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 2010 through 2019. 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.
| 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 |
| Disaster Risk Reduction | 41050 | Disaster risk reduction activities if not sector specific. Comprises risk assessments, structural prevention measures (e.g. flood prevention infrastructure), preparedness measures (e.g. early warning systems) normative prevention measures (e.g. building codes, land-use planning), and risk transfer systems (e.g. insurance schemes, risk funds). Also includes building local and national capacities and supporting the establishment of efficient and sustainable national structures able to promote disaster risk reduction.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 |
| Multi-hazard response preparedness | 74020 | Building the responsiveness, capability and capacity of international, regional and national humanitarian actors to disasters. Support to the institutional capacities of national and local government, specialised humanitarian bodies, and civil society organisations to anticipate, respond and recover from the impact of potential, imminent and current hazardous events and emergency situations that pose humanitarian threats and could call for a humanitarian response. This includes risk analysis and assessment, mitigation, preparedness, such as stockpiling of emergency items and training and capacity building aimed to increase the speed and effectiveness of lifesaving assistance delivered in the occurrence of crisis.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.
A review of a sample set of flows from each purpose code revealed that some codes were primarily comprised of ocean-related flows, while others contained mostly flows unrelated to the ocean. As a result, CEA made a determination 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 greater detail below.
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
