SDG Ocean and Coasts

Image: Barbara Neumann

Image: Barbara Neumann

Developing and establishing a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) focussed exclusively on oceans and coasts could prove to be an essential element in reaching the goal of international cooperation and effective governance to balance the realization of new opportunities with the protection of the marine environment, and to promote the sustainable use of marine resources, emphasizing and respecting the environmental values of current generations and the needs of future generations.

The SDG Ocean and Coasts would include:

Secure blue wealth by ensuring a healthy and productive marine environment with all basic provisioning, support, regulation, and cultural services. Provide equitable access to ocean resources, and ensure that neither pollution nor the harvesting and extraction of living and non-living resources impair the basic functions of the ecosystem. Facilitate the development of sustainable and resilient coastal communities. Harmonize national and regional maritime policies, and encourage cooperation in coastal and global marine spatial planning.

see also: UN SDGs

see also: working paper on SDG Ocean and Coasts