WOC Paper: Ocean Governance and the Private Sector

In recognition that every day needs to be “World Oceans Day” – and indeed it is at the World Ocean Council – the WOC is proud to release “Ocean Governance and the Private Sector”, a WOC ocean review and foresight document based on longstanding, continuing WOC work with and for the global ocean business community on Ocean Governance.

The report identifies gaps, solutions and opportunities for engaging the ocean business community in Ocean Governance in relation to the following opportunities and challenges:

• Industry Involvement In Ocean Governance Development
• Ocean Governance Based On Sector-By-Sector Approach
• Ocean Data And Monitoring
• Ocean Surveillance And Maritime Domain Awareness
• Cross-Sectoral And Cumulative Impacts To The Ocean
• Global Standards For Management Tools And Approaches In Support Of Ocean Governance
• Multiple UN And Intergovernmental Agencies And Processes Dealing With Ocean Governance
• Regional Institutions And Approaches To Ocean Governance
• New And Emerging Ocean Uses
• Ocean Geopolitical Challenges To Peace, Security And Stability

The WOC will work to implement the recommendations for addressing priorities for better engaging the private sector in Ocean Governance identified in this paper.

The WOC paper on “Ocean Governance and the Private Sector” reviews the major international ocean policy organizations and processes, the past and ongoing efforts for engaging the business community and priorities for the future, especially by the WOC in its role as the global, multi-industry organization on ocean sustainable development.

The WOC Ocean Governance paper also summarizes the size, complexity and trends in key sectors of the ocean economy, which are fundamental to understanding their importance to Ocean Governance.

Every year the WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS) provides the ocean business community with the latest updates on key Ocean Governance and policy developments critical to ocean economic activity. Ocean Governance will again be a major focus of this year at the SOS 2018 (Hong Kong, 14-16 November 2018).

As every day is World Oceans Day at WOC, since 2009 WOC has worked to improve the level of industry involvement in Ocean Governance in its role as the global, multi-industry organization on ocean sustainable development. The WOC monitors, analyzes and reports on major ocean policy and decision-making processes and developments for its members and the broader ocean business community, and ensures that the international ocean business community is informed and constructively engaged in high priority processes.

The WOC track record and outputs on Ocean Governance and policy include:

• WOC Continued efforts to provide industry involvement in the UN Law of the Sea process to develop a legally binding agreement on “Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction” (BBNJ) (click here for documents)
• WOC presentation to the UN General Assembly and organizing of industry leadership sessions at the 2017 UN Ocean Conference (click here for information)
• WOC convening of first-ever international Business Forum on Ocean Policy and Planning (click here for report)
• WOC 2014 Review of Ocean Policy for industry (click here for report)
• WOC 2015 Report analyzing the SDGs and their relationship to the ocean business community (click here for report)
• WOC as the only organization listed by UN Global Compact to guide companies to action-oriented platforms and tools supporting SDG 14 (click here for website)