The value of key ocean assets is conservatively estimated be at least US$24 trillion with an annual value of goods and services of US$2.5 trillion, ranking seventh if compared to the world's top 10 economies, according to a new report from WWF.

The report, Reviving the Ocean Economy - The case for action - 2015, says the value of the ocean's assets rivals the size of the world's leading economies, but its resources are rapidly eroding. WWF is warning that not enough is being investing in the growth and security of the asset and the oceans are not nearly enough being restored or protected.

The report, produced in association with The Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), is the most focused review yet of the ocean's asset base.

The sea’s enormous wealth is revealed in the report through assessments of goods and services used by everyone in some way, ranging from fisheries to coastal storm protection.
It also describes an unrelenting assault on ocean resources through over-exploitation, misuse and climate change. 90 per cent of global fish stocks either over-exploited or fully exploited. According to WWF, climate change is warming waters and leading to a rise in ocean acidity that will take hundreds of human generations for the oceans to repair.

"The ocean rivals the wealth of the world's richest countries, but it is being allowed to sink to the depths of a failed economy," said Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International. "As responsible shareholders, we cannot seriously expect to keep recklessly extracting the ocean's valuable assets without investing in its future."

According to the report, more than two-thirds of the annual value of the ocean relies on healthy conditions to maintain its annual economic output. Collapsing fisheries, mangrove deforestation as well as disappearing corals and seagrass are threatening the marine economic engine that secures lives and livelihoods around the world.

"Being able to quantify both the annual and asset value of the world's oceans shows us what's at stake in hard numbers; economically and environmentally. We hope this serves as a call for business leaders and policymakers to make wiser, more calculated decisions when it comes to shaping the future of our collective ocean economy," said Douglas Beal, Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group.

Reviving the Ocean Economy presents an eight-point action plan that would restore ocean resources to their full potential, including three that require action this year:

• embedding ocean recovery throughout the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals;
• taking global action on climate change and;
• making good on strong commitments to deliver well-managed coastal and marine protected areas.

David Nussbaum, CEO of WWF-UK said:

“Our oceans are a climate regulator and carbon sink, supporting future global economic growth, as well as providing critical goods and services that underpin the well-being of billions of people. But rising temperatures and increased acidification put all this at risk.

“We should recognise the role our oceans play as an important business asset that requires sustainable management and investment – and governments should fully support and implement the UN Sustainable Development Goal on the ocean.”

The ocean is changing more rapidly than at any other point in millions of years, at the same time as growth in human population and a heavy reliance on the sea, making restoring the ocean economy a matter of global urgency, the report says.

Climate change is a leading cause of the ocean’s failing health. Research included in the report shows that at the current rate of warming, coral reefs that provide food, jobs and storm protection to several hundred million people will disappear completely by 2050.

Head of UK Marine Policy at WWF-UK, Lyndsey Dodds, said that “from a UK perspective, our government must recognise the value of our seas and ensure their protection, starting with swift designation of the next tranche of Marine Conservation Zones. These zones – along with other measures - such as improved fisheries management - are essential to safeguard the marine assets that underpin the UK economy”.

Click here to download Reviving the Ocean Economy - The case for action - 2015