United Nations General Assembly chamber. Image: Chris Erbach via wikimedia commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

One of the main outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference was the agreement by member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will build upon the Millennium Development Goals and converge with the post 2015 development agenda. It was decided to establish an “inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process open to all stakeholders, with a view to developing global sustainable development goals to be agreed by the General Assembly”. (Source: United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Plattform)

See also: United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform

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.

see also: working paper on SDG Oceans and Coasts