World Ocean Assessment Overview
The first World Ocean Assessment (WOA) is a report on the state of the planet’s oceans. It is the product of the first cycle of the Regular Process for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment, including socio-economic aspects, which was established after the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.
World Ocean Assessment Overview
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
Contributors (in alphabetic order) Elaine Baker, GRID-Arendal at the University of Sydney
Morten Sorensen, GRID-Arendal Kristina Thygesen, GRID-Arendal Levi Westerveld, GRID-Arendal
The contributors acknowledge the anonymous reviewers from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the WOA Secretariat, United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UN DOALOS).
A Story Map of this overview is available at http://arcg. is/1RxA1O2
Photo credits Mark Kelsey (1, 4, 16) Peter Prokosch (9) iStock/uchar (10) GBMPA (11) iStock/alxpin (12) Citation GRID-Arendal and UNEP 2016, World Ocean Assessment Overview , GRID-Arendal, Norway. The completeWorld Ocean Assessment Group of Experts of the Regular Process (Innis, L. and Simcock, A., Joint Coordinators) The First Global Integrated Marine Assessment: World Ocean Assessment I. United Nations Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects. United Nations, New York, NY, 2016. Can be downloaded at http://www.un.org/ Depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RegProcess.htm
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
Introduction The first World Ocean Assessment (WOA) is a report on the state of the planet’s oceans. It is the product of the first cycle of the Regular Process for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment, including socio-economic aspects, which was established after the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (Ref: page 2 of Summary). The Regular Process was set up to review the environmental, economic and social aspects of the world’s oceans. Sanctioned by the United Nations, this first report was released at the end of 2015 and is the product of a review of hundreds of other national and regional assessments. It was written by a Group of Experts and involved more than 600 scientists, all nominated by United Nations Member States who worked together to complete the report. The findings indicate that the oceans’ carrying capacity (its ability to sustain human activities and their impacts) is near or at its limit and urgent action on a
global scale is needed to protect what remains (Ref: WOA Summary (A/70/112), page 40).
The assessment, though not a policy document, is intended to provide a scientific basis for action by governments, intergovernmental processes, policy-makers and others involved in ocean affairs. It offers a baseline for gauging the effectiveness of management and policy decisions and provides guidance in developing strategies and technologies to solve problems (Ref: WOA Preface by joint coordinators). This overview looks at the results of the first WOA in a framework that distinguishes driving forces, pressures, states, impacts and responses (called the “DPSIR framework”).¹ The DPSIR framework provides a structure to broadly examine the state of the world’s oceans and reflects the relationship between the marine environment and human activity.
The levels of DPSIR framework - Driving forces - Pressures - State (of the oceans) - Impacts - Responses I f - rivi f rces - ress res - St te ( f t e ce s) - I cts - es ses l l f
Driving forces ri i f r s
Socio-economic and socio-cultural forces driving human activities that increase pressures on the oceans S ci -ec ic s ci -c lt r l f rces rivi ctivities t t i cre se ress res t e ce s
How do we respond to the impacts on the ocean? e res t t e impacts t e ce ? Response s s
Pressures r ss r s
Pressures on the ocean from human activities, both land- and ocean-based ress res t e ce fr ctivities, t l - ce - se
Response monitoring Response it ri
State State
Impact Im t
What is the state of the ocean? - “the assessment” What is the state f t e ce ? - “the assessment”
What are the impacts of the changing state of the ocean? at are the impacts of the c i st te of t e ce ?
1. For more information on the DPSIR framework please see: http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/dpsir-framework-for-state-of-environment-reporting_379f
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
In order to organize the complex task of assessing the environmental, social and economic aspects of the ocean, the WOA is divided into 10 themes (Ref: WOA Summary, pages 7 to 10 providing overview of themes).
