Paris, 8 June – In the context of global celebrations for World Oceans Day

Leaders of Australia, Canada, Chile, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia, Norway, Palau and Portugal commit to sustainably manage nearly 30 million sq km of their national waters by 2025. Leaders put a healthy ocean at the top of the global policy agenda to accelerate economic recovery.

Paris, 29 January – UNESCO will celebrate the start of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (“Ocean Decade”) on 3 February (4.15 to 5.45pm, Central European Time), with the broadcast ‘A Brave New Ocean’, a global online event to raise awareness of the immense challenges and opportunities the ocean provides to achieve the global sustainable development goals.

Via a first "Call for Decade Actions", partners are invited to request endorsement under the Ocean Decade for transformative Decade Actions that contribute to the Ocean Decade vision.

When we think of public health risks, we may not think of the ocean as a factor. Increasingly, however, the health of the ocean is intimately tied to our health. Some may be surprised to read that organisms discovered at extreme depths are used to speed up the detection of COVID-19, and probably, even more to learn that, it is the environment to could give a solution to humankind.

The Danish Board of Technology organized the “Consensus Conference on the Danish Marine Environment: Our Ocean” (23-24 October, 2020), funded by VELUX Foundations. The objective was to increase public awareness of the marine environment and bring citizens' viewpoints into the political debate.

Over twenty of the world’s leading ocean-minded Foundations took part in a two-day dialogue on building partnerships to enhance and drive ocean action into the next Decade. Co-organized by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and Velux Foundations (Denmark), the international dialogue has triggered a series of outreach initiatives aimed at mobilizing the global philanthropic community around the upcoming UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).

On the occasion of World Oceans Day (June 8th), UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) organized the first Virtual Ocean Literacy Summit, with the support of the European Global Ocean Observing System (EuroGOOS), Ocean Wise and Experiential Atelier*.

The ocean is the largest ecosystem on Earth and central to the survival of nature and humankind. But the ocean is also under massive threat. More than ever before, science and research are being called upon to join forces with policymakers, society and economic actors to protect and sustainably manage the ocean. To achieve this vision, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2021 to 2030 as the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development – the "Ocean Decade".