A new paper has outlined how place, people, culture and equity can be used alongside environmental and economic metrics to inform ocean policy.
Dr Tai Loureiro, from The University of Western Australia’s Oceans Institute and School of Biological Sciences, was a co-author of the paper published in Environmental Science & Policy.
The paper is the first to set out what Social Accounts are, why they matter and how countries can begin compiling them within existing ocean accounting efforts.
“We often talk about the ocean’s gross domestic product, carbon and biodiversity,” Dr Loureiro said. “Social Accounts make visible who benefits, who bears costs and how ocean decisions affect culture, health and livelihoods.
“By bringing social, cultural and equity information into the same frame as nature and the economy, we can design ocean policies that are gender-oriented, culturally aware and justice-driven to create just and durable outcomes for diverse social groups.”
The paper was created by the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership Social Accounts Working Group, where Dr Loureiro serves on the organising committee. The group brings together government statisticians, national ocean agencies, Indigenous and community organisations, NGOs and university researchers across Africa, the Asia–Pacific, the Americas and Europe.
The global cohort is shaping how social, cultural and equity dimensions are embedded in ocean accounting and governance.
“Conventional metrics under-represent communities, cultural ties and equity when we assess the ocean’s contribution to society,” Dr Loureiro said. “Social Accounts fill this gap by organising data on social conditions to inform policy, planning and management decisions. “
The working group defined what Social Accounts are, how they reveal who benefits, who bears costs and where risks concentrate across ocean-reliant communities.
They then defined a set of social domains – gender and livelihoods; food and nutrition security; access, rights and safety; health; Indigenous and local knowledge; and culture and recreation – that make human–ocean relationships visible for policy, planning and management.
A roadmap was outlined to build the evidence base; agreeing on a shared definition; running pilots using existing datasets; identifying gaps; drawing on established social-science methods; standardising table structures; producing technical and policy guidance; and communicating the results.
“Before countries can act on inclusive and equitable ocean policy, they need a clear way to see people and culture alongside nature and the economy and this paper lays out that pathway,” Dr Loureiro said.