Global Ocean Indicators: Marking pathways at the science-policy nexus

All people on Earth rely on the ocean, either directly or indirectly, with nearly 28% of the global population living near the coasts and maintaining a deep connection with the ocean. The ocean is vital for sustaining life, regulating Earth’s climate, and providing a multitude of services and resources for the livelihood of society, such as sustainable societal resilience, well-being, cultural identity, and economic growth. Also, the ocean is a vital gateway to sustainable, climate-resilient solutions urgently needed as the Earth system has already exceeded six of the nine planetary boundaries from intense pressure of the interconnected crises of human-driven global warming, pollution, and biodiversity loss. A protected, sustainable and resilient ocean is hence essential for the planet’s health and the well-being of all people today and in the future, and ocean science, empowered by ocean data forms the basis for evidence-based decision-making to achieve this goal. The concept of ocean indicators is an essential tool for enabling this transfer of ocean knowledge from science to decision making. Ocean indicators refer to measures based on scientifically verified approaches and data that allows for the identification of the state in ocean phenomena across a range of temporal and spatial scales that are accessible to inform decision makers and beyond. However, inconsistencies in the methodologies, data sources, and baselines used to generate these indicators have led to fragmented and sometimes contradictory information. This lack of coherence can hinder effective policy actions, especially under frameworks such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. In response, the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) has established an international task team on ocean indicators, comprised of multidisciplinary experts, to progress on the characterization of a core set of indicators for broad use in tracking change in the marine environment. This presentation will provide an overview on this international and multidisciplinary initiative, and provides information on the agreed criteria, a guideline for their implementation and draws on a set of pilot indicators for the physical, biogeochemistry and biodiversity domains of the ocean. Moreover, the multi-layered chain to streamline evidence-based and tailored ocean knowledge transfer from science to policy will be discussed, that encompass the three pillars of sustainable development (environmental, social, and economic), facilitated using ocean indicators.