22 April 2014: The Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects (Regular Process), has submitted a report on its work to the UN General Assembly (UNGA). The report includes recommendations for the 69th Session of the UNGA, guidance for the preparation of the first global integrated marine assessment and an outline of the assessment.

The report contains a number of recommendations that request the UNGA to take note of the Working Group’s progress. The Working Group also recommends the UNGA, inter alia, express serious concern on the limited resources available in the voluntary trust fund that supports its operations; and urge Member States, international financial institutions, donor agencies and others to make financial contributions to the fund. It recommends that its next meeting be convened in the first half of 2015.

On the preparation of the first global integrated marine assessment, the Working Group requests the Group of Experts to, inter alia: conduct any outstanding consultations; identify gaps in the expertise of the pool of experts and appoint experts to address such gaps; finalize assignments of experts to chapters for the Bureau’s approval; propose arrangements for selecting peer reviewers; and consider ways to improve coordination with other agencies conducting assessments that involve the oceans, including through sharing data and information.

The Working Group requests the Secretariat to send the initial draft to Member States and peer reviewers at the end of June 2014 and the entire draft by the end of August 2014, with the aim of revising the assessment, based on comments received, by the end of October 2014.

Annex II contains the assessment outline. The assessment is expected to include sections on the assessment of: marine ecosystem services; assessment of food security and food safety, including chapters on living marine resources, capture fisheries, aquaculture and social and economic aspects of fisheries; human activities and the marine environment, including chapters on land-based pollution, offshore mining, marine debris, tourism and recreation and use of marine genetic resources; marine biological diversity and habitats, including chapters on specific species and habitats; and human impacts on the oceans and value of the oceans to humans.

The report, titled ‘Report of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects (A/69/77)’ also describes the fifth meeting of the Working Group. The meeting agenda is included as Annex I. [A/69/77]