UNESCO has announced the endorsement of 63 new endorsed Actions in the context of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (the ‘Ocean Decade’). The announcement adds to global celebrations of the UN World Oceans Day, themed this year around the theme “Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean”.
Collective action to create ‘the ocean we want’
With the aim of achieving the Ocean Decade vision of ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’, the newly endorsed Decade Actions address priority issues including marine pollution, management and restoration of marine ecosystems and the ocean-climate nexus.
Four new Decade Programmes will contribute to generating new knowledge and solutions to the impacts of climate change and other stressors on the ocean through collaborative approaches, as well as reducing the gaps between science and policy.
In addition, the results of the second Call for Decade Actions also include 38 shorter more focused Decade Projects and 4 Contributions of in-kind or financial resources.
A further 9 Projects have received official endorsement following a Decade co-branded call with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) as part of the Ocean Decade-DFO partnership.
The identification of 8 fellows from the AXA Research Fund “Towards more resilient coastal livelihood” also comes to grow the network of collective ocean action, aiming to advance science on key coastal livelihood preservation and resilience risks.
Three Projects submitted during the first Call for Decade Actions complete this set, bringing to 63 new endorsed Decade Actions that will bolster the collaborative design of the science we need to deliver a healthy and resilient ocean by 2030.
Ocean Decade expands global network
The Decade Coordination Unit (DCU) will benefit from targeted support from two new Decade Collaborative Centres:
- Ocean Visions – UN Decade Collaborative Centre for Ocean-Climate Solutions, hosted by Ocean Visions, Georgia Tech and Georgia Aquarium, United States
- Decade Collaborative Centre for the Northeast Pacific Ocean, hosted by the Tula Foundation in British Columbia, Canada
These Centres will help coordinate efforts between national, regional and global initiatives, share knowledge and tools developed, create links between potential Decade partners and monitor and report on the impact of the Decade.
Three new Decade Implementing Partners have also joined the Ocean Decade ecosystem to strengthen the work of the DCU and other decentralized coordination structures, including Collaborative Centres:
- Heirs to Our Ocean, based in the United States
- EurOcean, based in Portugal
- National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), based in Egypt
