Degradation of marine ecosystems, including through pollutants and contaminants, is accelerating due to unsustainable activities on land and in the ocean. To sustainably manage, protect or restore marine and coastal environments, priority knowledge gaps need to be filled. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework that was adopted in December 2022 and the ongoing intergovernmental negotiations for the development of an internationally binding treaty on plastic pollution provide a global framework to address these challenges, but will require ocean science and knowledge to guide their implementation.
In this context, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development launched on 15 April 2023 Call for Decade Actions No. 05/2023, soliciting transformative Decade Programmes that address priority sub-themes of Ocean Decade Challenge 1 – Marine Pollution, and Ocean Decade Challenge 2 – Ecosystem Restoration and Management.
Building on the impact of the Ocean Decade since its launch in January 2021, the Call aims to continue addressing thematic and regional gaps and to encourage transformative science to meet these critical and urgent Challenges and contribute to global policy processes.
As part of Challenge 1 – Marine Pollution, the Ocean Decade is looking for Programmes with a focus on plastic pollution and nutrient pollution. To deliver on Challenge 2 – Ecosystem Restoration and Management, the Call is targeting Programmes submissions related to area-based management, restoration and multiple ocean stressors.
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UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, 17 April 2023. More information.