The ten themes addressed in theWorld Ocean Assessment
Theme A
Impacts of climate change and related changes in the atmosphere
Theme B
Higher mortality and less successful reproduction of marine biotas
Theme C
Food security and food safety
Theme D
Patterns of biodiversity
Theme E
Increased use of ocean space
Theme F
Increasing inputs of harmful material
Theme G
Cumulative impacts of human activities on marine biodiversity
Theme H
Distribution of ocean bene ts and disbene ts
Theme I
Integrated management of human activities a ecting the ocean
Theme J
Urgency of addressing threats to the ocean
Ref: WOA Summary, pages 10 to 41 providing details on the themes.
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
Drivers Forces of change
Human activity is causing widespread changes to the oceans’ physical, chemical and biological systems. The major driving forces of change in the ocean are to be found outside the marine environment. Just as most of the major drivers of anthropogenic climate change are land-based, the main drivers of increased pressures on marine biodiversity and marine environmental quality also come from activities on the land. They include the demand for food for human populations, international trade in
products from agriculture, and industries and coastal degradation (Ref: WOA Summary, page 39).
Drivers in the industrial sector come from industries such as agriculture, oil and mineral exploitation, shipping and aquaculture. The push for profitability and low cost production contribute to pollution and contamination (Ref: WOA Summary, pages 26 to 32, describing these drivers and their impacts on marine biodiversity).
The Drivers - principal, indirect and direct
D i r e c t d r i v e r s
C a p t u r e s h e r i e s
T o u r i s m
I n d i r e c t d r i v e r s
Food
Recreation
A g r i c u l t u r e
A q u a c u l t u r e
Population growth Principal drivers
Growth of coastal urban areas Rising individual consumption
Construction
Energy
C o a s t a l d e v e l o p m e n t
E x t r a c t i v e i n d u s t r y
Transport
S h i p p i n g
Ref: extrapolated fromWOA Summary ten themes.
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
Our cl seness to the oceans
Our closeness to the oceans
- population of costal cities continues to expand
- population of stal cities continues to expand
London
Seoul
London
Tianjin
New York
Istanbul
Tokyo
Los Angeles
Shanghai Tianjin
New York
Istanbul
Los Angeles
Karachi
Shenzhen
Hanoi
Mumbai
Karachi
Manila
Bangkok
Chennai
Mumbai
Ho Chi Minh City
Bangkok
Chennai
Abidjan
Lagos
Kolkata
Chittagong
Ho Chi
Abidjan
Lagos
Kolkata
Chittagong
Jakarta
Dar es Salaam
Luanda
Lima Our closeness to the oceans
Percentage of population living within 100 km of the coastline
- population of costal cities continues to expand
Jakarta
Dar es Salaam
Luanda
Lima
Rio de Janeiro
over 70%
30 to 70%
Rio de Janeiro
Buenos Aires
less than 30%
none
Buenos Aires
coastal city with more than 100,000 inhabitants
Source: Hoonrweg & Pope (2014), Burket et al. (2000), Natural Earth.
Seoul London
50
million people
Tianjin Percentage of population living within 100 km of the coastline New York
Istanbul
Seoul
Tokyo
Tianjin
Istanbul
Shanghai
Tokyo
Source: Hoonrweg & Pope (2014), Burket et al. (2000), Natural Earth. Los Angeles
Shanghai
over 70%
30 to 70%
Karachi
Shenzhen
40
Karachi
Hanoi
Shenzhen
Mumbai
Hanoi
Mumbai
Manila
Chennai less than 30%
none
Bangkok
Manila
Bangkok
Chennai
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Abidjan
30
Lagos
Kolkata
Chittagong
Lagos
Kolkata
Chittagong
coastal city with more than 100,000 inhabitants
Jakarta
Dar es Salaam
Jakarta
Dar es Salaam
Luanda
Luanda
Seoul
Lima
50
million people
20
okyo
Rio de Janeiro
Shanghai
Buenos Aires
Shenzhen
40
Hanoi
10
in 2015
a
ity
estimated by 2050
30
Source: Hoonrweg & Pope (2014), Burket et al. (2000), Natural Earth.
