At its 21st Session held in Nairobi in February 2001, UNEP Governing Council took a decision for UNEP to explore the feasibility of establishing a regular process for assessment of the state of the marine environment. This decision is based on a discussion paper presented by the Government of Iceland. UNEP's Division of Early Warning and Assessment has been assigned the responsibility of implementing this decision in collaboration with the Division of Environmental Conventions, and other appropriate UNEP divisions. (See Decision 21/13)

The first informal consultative meeting on the "Feasibility Study for Establishing a Regular Process for the Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment" was held at Reykjavik, Iceland, from 12-14 September 2001, and was attended by 37 persons representing international bodies, regional organisations, national governments, and other concerned organisations. This meeting strongly agreed that a global assessment of the marine environment (GMA) was both desirable and urgently needed and welcomed the opportunity to examine the feasibility of developing this process with all relevant stakeholders. (See outcome from the meeting)

The second meeting - a technical workshop - on the "Feasibility Study for Establishing a Regular Process for the Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment" was held in Bremen, Germany, from 18-20 March 2002. This meeting considered possible models for establishing the process; recommended the dissemination of Decision 21/13 amongst UN agencies and other relevant bodies; recommended a review of current and future planned assessments and the mechanisms employed to achieve it. (See outcome from the meeting)

To increase awareness of the GMA process as recommended during the GMA Bremen workshop, the outcome of the consultations has been presented at the following events:

• The United Nations Informal Consultative Process (ICP) on Oceans; 8 to 15 April 2002 in New York, USA;
• The Fourth WSSD PREPCOM; 27 May to 7 June 2002 in Bali, Indonesia, governments discussed the feasibility of establishing under United Nations a regular process for the assessment of the state of the marine environment; and
• The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD); 28 August to 4 September 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa

At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), governments called for the "establishment by 2004 and under United Nations of a regular process for global reporting and assessment of the state of marine environment, including socio-economic aspects, both current and foreseeable, building on existing regional assessments."

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at its 57th Session - on Oceans and the Law of the Sea - has adopted the resolution A/57/L.48/Rev.1- 12 December 2002. In paragraph 45, decision has been made to establish "a regular process under the United Nations for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment ... to prepare proposals on modalities for a regular process for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment, drawing, inter alia, upon the work of UNEP pursuant to decision GC 21/13 ..."

As part of UNEP's effort to implement the Decision, UNEP-WCMC completed a Survey of Global and Regional Marine Environmental Assessments and Related Scientific Activities in January 2003. The survey was sent out to the secretariats of current global and regional assessments and activities, UN agencies, international and national policy makers, relevant organisations, NGOs, and individual experts to gather information on the types of existing assessments and the mechanisms for their implementations. See final report.

During the 22nd Session of the UNEP Governing Council and Global Ministerial Environment Forum on 3-7 February 2003, the Executive Director reported on the progress of implementing GC Decision 21/13 to the Governing Council. The decision was then amended and adopted as GC Decision 22/1 II. UNEP will implement the GC Decision 22/1 II through forthcoming events during 2003/2004, while taking into consideration other relevant decisions that have also been adopted during this 22nd Session (e.g. GC Decision 22/2 III, Regional Seas Programme; GC Decision 22/2 V, Marine Safety and Protection of the Marine Environment from Accidental Pollution)

In implementing the GC Decision 22/1/II, an informal meeting was organised on 26-27th May 2003 at the UNEP/GPA Office in The Hague, The Netherlands. The objective of the meeting was to seek view from experts in terms of scope, methodology, structure, concept issues
and further process of the global marine assessment particularly the environment component
as UNEP's contribution to the implementation of the UN-wide global marine assessment
process. Outcomes of the meeting were welcome at the UNICPOLOS held in New York, 2-6 June 2003, and were used to assist in the planning of the scientific expert meeting to be organized in the end of 2003 at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi.

Apart from the decision 22/1 II in response to UN General Assembly resolution 57/141, the UNEP Governing Council has requested the Director to prepare the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) report series in decision 22/1 Ib Early warning and assessment process of UNEP, and to facilitate consultations on how to address gaps and needs in the current assessment structures in decision 22/1 Ia Strengthening the scientific base of the UNEP. DEWA, therefore, organized a planning meeting in Nairobi, 19-21 November 2003, on how to address these issues in the area of the marine environment. The objective of the meeting was to identify users’ needs and determine how existing programmes can contribute to the assessment of the marine environment.

The meeting explored scope and methodology of a possible UNEP module for a regular assessment of the marine environment at global and regional levels. The meeting mobilized users (e.g. Convention on Biological Diversity, the Global Programme of Action on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Sources of Pollution, Regional Seas Programme); scientists participating in the existing assessments (e.g. GEO, GIWA, MA, GESAMP); and potential partners (e.g. UNESCO/IOC, GEF, Large Marine Ecosystem). See the outcome of the meeting.