UN’s Ocean Decade Conference concludes in Barcelona

Ocean Frontier Institute

The 2024 UN Ocean Decade Conference concludes today.

Spain hosted the three-day conference which recognized current progress in sustainable ocean management and identified priorities for science-based ocean solutions.

Launched by the UN in 2017, the Ocean Decade is the world’s largest ocean science initiative uniting scientists and stakeholders to address the 10 ocean decade challenges including marine plastic pollution, food security, and biodiversity using scientific methods. Up until 2024, the campaign has endorsed more than 500 actions and is expected to generate a crosscutting effect in addressing the UN’s 2030 agenda between 2021 and 2030.

The conference in Barcelona will result in white papers reviewing achievements and prioritizing the more urgent challenges from the 10 options which will pave the way for the United Ocean Conference in June 2025. Small island nations which are highly impacted by ocean ecology and how the Ocean Decade community can leverage their collaborations to monitor and govern marine pollution and deep sea exploration could be the highlight of the coming decade.

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oceans Sustainable development

Evan Tsao

Evan Tsao is an Analyst for Foreign Brief and a contributor to The Daily Brief. His expertise is in Indo-Pacific security and interdisciplinary research. He formerly worked as investigative analyst at Kharon, LA, conducting research on sanctions and providing open-source intelligence services for clients in the semiconductor and defense industries. He holds a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.