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Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water

Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) is a call to action…

Written by

Esteban Gottfried Burguett, Andreas Mittermayr, Valentina Lovat - IOC-UNESCO

Publishing Date

2 June 2022

Reading time

6 min

Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) is the only globally agreed roadmap for the conservation and sustainable management of marine resources. Its faithful implementation is therefore our best hope to remedy the challenges of the ocean. SDG 14 is a call to action for citizens and governments across the globe. Experts agree that the ten targets it has identified can restore balance to the relationship between the ocean and humans.

“Life below water” is a key area of the United Nations Agenda 2030 sustainability goals on a global scale. Civil stakeholders across the globe are coming together to find new ways to mobilize action for the conservation, protection and sustainable use of the ocean.

All the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are closely linked to each other, as Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, stated during the opening of the second United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon (2022):

Our failure to care for the ocean will have ripple effects on the entire 2030 Agenda
Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations

The impact of SDG 14 is not only limited to life under water and the marine environment, but also influences the proper functioning of social, cultural and economic issues and thus maintain the integrity of the entire spectrum of human lives and cultures. This is why it is essential to implement concrete actions to achieve the goals of SDG 14.

Why a goal entirely dedicated to the ocean?

We have often spoken about the importance of the ocean in regulating natural cycles. However, it is never enough to remember the wonders and challenges that the ocean faces today.

In 2015, the UN Member States formulated the 2030 Agenda, consisting of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which touch all areas of daily life. It is unthinkable to lead a concrete change for a more sustainable relationship between humans and nature without considering the ocean.

Obiettivo di Sviluppo Sostenibile 14_Decennio del Mare

Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) addresses the ocean’s key challenges and suggests tangible ways to address them.

Since the advent of modern civilization, the ocean has been treated as an unregulated space. Unprecedented overfishing and the use of destructive methods, such as those used by bottom trawlers, have amplified stress on marine organisms and caused species decline.

Increased greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in global warming, are leading to unprecedented increases in ocean temperature and acidification.

Additionally, the influx of plant nutrients, mainly due to outdated industrial agricultural production practices, has fueled the eutrophication of marine ecosystems.

Each stressor, depending on its intensity and duration, can have many negative effects on marine life. However, stressors rarely occur in isolation. Marine life, in any part of the ocean, experiences a unique combination of stressors on a daily basis. These factors act in synergy, which is why they are called multiple stresses.

These negative impacts on the marine environment have caused serious social and economic problems at a global level. This is why collective and immediate action is required to find innovative solutions and help achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda.

Possiamo avere un ruolo, come società, per invertire la rotta

The key forum for amplifying and updating the goals of SDG 14 are the United Nations Ocean Conferences. The first conference took place in New York in 2017, and has emerged as a vital connection point between heads of state and government, civil society representatives, business leaders and entrepreneurs, academics, scientists, youth and advocates for the ocean and marine life. In 2017, the dialogue focused on learning about many of the challenges and issues related to our relationship with the ocean, for example plastic pollution.
To step up action on common and shared solutions, anchored in the 2030 Agenda, global and transdisciplinary cooperation is needed. To mobilize the action the ocean needs, the Conferences seek to promote research into innovative, science-based solutions and launch a new chapter in global ocean action.

The Ten Targets of Sustainable Development Goal 14

Scientists, activists and policy makers have been thinking about how to achieve the goals formulated in SDG14. They have developed ten targets and ten indicators that highlight the need to work and improve in the following areas: marine pollution, conservation through the establishment of Marine Protected Areas, ocean acidification, regulation of fishing practices and increased research to promote scientific knowledge and awareness, which would allow life to continue to thrive above and below water.

As mentioned, the targets and indicators are cyclically evaluated and discussed during international meetings. All the details related to SDG14 are available on the dedicated international website.

Target 14.1 By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce all forms of marine pollution, especially from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution.

Target 14.2 By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action to restore them to achieve a healthy and productive ocean.

Target 14.3 Minimize and address the effects of ocean basin acidification, including through enhanced scientific collaboration at all levels.

Target 14.4 By 2020, effectively regulate fisheries and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices. Implement science-based management plans to restore fish stocks as quickly as possible, at least to levels that produce the maximum sustainable yield, as determined by their biological characteristics.

Target 14.5 By 2020, conserve at least 10% – the global target for 2030 is now 30% – of coastal and marine areas, in accordance with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information.

Target 14.6 By 2020, prohibit those forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and refrain from reintroducing such subsidies, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of World Trade Organization fisheries subsidy negotiations.

Target 14.7 By 2030, increase the economic benefits of small island developing States and least developed countries through more sustainable use of marine resources, including sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism.

Target 14.A Increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer of marine technology, taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission criteria and guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology, with the aim of improving the health of the ocean and increasing the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of emerging countries, in particular small island developing States and least developed countries.

Target 14.B Provide access to marine resources and markets for small-scale artisanal fishers.

Target 14.C Enhance the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources by implementing international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which provides the legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources, as referred to in paragraph 158 of “The Future We Want”.