The Ocean Decade has officially endorsed a set of 35 new Decade Actions that are collectively working in all ocean basins, strengthening the global momentum for ocean knowledge-based solutions.
Collective action to create ‘the ocean we want’
The ocean is the foundation for future global economic development, human health and well-being. It provides food security and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people. But to achieve the vision of a sustainable and productive ocean, knowledge and tools to support fisheries and aquaculture management as well as decision-making across different economic sectors are essential.
Two of the newly endorsed Decade Programmes will contribute to generating new knowledge and solutions around sustainable blue food through collaborative approaches. These programmes will join the 45 existing endorsed Decade programmes working throughout the world to generate the science we need for the ocean we want.
The “Nutrition sensitive marine aquaculture in Africa” Programme (AfriMAQUA) led by the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development will foster the development of sustainable marine aquaculture in Africa with a nutrition-sensitive approach to contribute to food and nutrition security, poverty alleviation and income creation in the region.
The “Sustainable Blue Food Futures for People & Planet” Programme (BlueFood Futures) led by the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions will build on past progress in blue food research, policy and implementation to improve understanding of the potential and limits of blue food in food system transformations; better integrate blue foods into policies for food, climate and nature; develop a series of blue food solution initiatives; and improve access to blue food data.
The newly endorsed Decade Actions also include 23 shorter more focused Projects ranging from capacity building, biodiversity conservation and forecasting to eDNA, observation and seabed mapping. This includes “OBIS 2030 – The biodiversity data hub for the Ocean Decade Actions”, led by IOC/UNESCO through its International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) Programme.
Bolstering the collaborative design of the science we need to deliver a healthy and resilient ocean by 2030, a further 7 Contributions, focusing among others on people-powered research, fisheries management and blue technologies, have received official endorsements.
Ocean Decade expands global partners’ network
Three institutions have been designated as Decade Implementing Partners for their commitment to supporting the Decade by coordinating existing Decade Actions, catalyzing new initiatives, leading targeted communications and outreach, and mobilizing resources:
- European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet), based in Belgium
- Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO), based in the United Kingdom
- Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), based in Belgium
Discover here the full list of endorsed Ocean Decade Actions
The next Call for Decade Actions (No. 05/2023) will be launched on 15 April 2023 with a focus on Challenge 1 – Understand and beat marine pollution and Challenge 2 – Protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversity. More information will be available soon on the Ocean Decade website.
For more information, please contact:
Ocean Decade Communications Team (oceandecade.comms@unesco.org)
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About the Ocean Decade:
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.
About the IOC/UNESCO:
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) promotes international cooperation in marine sciences to improve management of the ocean, coasts and marine resources. The IOC enables its 150 Member States to work together by coordinating programmes in capacity development, ocean observations and services, ocean science and tsunami warning. The work of the IOC contributes to the mission of UNESCO to promote the advancement of science and its applications to develop knowledge and capacity, key to economic and social progress, the basis of peace and sustainable development.