The World Ocean Network is backed by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and by the United Nation’s Environment Programme in the context of its Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities.

The World Ocean Network is a member of the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands created at the World (Earth) Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 to promote a better international governance of the Ocean.