Development aid funding methodology

Data sources

The official development assistance (ODA) data presented in the “Our Shared Seas” Data Portal is sourced from the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) database and is available on the OECD’s webpage. The CRS database contains all project-level ODA flows reported to OECD by Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members. These flows include activities channeled through multilateral organizations by donor countries, though general contributions to the regular operating budgets of multilateral organizations are excluded.

Methodology

CEA downloaded all CRS project-level data for the years 2007 through 2016. CEA developed a methodology, described below, which used OECD’s purpose code categories combined with keyword searches to limit the dataset to ocean-related ODA flows. First, CEA limited the dataset to include only the OECD purpose codes that we identified as potentially containing ocean-related ODA flows. These categories are displayed in the table below.

Fishery education/training

Description Purpose code Clarifications/Additional notes on coverage Primary/Secondary Methodology
Water transport 21040 Harbours and docks, harbour guidance systems, ships and boats; river and other inland water transport, inland barges and vessels. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Include non-matched grants
Marine energy 23250 Including ocean thermal energy conversion, tidal and wave power. Exclusively Oceans Related Include non-matched grants
Fishing policy and administrative management 31310 Fishing sector policy, planning and programmes; institution capacity building and advice; ocean and coastal fishing; marine and freshwater fish surveys and prospecting; fishing boats/equipment; unspecified fishing activities. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Include non-matched grants
Fishery development 31320 Exploitation and utilisation of fisheries; fish stock protection; aquaculture; integrated fishery projects. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Include non-matched grants
Fishery education/training 31381 Not Exclusively Oceans Related Include non-matched grants
Fishery research 31382 Pilot fish culture; marine/freshwater biological research. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Include non-matched grants
Fishery services 31391 Fishing harbours; fish markets; fishery transport and cold storage. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Include non-matched grants
Transport equipment industry 32172 Shipbuilding, fishing boats building; railroad equipment; motor vehicles and motor passenger cars; aircraft; navigation/guidance systems. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Exclude non-matched grants
Offshore minerals 32268 Polymetallic nodules, phosphorites, marine placer deposits. Exclusively Oceans Related Include non-matched grants
Biosphere protection 41020 Air pollution control, ozone layer preservation; marine pollution control. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Exclude non-matched grants
Bio-diversity 41030 Including natural reserves and actions in the surrounding areas; other measures to protect endangered or vulnerable species and their habitats (e.g. wetlands preservation). Not Exclusively Oceans Related Exclude non-matched grants
Flood prevention/control 41050 Floods from rivers or the sea; including sea water intrusion control and sea level rise related activities. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Exclude non-matched grants
Environmental research 41082 Including establishment of databases, inventories/accounts of physical and natural resources; environmental profiles and impact studies if not sector specific. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Include non-matched grants
Disaster prevention and preparedness 74010 Disaster risk reduction activities (e.g. developing knowledge, natural risks cartography, legal norms for construction); early warning systems; emergency contingency stocks and contingency planning including preparations for forced displacement. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Exclude non-matched grants
Environmental education/ training 41081 Not Exclusively Oceans Related Exclude non-matched grants
Environmental policy and administrative management 41010 Environmental policy, laws, regulations and economic instruments; administrational institutions and practices; environmental and land use planning and decision-making procedures; seminars, meetings; miscellaneous conservation and protection measures not specified below. Not Exclusively Oceans Related Exclude non-matched grants

A review of a sample set of flows from each purpose code revealed that some codes were primarily comprised of oceans-related flows, while others contained mostly flows unrelated to oceans. As a result, CEA decided as to whether flows within each purpose code would be included in the final dataset by default. This determination, listed for each category in the following table, is only relevant where an individual flow was not matched using a set of keyword searches that are described in the table above.

For the OECD purpose codes whose flows were categorically excluded, individual flows were only included in the final dataset if their project description included one or more of the following words or prefixes:

  • acuicult
  • aqua
  • beach
  • boat
  • coastal
  • coral
  • dock
  • dolphin
  • estuar
  • fischerei
  • fish
  • harbor
  • harbour
  • hydro
  • international water
  • longline
  • mangrove
  • mar
  • mariculture
  • marine
  • maritime
  • mer
  • ocean
  • océanographie
  • Pacific
  • peche
  • pêche
  • pesca
  • pesquer
  • piscicult
  • port
  • ports
  • reef
  • sea
  • sea level
  • sea turtle
  • seaweed
  • shark
  • ship
  • shore
  • shrimp
  • tilapia
  • tuna
  • vessel
  • WCPFC
  • whale
  • wharf

For the OECD purpose codes whose flows were categorically included, individual flows were included unless they contained one or more of the following words or prefixes:

  • agricultur
  • agro
  • automobile
  • bridge
  • car
  • carbon
  • child protection
  • civil society
  • climate
  • desertification
  • disease
  • drinking water
  • dryland
  • earthquake
  • ebola
  • fire
  • forest
  • freshwater
  • grassland
  • health care
  • healthcare
  • HIV/AIDS
  • housing
  • humanitarian
  • humanitarian aid
  • inland
  • irrigation
  • lago
  • lake
  • plant
  • poverty reduction
  • rain
  • rainforest
  • rangeland
  • renewable energy
  • rhino
  • rio
  • river
  • road
  • roads
  • school
  • stormwater
  • tierra