The Southern Ocean Task Force is pleased to announce the Launch of the Southern Ocean Action Plan.
For this occasion, a webinar will be hosted on April 12th 2022, at 12:00pm UTC to present the content of the Action Plan and the future of the Southern Ocean community’s engagement in the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
Through the publication of this Action Plan, the Southern Ocean Task Force aims to mobilise the Southern Ocean community and inspire all stakeholders to seek engagement and leverage opportunities to deliver innovative solutions that maintain and foster the unique conditions of the Southern Ocean. This framework provides an initial roadmap to strengthen links between science, industry and policy, as well as to encourage internationally collaborative activities in order to address existing gaps in our knowledge and data coverage.
The Southern Ocean Action Plan will, as part of the UN Ocean Decade, deliver in achieving the UN Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals in a polar context.
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UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development
Proclaimed in 2017 by the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) (‘the Ocean Decade’) seeks to stimulate ocean science and knowledge generation to reverse the decline of the state of the ocean system and catalyse new opportunities for sustainable development of this massive marine ecosystem. The vision of the Ocean Decade is ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’. The Ocean Decade provides a convening framework for scientists and stakeholders from diverse sectors to develop the scientific knowledge and the partnerships needed to accelerate and harness advances in ocean science to achieve a better understanding of the ocean system, and deliver science-based solutions to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The UN General Assembly mandated UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to coordinate the preparations and implementation of the Decade.