The United Nations Legal Counsel delivered opening remarks on the first day of the tenth meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects. The Legal Counsel noted the significant progress in the implementation of the programme of work for the period 2017-2020 for the second cycle of the Regular Process. He noted that three Technical Abstracts of the first World Ocean Assessment, which provide a synthesis of its information and findings for the benefit of policy-makers, had been prepared by the Group of Experts of the Regular Process, and launched in June 2017. He further noted that the tenth meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group had a mandate to approve the outline for the second world ocean assessment. In this regard, the Legal Counsel highlighted the successful completion, in 2017, of the first round of regional workshops in support of the Regular Process, which contributed to the preparation of the draft outline for the second world ocean assessment. He also noted the importance for States to designate their National Focal Points for the Regular Process, and for States to nominate and intergovernmental organizations to identify experts for the Pool of Experts of the Regular Process, both of which are also crucial to the preparation of the second world ocean assessment. In closing, the Legal Counsel noted the potential synergies between the Regular Process and the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (the Decade), proclaimed by the General Assembly in December 2017, and which will begin in 2021.