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
If we divide up the ocean among the current 7 billion human inhabitants of Earth, we each have only one fifth of a cubic kilometer of ocean. That relatively small amount of water generates half the oxygen we breathe in a year, all of the seafood that we consume, a third of the oil and gas we burn, as well as other commodities that we use. Our ever-growing population is the ultimate driver for increased use of these resources and access to ocean space.
Percentage of population living within 100 km of the coastline
over 70%
30 to 70%
less than 30%
none
coastal city with more than 100,000 inhabitants
50
million people
- less water and more competition for its use as population grows Ocean water per person, 1950 – 2050
1/8 km 3 per person
40
1/5 km 3 per person
30
1/2 km 3 per person
20
2050
10
in 2015
2015
As population increases
estimated by 2050
Decreasing water volume per person Declining water quality, especially around highly populated coastal areas Declining numbers of commercial sh species in some areas Reduced biodiversity Increasing invasive species Change in distribution – range expan- sion or contraction of some marine populations
1950
Timeline of some of the key pressures, impacts and responses related to theWOA themes
London Convention (prevention of marine pollution by dumping)
Plastic shopping bags introduced
Collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod shery
Expansion of mass tourist industry
First MPA
El Niño induced coral bleaching
First o shore oil rig
Kitchen paper towel introduced
Popular herbicide introduced
Plastic bottles commercially available
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
Source: Introduction to Summary of WOA, page 1 and themes addressed in the WOA.
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
Pressures Activities that put pressure on the environment
Our growing population means increased human activity and a greater use of the ocean every year (e.g. increases in fishing, ship transport, marine based tourism, exploitation of non-living resources, etc.). Human activities exert ‘pressures’on the environment through production or consumption processes (Ref. Summary of WOA, Theme E, page 8).
Evolution of world’s capture of marine species
- in million tonnes
90
60
30
0
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
00
05
10
Year
Source: SOFIA (FAO 2014)
Example of increase in pressures through consumption in the fisheries sector (Ref. WOA Summary, page 16).
- the world’s eet of ships has been increasing rapidly since 2000 Total size of the world´s eet of ships 1980 – 2013
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2013
Year
Oil tanker
Dry bulk
General cargo
Container
Other
Source: UNCTAD, 2013
Example of increase in pressures through global growth of shipping fleets (Ref. WOA Summary, pages 23 to 24).
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
- passengers carried in millions The growth in cruise passengers worldwide, 1990-2015
25
22 247 000 passengers in 2015
18 421 000 passengers in 2010
20
15
12 006 000 passengers in 2006
10
7 499 000 passengers in 2001
4 721 000 passengers in 1995
5
0
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
Source: Cruise Market Watch
Example of increase in pressures through global growth of cruise passengers (Ref. WOA Summary, page 29).
There are well-documented cases where habitats, lower-trophic-level productivity, benthic communities, fish communities and seabird or marine mammal populations have been severely altered. They are affected by pressures from overfishing, pollution, nutrient loading, physical disturbance or the introduction of non-native species. However, many effects on biodiversity, particularly at larger scales, are the result of the cumulative and interactive effects of multiple pressures frommultiple drivers. It has repeatedly proved difficult to disentangle the effects of the individual pressures which impedes the ability to address individual causes. (Ref. WOA Summary, page 32).
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
Land based and marine industry sources of pollution
Multiple pressures interact
cumulatively in ways that are poorly understood but that can amplify the effects
- selected pressures and impacts
PRESSURE
expected from each individual pressure (Ref: WOA Summary page 33).
Sewerage
Industrial
Spills
Storm water
Manufacturing waste
Nuclear
Agricultural run-o
Medical
Acquaculture
Smelly
Macro and micro solid waste
Smothering/choking
Poisonous
Pharmaceuticals
Corrosive
Organic matter
Inorganic particulate material
Biological
Radioactive
Chemicals
Microbes
Heavy metals
Infectious
IMPACT
Increased production costs
Decreased ecosystem health (e.g. dead zones)
Contaminated water
Contaminated food
Decreased human health
Source: Adapted from SickWater? GRID-Arendal 2010
Illustration of selected pressures and impacts with regard to pollution (Ref. WOA Summary, pages 26 to 29).
