Co-Chairs,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

At the outset, please allow me to congratulate Ms. Juliette Babb-Riley and Ms. Carolyn Schwalger for their appointments as Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole of the Regular Process for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment including socioeconomic aspects. We would like to assure you of our full support and confidence in your able leadership to conduct this process to a significant progress.

Co-Chairs,

The first cycle of Regular Process concluded with the publication of the 1st World Ocean Assessment. We would like to take this opportunity to commend the efforts of the experts as well as DOALOS acting as the Secretariat as well as the Bureau for their valuable contribution. The 1st cycle of the Regular Process then fulfilled its fundamental objective which is to promote the understanding of the world's oceans and provide science-based information on oceans for policy-makers.

It is now important to raise awareness and make the best use of this first World Ocean Assessment, including the question of its dissemination. We are pleased to learn that the Assessment will be published later this year. Considering the context of the ongoing oceans-related processes, such as the PrepCom on BBNJ process and the Informal Consultative Process, we are of the view that the World Ocean Assessment can provide scientific information and knowledge to member States which enable them to prepare their position or contribution during those processes. The Group of 77 and China would like to underline the role of the Assessment in identifying the capacity-building needs and knowledge gaps in marine biological diversity and habitats. This part of the Assessment, in combination with the preliminary inventory of existing opportunities and arrangements for capacity-building for assessments done by DOALOS, will be helpful for the consideration on the topic of capacity building and transfer of marine technology in the context of BBNJ.

We would also like to see the 2nd cycle of Regular Process working in coherence with all other relevant UN processes, especially the Informal Consultative Process or the PrepCom on BBNJ with a view to mutually reinforcing each other. We trust that this interaction will be beneficial to the 2nd cycle of Regular Process in examining trends so as to focus on a number of topics that are relevant to policymakers, especially in the context of the implementation of 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Co-Chairs,

Last but not least, one of the lessons learned from the first cycle is the lack of appropriate financial and human resources. While we commend the efforts of the experts and DOALOS to make the Regular Process cost-efficient, we are of the view that there is a clear need to review the funding method in considering the actual estimation of overall resource requirements for the 2nd cycle.

Thank you very much for your kind attention.