Oceans and Marine Spatial Planning
UNESCO, through its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, is the main United Nations organization working in the field of marine spatial planning.
Marine Spatial Planning is a public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives that have been specified through a political process. MSP is not an end in itself but a practical way to create and establish a more rational use of marine space and the interactions among its uses, to balance demands for development with the need to protect the environment, and to deliver social and economic outcomes in an open and planned way.
By the end of 2023, a total of 114 countries and territories had been identified as being engaged in marine spatial planning initiatives - an increase of 12% on the previous assessment completed in 2021.
While this is encouraging, further efforts are needed to improve national and cross-border MSP practice, as the degree of MSP implementation is not uniform across the G20, nor is the level of institutional, technical and human capacity.
In 2022, the IOC launched a new global roadmap to accelerate the implementation of maritime spatial planning worldwide. Within this global framework, UNESCO will develop technical guidance and use it to assist G20 members.
