Ocean Economy Satellite Accounts: Water Research Centre’s (WRc) Contributions to the Overseas Territories Trade & Investment Dialogue

Ocean Economy Satellite Accounts: Water Research Centre’s (WRc) Contributions to the Overseas Territories Trade & Investment Dialogue

Presented as part of a trade and investment study visit co-convened by British Expertise International and Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office

Speakers: 

• Sarah Taylor, Senior Environmental Economist
• Harry Brown, Head of Climate and Sustainability

Water Research Centre (WRc) is a trusted provider of consultancy, technical services, accreditation schemes, research, innovation and training to customers around the globe. WRc operates across different sectors including water, environment and resource management. Their clients include regulators, water and gas utility companies, governmental organisations, NGOs, trade organisations, industrial manufacturers and waste management companies.

The session explored how Ocean Economy Satellite Accounts (OESAs) can make the economic, social and environmental value of the ocean visible within standard policy and investment frameworks. OSEAs can reorganise existing national-accounting data to illuminate the true economic contribution, risks and opportunities connected to the sea. The discussion demonstrated how ocean accounting provides governments with a more complete evidence base to support decisions on infrastructure investment, climate resilience and sustainable blue economy growth.

Delegates learned how, by making the ocean economy visible, governments can make smarter, evidence-driven decisions on investment, resilience and sustainable growth. By integrating ocean-related activity into established national accounting structures, OESAs enable policymakers to better understand both the contribution of marine and coastal systems to GDP and the risks associated with their degradation.

Key Takeaways

Making the ocean economy visible within national accounting systems 
Traditional GDP-based frameworks can significantly underrepresent the true value of ocean-dependent activity. OESAs restructure existing data to capture gross value added, employment, output, intermediate consumption and trade across ocean-linked sectors.

Establishing clear boundaries to define ocean economic activity 
The effectiveness of ocean accounting relies on clearly defining what is included within the “ocean economy.” Three primary boundaries were outlined: activity occurring on marine waters or requiring marine inputs (“on the water”); activity dependent on coastal proximity (“at the coast”); and goods and services intended for use in marine environments (“for use at the coast”).

Practical implementation using existing data systems 
Rather than requiring entirely new data systems, ocean accounting instead builds on existing national statistics, business surveys and environmental datasets. Implementation typically involves initial work to define scope, map available datasets and align methodologies, but once established, the system is relatively lightweight to maintain.

Relevance for small island and coastal economies

The Ocean Economy Satellite Accounts approach is particularly relevant to the UK Overseas Territories, where marine and coastal systems underpin tourism, fisheries, transport and wider livelihoods, yet are often underrepresented in formal economic data. By making the value of coastal and ocean-dependent activity visible within national accounting frameworks, OESAs provides a practical tool for improving investment prioritisation, strengthening the case for climate adaptation funding and supporting more informed infrastructure planning in data-constrained environments.