New Section

SDG14 (Sustainable Development Goal 14)

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)

The ocean is our planet’s largest ecosystem. It stabilizes climate, stores carbon, nurtures unimaginable biodiversity, and directly supports human well-being through food and energy resources, as well as by providing cultural and recreational services. Unfortunately, despite improved management and conservation actions, the 2019 United Nations’ First World Ocean Assessment found that much of the ocean was seriously degraded. As the world population will reach an estimated 9 billion people by 2050, impacts on the ocean associated with human activities will increase.

On 5 December 2017, the United Nations declared that a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development would be held from 2021 to 2030. The Ocean Decade provides a common framework to ensure that ocean science can fully support countries to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Ocean Decade provides a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to create a new foundation across the science-policy interface to strengthen the management of our oceans and coasts for the benefit of humanity. The vision of the Decade, and its main global goal, is to be able to move from the “Ocean We Have” to the “Ocean We Want” through transformative ocean science solutions for Sustainable Development. This “Ocean We Want” has seven goals and defines how to achieve an ocean: clean; healthy and resilient; productive; predictable; sure; accessible; inspiring and stimulating.

Topics to be included in the Section:

  • Climate change and its effects on the oceans (biological, oceanographic, chemical, human)
  • Human health and well-being in coastal and marine activities (sustainability of maritime economies based on fishing, tourism, renewable energies)
  • National policies for coastal and maritime spaces
  • The health of the oceans (pollution, acidification, loss of marine species, degradation, protection, mitigation and restoration of ecosystems,
  • Function and processes of ecosystems
  • Observations and acquisition of marine data (information, technologies).
  • Synthesize existing research and define trends, knowledge gaps, and priorities for future research.
  • Blue growth: It is an initiative of the European Commission (DG MARE) related to economic growth and innovation based on sustainable development (renewable marine energies), mitigation (reduction of emissions from maritime transport, etc.)