four dimensions are measured and scored for each goal. Present STATUS is a goal’s current value compared to its reference point. TREND is the average percent change of a goal’s status over the most recent five years. PRESSURES are the ecological and social factors that decrease status. RESILIENCE includes the ecological factors and social initiatives (policies, laws, etc) that increase status by reducing or eliminating pressures
Scores for the Trend, Pressures and Resilience dimensions are combined as LIKELY FUTURE STATUS, an indicator of what the status score is likely to be in five years.
The GOAL SCORE is the average of the scores for Present Status and Likely Future Status. Status (including Trend) thus makes up 83% of the goal score, while Pressures and Resilience each contribute 8.5%.
Despite the small percentage it contributes to the score, resilience is the
only way for humans to reduce pressures, increase goal scores and improve ocean
health.
REGION SCOREs
A region's score is the average of its goal scores. Goal scores are weighted equally in global assessments, but independent assessments could weight them differently depending on local conditions and values.
global score
The global score is the area-weighted average of scores for all assessed regions. 'Global EEZ score' or Global regional score' refers to the overall score for countries, territories and Antarctica. 'Global score' is the overall score for those regions plus areas beyond national jurisdiction (High Seas).
