As a critical component of the global economy, the ocean and its ecosystems provide important goods and services and support numerous activities essential for economic development, such as capture fisheries, maritime transport and ports, coastal tourism, coastal protection, and energy. These sectors collectively contribute to the ocean economy, estimated to be US$2.3 trillion per year in market goods. At the same time, we must not overlook that the ocean and its ecosystems provide non-market services that are critical for our survival, such as generating oxygen, absorbing excess heat, and providing naturebased solutions to climate change adaptation and mitigation challenges. Their ability to continue providing these vital services has been threatened by a number of pressures such as pollution, overfishing, habitat loss, and climate change, driven by unsustainable economic activities. Poorly planned economic development and unregulated resources exploitation in the ocean are further exacerbating these pressures and causing irreversible adverse impacts leading to an unsustainable and sub-optimal level of economic, social, and development returns. This underscores the importance of a coordinated and integrated approach to ocean economy development with a longterm sustainability in mind.