News

Greater understanding of the ocean is essential if the world is to recover better from the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve agreed targets on sustainable development and climate action, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in launching a major study on what he called “the life support system of our planet.” 

Panerai and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) are partnering to develop ocean literacy activities in the framework of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). 

The MSPglobal Initiative has just published five policy briefs highlighting the importance of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) for a sustainable governance of the ocean. These documents aim to help decision-makers and relevant stakeholders make coordinated decisions that allow for a more sustainable use and management of marine resources.

The Ocean Infohub (OIH) Project is pleased to announce the launch of their website to find useful information about OIH objectives and services. Published in February 2021, the OIH community is invited to discover the latest news and events of the project, as well as regions where the project is implemented and their official partners.

A recent analysis prepared by IOC-UNESCO explores tangible ways in which linkages between the Ocean Decade, with its vision of the ‘science we need for the ocean we want’, and the Ocean Panel, with its aims of ‘safeguarding the long-term health and resilience of the ocean’, can be leveraged and optimized.

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development celebrated the 2021 International Women’s Day (8 March), emphasizing the Decade’s ambitions to advance gender equity. This year’s global theme ‘Choose to challenge’ was testament to question and call out gender bias and inequality.

The UN chief urged countries to make sure they invest the funds necessary to prevent and manage disasters, in a solemn message of remembrance on Wednesday for the 18,400 people who died or are unaccounted for, due to the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan exactly ten years ago.

The Caribbean States and adjacent regions participated on 11 March in their annual tsunami preparedness exercise, set up under the aegis of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), as they commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake in Japan, which caused a deadly and devastating surge on the north-eastern coast of the island of Honshu, leading to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The countries bordering the North-East Atlantic, the Mediterranean and adjacent seas were prepared from 8 to 10 March to a tsunami preparedness exercise, set up under the aegis of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO).