Following the sixth meeting of the Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and The Law of the Sea (UNICPOLOS-6, see article below), many delegates stayed on to attend the second International Workshop on the regular process for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment, including socioeconomic aspects (GMA).

The workshop took place from 13-15 June 2005, in New York. Bringing together over 100 representatives from governments and intergovernmental organizations, the workshop set in place the first building blocks of the “Assessment of Assessments,” the startup phase of the GMA process, a stocktaking and gap analysis of existing assessments of the state of the marine environment. The conclusions of the workshop will be presented to the UN General Assembly for consideration at its 60th session. IISDRS coverage.