\n| \n Interview: Vladimir Ryabinin
\nExecutive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and Assistant Director General of UNESCO
\n<\/strong>The Ocean Conference is the high-level United Nations Conference supporting the implementation of SDG 14 and was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in June 2017. The Conference aimed to be the gamechanger in reversing the decline in the health of our ocean for people, the planet and prosperity.<\/p>\nWhat was the main advance of the Ocean Conference?<\/strong>
\nThe conference reflected a major change in awareness and public engagement to reverse the deterioration of our ocean. It brought together over 4,000 participants from governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, academia, the scientific community and the private sector. More than 1,400 voluntary commitments to support SDG 14 were made by the different stakeholders.<\/p>\nWhat is the follow-up to the Ocean Conference?<\/strong>
\nA second conference will be held in Lisbon in May 2020. This will be a first milestone to monitor progress on the four SDG 14 targets 14.2, 14.4, 14.5 and 14.6 that should be attained by 2020. In addition, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) will coordinate the preparatory process of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), which seeks to transform and bolster the SDG 14 commitments.<\/p>\nWhat was the Ocean University Initiative\u2019s contribution to the Ocean Conference?<\/strong>
\nThe participants in the Ocean Conference were invited to make voluntary commitments that aim to contribute to the implementation of SDG 14. Under the #OceanAction21076 engagement, the University of Brest (UBO) committed to propose to the United Nations University the establishment in France of an institute dedicated to the “science and governance of the ocean and coasts” with the support of French oceanographic research organizations, state ministries and local authorities in Brittany. The project will support the voice of the ocean and coasts by joining forces with civil society, with a special focus on capacity building in the Southern ocean. More information is available at: https:\/\/oceanconference.un.org\/commitments\/?id=21076<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n What is SDG 14 on the ocean?
\n<\/strong>The SDG 14 – \u201cConserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development\u201d – can be considered as a tool to address sustainable development processes on the ocean in both developed and developing countries and to facilitate action at all levels and with all actors, including civil society, the private sector and the scientific community to strengthen the capacity of the State to achieve the desired outcomes. The SDG 14 targets cover environmental pressures on marine life due to economic activities. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and coastal communities are especially impacted by these environmental pressures as well as being dependent on marine resources in socio-economic terms.<\/p>\nWhy are indicators necessary for the implementation of SDG 14?<\/strong>
\nA comprehensive framework of indicators is needed for the implementation of SDG 14 to monitor progress, inform policy and ensure the accountability of each stakeholder. The Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG indicators (IAEG-SDGs) proposed a global indicator framework that the United Nations General Assembly adopted in March 2016 to track progress at the global level and for collective action towards achieving the 17 SDGs. Global monitoring
\nshould be based, as much as possible, on comparable national data that countries should report to the international statistical system. At the global level, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is the custodian agency for four (14.4.1, 14.6.1, 14.7.1, 14.b) of the 10 SDG 14 indicators1. Member States of the United Nations should also develop more detailed indicators at the regional and national levels to track success at these levels.<\/p>\n1. Source : FAO (2017)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Table 1 : SDG 14 targets
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i3.cnrs.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Capture-fish.jpg\") <\/p>\n
\n- 14.1 By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds<\/li>\n
- 14.2 By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts<\/li>\n
- 14.3 Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientifi c cooperation at all levels<\/li>\n
- 14.4 By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fi shing and destructive fi shing practices<\/li>\n
- 14.5 By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas<\/li>\n
- 14.6 By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fi sheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfi shing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing<\/li>\n
- 14.7 By 2030, increase the economic benefi ts to small island developing States and least developed countries
\nfrom the sustainable use of marine resources<\/li>\n - 14.a Increase scientifi c knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology<\/li>\n
- 14.b Provide access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets<\/li>\n
- Enhance the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources by implementing international
\nlaw<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSource : ONU (2015).<\/p>\n Global indicators<\/strong><\/p>\n\nThe SDG 14 targets were selected for their policy relevance, independently of the availability of indicators. Consequently, most indicators do not yet exist and there is a need to propose and build at least one relevant indicator for each target to enable monitoring. Eight out of 10 global indicators are currently not available for SDG 14 compared to 58% for all SDG global indicators. The United Nations Statistics Division currently provides open access to the two available SDG 14 global indicators, namely, 14.4.1 on the proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels and 14.5.1 on the coverage of protected areas in relation to marine areas. The dates by when the remaining global indicators for SDG 14 should be available are indicated in Table 2. There is, for instance, no set date for the availability of a global indicator for target 14.7 on sustainable fisheries which concerns, among other countries, SIDS. Indeed, fisheries in SIDS have been threatened by overexploitation, land-based pollution and inadequate fisheries\u2019 monitoring, control and surveillance systems. Member States are invited to complement global
\nindicators with national indicators that are relevant for national policies or for national stakeholders.<\/p>\n Table 2 : SDG 14 global indicators: sources and availability
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\n\n| Target<\/td>\n | SDG14 Global Indicator<\/td>\n | Source<\/td>\n | Availability<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| 14.1<\/td>\n | 14.1.1 Index of coastal eutrophication (i) and floating plastic debris density (ii)<\/td>\n | UNEP in coop\u00e9ration with IOC-UNESCO<\/td>\n | from 2021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| 14.2<\/td>\n | 14.2.1 Proportion of national exclusive economic zones managed using ecosystem-based approaches<\/td>\n | UNEP in cooperation with\u00a0 IOC-UNESCO<\/td>\n | from 2021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| 14.3<\/td>\n | \n 14.3.1 Average marine acidity (pH) measured at agreed suite of representative sampling stations<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | IOC-UNESCO in cooperation with UNEP<\/td>\n | After 2020<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| 14.4<\/td>\n | 14.4.1 Proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels<\/td>\n | FAO<\/td>\n | 1974-2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| 14.5<\/td>\n | 14.5.1 Coverage of protected areas in relation to
\nmarine areas<\/td>\n | UNEP\u2019s World Conservation
\nMonitoring Centre, BirdLife Index, UICN<\/td>\n | 2000-2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| 14.6<\/td>\n | 14.6.1 Progress by countries in the degree of
\nimplementation of international instruments aiming to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing<\/td>\n | \n FAO<\/p>\n OECD<\/p>\n | |