Reviving the Ocean Economy: the case for action - 2015

The document details the methodology used to value the global ocean economy, estimating a total asset value of 24 trillion USD and an annual economic contribution of approximately 2.5 trillion USD. It employs market-based and value-based (Net Present Value) approaches across seven asset categories and five annual activity categories, while explicitly excluding oil and gas production to avoid inflating the 'blue economy' value.

• The total asset value of the ocean is estimated at 24 trillion USD, aggregated across seven primary value-generating categories: carbon absorption (7.8 Tn USD), productive coastline (5.2 Tn USD), shipping lanes (4.3 Tn USD), carbon absorption (listed twice in table, but distinct from others), marine fisheries (2.9 Tn USD), seagrass (2.1 Tn USD), coral reefs (1.0 Tn USD), and mangroves (0.9 Tn USD).
• The annual economic value of ocean-related activities is estimated between 2.4 trillion USD (bottom-up analysis) and 2.6 trillion USD (top-down analysis). If treated as a standalone economy, the ocean economy would rank as the 7th largest global economy.
• Approximately 70% of the annual value of the ocean economy is either at risk or dependent on healthy oceans. This includes direct output of the ocean, services enabled by the ocean, and adjacent benefits, while trade and transportation are not considered dependent on ocean health.
• The valuation methodology utilizes two primary approaches: Market Based, which looks at the quantity of a resource priced at current market value, and Value Based, which uses Net Present Value (NPV) of future annual value generation. For NPV calculations, a global risk-free rate of 4.1% and a global risk premium of 7.1% were applied.
• To ensure the valuation reflects the 'true' value of the ocean, all oil and gas production revenue and expenditures were excluded from the analysis, as these activities would remain operational regardless of the ocean's presence.

APA

Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Beal, D., Chaudhry, T., Elhaj, H., Abdullat, A., Etessy, P., Smits, M., Tanzer, J., Gamblin, P., & Burgener, V. (2015). Reviving the Ocean Economy: the case for action - 2015. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/876/44wvgtrg2z_BCG_methodology___Reviving_the_Ocean_Economy___WWF_report_20_4_15.pdf

Chicago

Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove, Douglas Beal, Taz Chaudhry, Hassan Elhaj, Amer Abdullat, Petra Etessy, Marty Smits, et al. Reviving the Ocean Economy: the case for action - 2015. WWF International, 2015. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/876/44wvgtrg2z_BCG_methodology___Reviving_the_Ocean_Economy___WWF_report_20_4_15.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hoegh-Guldberg |first1=Ove |last2=Beal |first2=Douglas |last3=Chaudhry |first3=Taz |last4=Elhaj |first4=Hassan |last5=Abdullat |first5=Amer |last6=Etessy |first6=Petra |last7=Smits |first7=Marty |last8=Tanzer |first8=John |last9=Gamblin |first9=Paul |display-authors=etal |title=Reviving the Ocean Economy: the case for action - 2015 |publisher=WWF International |date=April 2015 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/876/44wvgtrg2z_BCG_methodology___Reviving_the_Ocean_Economy___WWF_report_20_4_15.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hoeghguldberg2015reviving, author = {Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove and Beal, Douglas and Chaudhry, Taz and Elhaj, Hassan and Abdullat, Amer and Etessy, Petra and Smits, Marty and Tanzer, John and Gamblin, Paul and Burgener, Valérie}, title = {{Reviving the Ocean Economy: the case for action - 2015}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2015}, month = apr, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/876/44wvgtrg2z_BCG_methodology___Reviving_the_Ocean_Economy___WWF_report_20_4_15.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }