Marine Ecosystem Accounts
Recognising and Valuing the Natural Capital of the Portuguese Sea
Framework
Marine ecosystem accounts are a set of new modules of environmental economic accounts introduced into the European economic system in November 2024, designed to provide coherent information on the extent, condition and flows of ecosystem services to the socio-economic system. By the end of 2026, Portugal must report these new accounts to Eurostat for the entire national territory, including the national maritime space.
IPMA is responsible for supporting the Statistics Portugal (INE) in defining the methodological framework necessary for the inclusion of marine ecosystems in the National Accounts.
Ecosystem accounts
EU countries must report three types of ecosystem accounts:
- The ecosystem extent account concerns the size of ecosystems in a given area. Ecosystem extent accounts cover terrestrial and marine ecosystems in the national territory.
- The ecosystem condition account reports on the quality of an ecosystem measured by abiotic, biotic and landscape parameters, by ecosystem type.
- The ecosystem services account refers to the benefits that ecosystems provide to economic and other human activities.
Importance for Portugal
Portugal is Sea! Portugal is one of the largest maritime nations in the world, with approximately 97% of its territory located in the ocean. Its marine area is more than 40 times larger than its land area, extending to average depths of over 3,500 metres. The National Maritime Space covers c. 4 million km2, approximately the land area of the European Union, and extends beyond the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which gives Portugal a central position in the North Atlantic basin.
As a maritime nation, Portugal has made a number of national and international commitments regarding the monitoring, conservation and restoration of marine ecosystems and the sustainable use of its resources, namely:
- At a national level, the implementation of the National Ocean Strategy 2021-2030 and the Ocean Satellite Account, in which Portugal was a pioneer at the European Union level;
- At a European level, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Natura 2000 Network, the Nature Restoration Law;
- At a global level, the United Nations 2030 Agenda through Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14 – the Ocean Goal), and the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The development of marine ecosystem accounts is also essential to support decision-making in the effective and efficient management of natural resources and in strategic planning regarding activities to be developed in the National Maritime Space, while simultaneously giving greater visibility to the wealth, diversity and importance of marine ecosystems in the national maritime space and a better understanding and greater recognition of their value as Natural Capital.
In particular, this process assumes strategic relevance in the context of the designation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in oceanic zones. These areas and the set of ecosystems present provide a set of fundamental services, from climate regulation to supporting biodiversity and sustainable economic activity. When these services are compromised or degraded, the resulting damage – environmental, social and economic – far outweighs any short-term gain. In this context, this work is part of the Oceanic Marine Protected Areas Project, financed by the Blue Fund, which is being promoted by IPMA and DGRM.
A collaborative network
This work involves the participation of a team of researchers from IPMA, coordinated by a group that works closely with INE. Several entities are actively collaborating in its development, namely state institutions and central administration agencies, including the Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services (DGRM), the Portuguese Task Group for the Extension of the Continental Shelf (EMEPC), the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), the Hydrographic Institute (IH), and regional entities of Madeira and the Azores, respectively, Regional Directorate for the Environment and the Sea of Madeira (DRAM) and Regional Directorate for Maritime Policies of the Azores (DRPM).— such as DGPM, DGRM, ICNF, EMEPC, among others —, as well as the competent regional authorities of the Autonomous Regions of Madeira and the Azores. The initiative also has the valuable contribution of several researchers from academia (universities and research centres) to ensure a robust technical and scientific approach, including the Centre of Marine Sciences of the Algarve (CCMAR/UAlg), the Centre for Environmentla and Marine Studies of Aveiro University (CESAM), the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR/UPorto), the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE/ULisboa), Nova School of Business and Economics (NOVA/SBE), the Institute of Marine Sciences (OKEANOS/UAçores) and the University of Coimbra. It also involves financial experts (SAER and the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation).
Results
Preliminary results have been presented in a “Side Event” of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, in June 2025
The results of the preliminary approach to the marine ecosystem services account, focused on the carbon absorption service provided by the Portuguese sea, up to the outer limit of the National Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) were presented at COP30 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which took place in November in Belém, Brazil.
In this document you will find more information about the work that is being carried out.
You can also check the “Ocean Accounts” viewer on the SomosAtlântico platform.
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