TM15 | An Ocean of Possibilities: Imagining the Future of Ocean Post-2030 Sustainability Targets

TM15

An Ocean of Possibilities: Imagining the Future of Ocean Post-2030 Sustainability Targets
Convener: Victor Brun | Co-convener: Alfredo Giron
Tue, 03 Jun, 12:45–13:45 (CEST)|Room 2
Tue, 12:45
The world is not on track to achieve any of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, including SDG 14 on Life Below Water. Ocean ecosystems, biodiversity, and the communities that depend on them face mounting threats. Recognising this, a 2023 survey conducted by the Ocean and Climate Platform (OCP) and Varda Group highlighted two key priorities for the ocean community: the urgent need to achieve SDG 14 and the importance of initiating reflections on a post-2030 agenda. In response, the OCP, the National Centre for Scientific Research, and Friends of Ocean Action, with the support of Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy, have launched a participatory visioning exercise to explore the future of ocean sustainability and identify tentative targets for Post-2030. This scientific methodology, inspired by the Nature Futures Framework of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, helps to imagine desirable futures and identify the pathways needed to achieve them. By drawing on inputs from diverse experts, visioning fosters creativity, inclusivity, and emotional engagement with the ocean.

The exercise will produce a collective vision encompassing:
- Aspirational and artistic representations of a sustainable ocean future by 2050.
- Targets and indicators to monitor progress, linked to existing global sustainability goals.
- Pathways and opportunities to realise these desired outcomes.

The outputs presented in this Town hall meeting will address four key themes: fishing and blue foods, pollution, ocean-climate interlinkages, and the high seas. It will provide the opportunity to spark new discussions among researchers involved in ocean governance and sustainability, particularly on the topic of Post-2030 ocean sustainability indicators. The findings will then be advanced at the Third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3).

Speakers

  • Joachim Claudet, CNRS
  • David Obura, CORDIO East Africa, Kenya
  • Minna Epps, IUCN, Switzerland
  • Angelique Pouponneau, Alliance of Small Island States, United States of America