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
State Condition and trend
The increased use of resources and ocean space are adversely affecting the state of the ocean. On all measures the ocean is changing – the waters are warming and becoming dangerously more acidic, commercial fish species have been in decline for decades, and coastal waters are experiencing increased pollution from both land based activities and from marine industries like aquaculture. Levels of heavy metals and other toxic substances in some marine mammals and fish are making them unfit for human consumption and starkly illustrate the continuing contamination of once pristine ocean waters (Ref: WOA Summary e.g., pages 10, 18, 20,31). Many parts of the ocean are already seriously degraded and the footprint of human impact is expanding. If the problems are not addressed, there is a major risk that they will combine to produce a destructive cycle of degradation in which the ocean can no longer provide many of the benefits humans currently enjoy (Ref: WOA Summary, page 40). As an example, this year Australia’s Great Barrier Reef experienced its worst recorded episode of bleaching. This is attributed to warmer than average water temperatures associated with a major El Niño event over the southern summer. Surveys reveal at least 1000 km of the reef has been affected with large areas of coral likely to die.² The damage to coral reefs can have wide ranging impact on not only the ecology but also on society and the economy in a region heavily reliant on reef tourism (Ref: WOA Summary, page 41).
Fully bleached and fluorescent bleached corals, Great Barrier Reef, January 2015.
Global trends in the state of the world marine sh stock, 1974-2011
- in percentage of stocks assessed
100
Over shed
40 30 50 10 20 60 70 90 80
Fully shed
Under shed
0
74
78
82
86
90
94
98
02
06
11
Year
At biologically unsustainable levels
Within biologically sustainable levels
Source: SOFIA (FAO 2014)
Illustration of condition and trend from the fisheries sector (Ref: WOA Summary page 19).
2. Pratchett M,and Lough J. (2016). Coral Bleaching Taskforce: more than 1,000 km of the Great Barrier Reef has bleached. The Conversation, April 6 2016 https://theconversation.com/coral-bleaching-taskforce-more-than-1-000-km-of-the-great-barrier-reef-has-bleached-57282
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
Impact What it means for people and their environment
Some of the most pressing impacts of the declining state of the ocean relate to food security and food safety (Ref: WOA Summary, pages 19 & 20). Fish and marine invertebrates provide 17% of the world’s protein. Global fish biomass is, on average, declining due to less effective management, and while many fisheries may still be productive, prospects are poor. However in Europe, North America and Oceania major commercially exploited fish stocks are stable, with the prospect that reduced exploitation rates should achieve rebuilding of the biomass in the long term. More and more people rely on fish and aquaculture for food and income. It is estimated that 58 to 120 million people are employed in fishing related jobs, with 90% of these jobs in
small-scale fishing (Ref: WOA Summary, page 36). In assessing the social and economic impacts of increasing pressure on the oceans, it is necessary to consider how different parts of the world and different parts of society are gaining benefits (or losing benefits) as a result of human activities (Ref: WOA Summary, page 35). The changes in ocean conditions affect many ecosystem services indirectly. For example, some models predict that the warming ocean will increase the fish biomass available for harvesting in higher latitudes and decrease it in equatorial zones. This will shift provisioning services to benefit the middle and moderately high latitudes (which are often highly developed) at the expense of low latitudes, where small-scale (subsistence) fishing is often important for food security (Ref: WOA Summary, page 35).
