UNESCO presents the new Report on the State of the Ocean

On the occasion of the second United Nations Conference on the Ocean, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has launched the new State of the Ocean Report, which provides a concise and accessible overview of the current state of the ocean and mobilizes global society to take action – and monitor progress – towards global goals.

The first Report on the State of the Ocean

The first report was published as a pilot edition with contributions from over 100 experts in all major fields of marine science, including acidification, deoxygenation, pollution, tsunami early warning, marine spatial planning, data management and enabling infrastructure. Future editions will also invite contributions from other UN agencies, following the model of the State of the Climate Report, published regularly by the World Meteorological Organization.

The Report will help to efficiently monitor the progress of the Decade of the Ocean and, in time, may become a globally anticipated publication that will significantly contribute to mobilizing global society to take action towards “the ocean we need for the future we want”.

Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary IOC-UNESCO

The Report concisely collects the latest knowledge on the state of the ocean – from pollution to biodiversity -. A tool that contains all the key information that policy makers and business leaders need to make informed decisions on marine protection and maritime spatial planning. To organize and make the information easily accessible, the publication follows the 10 challenges of the Decade of the Sea.

This pilot edition of the State of the Ocean Report was developed by IOC-UNESCO to demonstrate the feasibility of keeping the world updated on the current state of the ocean. It is intended to complement other assessments, such as the World Ocean Assessment and the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Some data taken from the report

• Habitat loss is a global problem. There has been a rapid decline in coral reefs, seagrass beds and coastal wetlands. One factor is the changing proportions of individual nutrients reaching the ocean from rivers.
• Alarmingly, the ocean is losing oxygen rapidly, at a rate estimated at 2% since 1960 and likely unprecedented in Earth’s recent history.
• Changes in food web structure are often observed due to eutrophication in coastal marine ecosystems, with changes in benthic community structure and a decline in zooplankton affecting commercial fish production.
• The ocean floor is thought to be the destination of much of the plastic entering the ocean, but it is also the most poorly described region. An analysis found that approximately 30-40% of the objects detected at depth were macroplastics, and up to 90% of these, in waters deeper than 6,000 m, were single-use items.
• Ocean acidification will continue to increase: the surface pH of the open ocean is projected to decrease by about 0.3 units by 2081-2100, compared to 2006-2015, based on RCP8.5 (IPCC, 2019). Despite the increasing number of observation stations to collect acidification data, current coverage is inadequate.
• Climate warming has been linked to the movement of thousands of marine species from low to mid-latitudes, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. However, the main extinction risk to marine biodiversity remains fishing, both directly and through bycatch and the impacts of trawling on seabed habitats.
• Studies have shown that the rate of global mean sea level rise has accelerated from 2.1 mm/year in 1993-2002 to 4.7 mm/year in 2013-2021.
• Improving global ocean literacy is critical to the future sustainability of the ocean, coasts and seas. Looking ahead, global initiatives will benefit from investments in the Ocean Action Framework, strengthened through the Ocean Literacy With All (OLWA) programme, launched in 2021.

When will the next State of the Ocean Report be released?

UNESCO’s State of the Ocean Report will be published annually on the occasion of the United Nations World Oceans Day.

Who is IOC-UNESCO and what does it do?

IOC-UNESCO, the body leading the new report, is the United Nations’ principal body for the promotion and international coordination of marine science. IOC-UNESCO’s mission is to improve the management of the ocean, coasts and marine resources globally. Housed within UNESCO, the Commission enables 150 Member States to work together in coordinating capacity-building programmes, ocean observations and services, ocean sciences and tsunami warning. IOC-UNESCO’s efforts ultimately aim to promote science-based solutions to key economic and social issues.

Bibliography:

UNESCO Press Release: https://ioc.unesco.org/news/unesco-launches-new-state-ocean-report-monitor-progress-meeting-global-goals