The Third World Ocean Assessment (WOA III)

The third World Ocean Assessment (WOA III), the only global integrated assessment of the world’s ocean covering environmental, economic and social aspects, is the main output of the third cycle of the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the States of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects.

WOA III is a collective effort of interdisciplinary writing teams made up of more than 650 experts, providing an important scientific basis for the consideration of ocean issues by Governments, intergovernmental processes, and all policy-makers and others involved in ocean affairs. It provides scientific information on the state of the marine environment in a comprehensive and integrated manner to support decisions and actions for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, in particular goal 14, as well as the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

While the First World Ocean Assessment (WOA I) provided the first baseline study of the United Nations General Assembly on the state of the marine environment, the second World Ocean Assessment (WOA II) provided an update to that baseline study. Building on WOA I and WOA II, WOA III on one hand provides updated and comprehensive information on the state of the ocean across various regions, and on the other hand includes distinctive and innovative features, such as forward-looking sustainability pathways and cross-cutting themes on gender and equity considerations, as well as the inclusion of Indigenous, traditional owner and local community knowledge.