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
The WOA assessment encourages us to ask the question “how far will we go before we put in place adequate responses to global problems?” We do not need to stop all use of the oceans, but we must effectively manage use to ensure sustainability of the oceans, for present and for future generations. Some responses have been put in place in some locations and are perhaps stabilizing, or in some cases, reversing the negative impacts. These include regulation on dumping of wastes and other matter and release of ballast Response What we are doing and should do
water, the establishment of marine protected areas, better agricultural practices and improvements in fuel efficiency in cargo ships. Some of the specific threats (such as the intensification of typhoons and hurricanes and changes in the stratification of seawater) are linked with the problems of climate change and acidification and can only be addressed as part of these much bigger issues. (Ref: WOA Summary, page 41)
Global marine protected areas
120°0'0"W
6 0 ° 0 ' 0 " N
3 0 ° 0' 0 " N
0°0'0"
3 0 ° 0 '0"S
6 0 ° 0 ' 0 " S
Source: Protected Planet, ESRI.
A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland (Malvinas), South Georgia (Georgias del Sur) and South Sandwich (Sandwich del Sur) Islands.
Examples of addressing threats to the ocean
Responses for reducing inputs of hazardous substances, waterborne pathogens and nutrients;
Preventing maritime disasters due to the collision, foundering and sinking of ships, and implementing and enforcing international agreements on preventing adverse environmental impacts from ships;
Improving fishery management;
Managing aquaculture;
Controlling tourism developments that will have adverse impacts on the future of the tourism industry in the locality where they occur;
Controlling solid waste disposal that can reach and a ect the marine environment;
Improving the control of o shore hydrocarbon industries and o shore mining;
Establishing and maintaining marine protected areas.
(Ref: WOA Summary, page 42)
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
The report highlights the lack of information we have in some parts of the world for making science-based decisions. It also emphasizes the need for capacity-building to fill knowledge gaps and to undertake national integrated marine assessments that can support decision-making. There are experts available in most developing countries who could contribute to an assessment, but there exists a capacity gap for undertaking assessments. This means that many developing countries were unable to provide information and input for the first assessment and this is a fundamental challenge for the international community (Ref: WOA, Chapter 53). The information that we need to understand the ocean can be divided into four main categories: (a) the morphology of the seafloor; (b) the composition and circulation of ocean water; (c) the biota of the ocean; and (d) the ways in which humans interact with the ocean (Ref: WOA Summary, page 42). Knowledge gaps Information we need now
An integrated assessment by definition needs to include environmental, social and economic information relevant to human activities, and all the components of relevant ecosystems, with input and information from a variety of geographic locations. The WOA Group of Experts considered that integrated assessment methodology required further development and refinement (Ref: WOA Summary, page 49). The sustainable use of the ocean cannot be achieved unless there is coherent management of all human activities affecting it (Ref: WOA Summary, page 9).
The complete First Global Integrated Marine Assessment – WorldOceanAssessment I – can be viewed at www.un.org/ Depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RegProcess.htm
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
Knowledge gaps in understanding the ocean
Categories
Knowledge gaps
Capacity building gaps
Detailed coastal bathymetry; Impact of ocean acidi cation on coral reefs and beaches; Relationship between the physical ocean and marine biota. Atmosphere ocean interactions to understand ocean acidi cation; Primary production in the ocean. Update of Census of Marine Life data base; Assessments of plankton, sh stocks, marine mammals, turtles and seabirds. Improved monitoring of shipping noise, land-based inputs and diseases; Non-living resource exploitation including o shore hydrocarbon and mining industries; Waste disposal and marine debris, integrated coastal zone manage- ment and marine ecosystem services and their economic value. Aggregating and intergrating information Synthesizing complex biological, chemical, physical and socio- economic components of the marine environment, in order to evaluate conditions, impacts and responses. Actions
Bathymetric, geophysical and biological survey capacity; Skilled analytical and technical capacity.
Morphology of the sea oor
The composition and circulation of the ocean water
Remote sensing capacity.
Ocean biota
Data management capacity; Fisheries management capacity including enforcement.
Human ocean interactions
Capacity for public authorities to create appropriate regulations to safeguard social and environmental interests; Capacity in implementing ecosystem based management approaches.
Communicating key messages to policy makers and society
Ref/Source: WOA Summary, pages 43 to 46.
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
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World Ocean Assessment Overview
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