Welcome to the United Nations
UN DESA
United Nations
news
Ocean Action Newsletter: Vol. 9
March 2019: World Wildlife Day celebrates life below water
event
Webinar: COA on Ocean Acidification
The Community of Ocean Action on Ocean Acidification (COA on OA) held its second webinar on 5 February 2019, where the focal points of the COA on OA (David Osborn, International Atomic Energy Agency and Bronte Tilbrook, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) provided updates, and Jessie Turner presented on the work being done [more]
news
Ocean Action Newsletter: Vol. 8
Science catalyses new efforts for the ocean-climate nexus.
event
Sustainable Blue Economy Conference
The Sustainable Blue Economy Conference is the first global conference on the sustainable blue economy. Over 4,000 participants from around the world are coming together to learn how to build a blue economy that:

-Harnesses the potential of our oceans, seas, lakes and rivers to improve the lives of all, particularly people in developing st [more]
event
Webinar: COA on Ocean Acidification
The Community of Ocean Action of Ocean Acidification (COA on OA) hosted a kick-off webinar on 17 October 2018. This webinar included an analysis of the focus and scope of the Voluntary Commitments on ocean acidification, and participants discussed current progress and opportunities for collaboration.
doc
A/CONF.230/6 - Minimizing and addressing ocean acidification
Communities of Ocean Action
To follow-up on the implementation of the voluntary commitments registered and announced at The Ocean Conference for implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14); to catalyze and generate new voluntary commitments; and to facilitate collaboration and networking amongst different actors in support of SDG 14, the United Nations have launched nine thematic multi-stakeholder Communities of Ocean Action. Read more
Registry of Voluntary Commitments for Sustainable Development Goal 14
More than 1,400 Voluntary Commitments aimimg to contribute to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 have been registered by all stakeholders, in the lead up to The Ocean Conference and its follow up processes. Read more
Special Envoy for the Ocean
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Peter Thomson of Fiji as his Special Envoy for the Ocean, aiming at galvanizing concerted efforts to follow up on the outcomes of the United Nations Ocean Conference in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Read more
Communities of Ocean Action
Coral reefs
Implementation of international law as reflected in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Mangroves
Marine and coastal ecosystems management
Marine pollution
Ocean acidification
Scientific knowledge, research capacity development and transfer of marine technology
Sustainable blue economy
Sustainable fisheries
Special Envoy
Peter Thomson Learn about the latest activities of Peter Thomson, Special Envoy for the Ocean
How are you progressing with your Voluntary Commitment?

Latest
Ocean Action Newsletter
Stay in touch with Ocean Action related news.

Activity feed on Ocean Action
Progress updates of Voluntary Commitments
Progress update
Monacos contribution to the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Strategy towards the sustainability of the Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries (2017-2020)
Un rapport narratif et financier a t prsent en janvier 2019 faisant le bilan des activits menes en 2017 et en 2018. Il est indiqu dans ce rapport que laccord entre la Principaut de Monaco et la Commission gnrale des pches pour la Mditerrane (CPGM) a apport en 2017 et en 2018 un soutien prcieux au travail de la CGPM pour la lutte contre la pche I [more]
Progress update
Partnership for Regional Ocean Governance: International Forum for Advancing Regional Ocean Governance
To fulfill the commitment, the Government of Germany with the support of the European Commission launched the Marine Regions Forum project together with the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), and TMG Think Tank for Sustainability as the main implement [more]
Progress update
APRU network of experts, future leaders and policy makers addressing the health of the Pacific Ocean and its marine and coastal resources
Our Ocean, Our Legacy Youth Leadership Summit (July 2018) APRU collaborated with the Sustainable Ocean Alliance to promote the 2018 Our Ocean, Our Legacy Youth Leadership Summit to APRU members and their students providing the opportunity to gain funding to join the Alliances network and attend the Youth Leadership Summit. See more details at http [more]
Progress update
APRU network of experts, future leaders and policy makers addressing the health of the Pacific Ocean and its marine and coastal resources
APRU Pacific Ocean Cluster Projects (June 2018) The inaugural APRU Pacific Ocean Cluster Project led by marine science and policy experts from University of Washington (UW) and University of British Columbia (UBC) collecting expert opinions and knowledge across the Pacific Rim to how SDG Goal 14 co-benefits or faces trade-offs from addressing oth [more]
Progress update
APRU network of experts, future leaders and policy makers addressing the health of the Pacific Ocean and its marine and coastal resources
APEC Sustainable Marine Development Report (May 2018) In collaboration with the China APEC Marine Sustainable Development Centre, selected APRU experts provided guidance and expertise on the development of the APEC Marine Sustainable Development Report 2.
Progress update
APRU network of experts, future leaders and policy makers addressing the health of the Pacific Ocean and its marine and coastal resources
APEC Workshop on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (April 2018) IUU fishing has the potential to cause serious economic and environmental harm to the Asia Pacific, affecting small island nations in particular, such as Papua New Guinea. Fishing is of critical importance to Papua New Guinea; the 2018 APEC host economy, which organized the [more]
Progress update
APRU network of experts, future leaders and policy makers addressing the health of the Pacific Ocean and its marine and coastal resources
European Association of International Education (EAIE) Winter Forum: Life Below Water (December 2017) In the EAIE 2017 Winter Forum, Dr. Christopher Tremewan, APRU Secretary General, writes about the important role of universities to address the most pressing needs of the Pacific Ocean. The issue of the forum highlights the importance of United [more]
Progress update
APRU network of experts, future leaders and policy makers addressing the health of the Pacific Ocean and its marine and coastal resources
Science Under the Sea (June 2017) Ocean and marine science research are fundamental to understanding both key challenges and evident-based solutions. Elsevier, the global information analytics business, examined levels of scholarly output, research impact, and trending topics in the global investigation into ocean and marine sciences, with a speci [more]
Progress update
APRU network of experts, future leaders and policy makers addressing the health of the Pacific Ocean and its marine and coastal resources
Asia Pacific Case Competition 2017 with APRU and The New York Times (September 2017) APRU collaborated with The New York Times held an inaugural APRU Asia Pacific Case Competition in 2017 focused on raising awareness of climate change and the Pacific Ocean. The students were given a task to prepare a policy brief that considered how climate change [more]
New Voluntary Commitments
New Commitment
Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project
In order to provide human wellbeing benefits for current and future generations, the Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project works to reduce the threats to biodiversity in coastal-marine ecosystems in the Northern Triangle countries of Central America. Coastal-marine areas and associated upland ecosystems in Central America exhibit high biodiver [more]
New Commitment
Improved Coastal Watersheds and Livelihoods project
By 2019, the Improved Coastal Watersheds and Livelihoods project will improve natural resource management of the Goascoran lower watershed and coastal zone in order to maximize four outcomes: 1) habitat for biodiversity, 2) water-related ecosystem services, 3) climate change adaptation and mitigation, and 4) economic returns from sustainable produc [more]
New Commitment
Measure and Report Ocean Acidification - Sustainable Development Goal 14.3.1 Indicator Methodology
The ocean absorbs up to 30% of the annual emissions of anthropogenic CO2 to the atmosphere, helping to alleviate the impacts of climate change on the planet. However, this comes at a steep ecological cost, as the absorbed CO2 reacts with seawater and results in shifts in the dissolved carbonate chemistry including increased acidity levels in the ma [more]
New Commitment
Facilitating global coordination and collaboration on ocean acidification
The IAEA Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) promotes international coordination and collaboration to advance ocean acidification science and help build a strong research community across the globe. The Centre provides access to training, tools, resources and opportunities for networking and collaboration, directly suppor [more]
New Commitment
Empowering communities to monitor and manage their marine resources, and diversify local livelihoods
Blue Ventures' vision is for coastal communities to manage their natural resources effectively, enriching local livelihoods and sustaining healthy marine environments for generations to come. We work with coastal communities to develop transformative approaches for catalysing and sustaining locally-led marine conservation. Our strategy is to [more]
New Commitment
Ocean, cleanup and Arctic Ocean Campaign exercise
Objective is to organize a cleanup exercise and Raise awareness about pollution in the Arctic Ocean, \\\\r\\\\nImplementation: in collaboration with letsdoitworld we were able to mobile thousands of members in the Pacific island nations to participate in the clean up our country coordinator in Team54Project.org led the team. \\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nFor [more]
New Commitment
Blue Justice for Small-Scale Fisheries
The majority of the worlds fisheries are small-scale. They employ millions of people - men and women, providing them with income, jobs and livelihoods, make significant contribution to local and national food security, and are integral to the social fabric, cultural identity and heritage of many coastal communities around the world. In recent years [more]
New Commitment
Worldrise ONLUS- We Act For Nature
Worldrise is a non-profit organisation founded by young professionals able to create projects that unite environmental\\r\\nprotection, creativity, and education. Our projects aim to promote the conservation and valorisation of the marine environment through activities\\r\\nthat are also able to act as a driver for sustainable economic and social d [more]
New Commitment
Developing networks on the environmental management of enclosed coastal seas (EMECS) by organizing conferences with the participation of researchers, government officers, business persons, citizens, and students.
Aiming to establish an international and academic network to solve the environmental problems of enclosed coastal seas in an integrated way, the 1st International Conference on the Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS1) was held in Kobe, Japan in 1990. Afterward, the EMECS Conference has been held around the world every 2 or 3 y [more]
United Nations