Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources

Life Below Water


Goal 14 is about conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources. Healthy oceans and seas are essential to human existence and life on Earth.

The Ocean is intrinsic to our life on earth. Covering three-quarters of the Earth’s surface, contain 97 percent of the Earth’s water, and represent 99 percent of the living space on the planet by volume.

They provide key natural resources including food, medicines, biofuels and other products; help with the breakdown and removal of waste and pollution; and their coastal ecosystems act as buffers to reduce damage from storms. They also act as the planet’s greatest carbon sink.

Worryingly, marine pollution is reaching extreme levels, with over 17 million metric tons clogging the ocean in 2021, a figure set to double or triple by 2040. Plastic is the most harmful type of ocean pollution.

Currently, the ocean’s average pH is 8.1 which is about 30 per cent more acidic than in pre- industrial times. Ocean acidification threatens the survival of marine life, disrupts the food web, and undermines vital services provided by the ocean and our own food security.

Careful management of this essential global resource is a key feature of a sustainable future. This includes increasing funding for ocean science, intensifying conservation efforts, and urgently turning the tide on climate change to safeguard the planet’s largest ecosystem. Current efforts to protect are not yet meeting the urgent need to safeguard this vast, yet fragile, resource.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

Association for Environmentally Friendly Carpets

1990 Aachen Germany D

Association for Heritage Preservation of the Americas

APOYOnline 1989 Rockville MD USA G v

Association for Learning Environments

A4LE 1921 Scottsdale AZ USA G

Association for Mexican Cave Studies

AMCS 1963 Austin TX USA N

Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography

ASLO 1936 Waco TX USA G

Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation

ATBC 1963 C

Association for Vertical Farming

AVF Munich Germany J

Association François-Xavier Bagnoud

FXB International 1989 Geneva Switzerland G

Association internationale de défense du saumon atlantique

AIDSA 1958 Paris France G

Association Internationale des Skål Clubs

AISC 1934 Torremolinos Spain B

Association internationale pour l'oeuvre du docteur Albert Schweitzer de Lambaréné

AISL 1930 Gunsbach France E

Association internationale villes et ports - réseau mondial des villes portuaires

AIVP 1988 Le Havre France D

Association Justice and Environment, z.s.

J&E 2003 Brno Czechia F y

Association of ACP National Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Other Economic Operators

ACP Chambers 1981 Brussels Belgium D t

Association of Charity Lotteries in Europe

ACLEU 2007 Amsterdam Netherlands D

Association of Chemistry and the Environment

ACE 2000 Nova Gorica Slovenia D

Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

AERE 1979 Altamonte Springs FL USA G

Association of Esperantist Greens

AEG 1984 Bonn Germany E

Association of European Geographical Societies

EUGEO 1997 Budapest Hungary D

Association of Hydro-Meteorological Industry

HMEI 2001 Geneva Switzerland D t

Association of International Research Initiatives for Environmental Studies

AIRIES 1996 Tokyo Japan N

Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean

AMLC 1957 Washington DC USA D

Association of River Water Companies

RIWA 1950 Nieuwegein Netherlands F

Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future

ULSF 1992 Wayland MA USA G

Association of Vietnamese Scientists and Experts

AVSE Global 2011 Paris France G

Association of World Citizens

AWC 1975 Novato CA USA F

Association pisciculture et développement rural en Afrique tropicale humide

APDRA 1996 Massy France G

Association pour la promotion de l'éducation et de la formation à l'étranger

APEFE 1976 Brussels Belgium G

Associazione A Sud Ecologia e Cooperazione

A Sud 2003 Rome Italy G

Associazione Internazionale per la Comunicazione Ambientale

AICA 2003 Alba Italy G

Athens Convention Relating to the Carriage of Passengers and Their Luggage by Sea

PAL 1974 London UK T g

Atlantic Salmon Federation

ASF 1982 St Andrews NB Canada G

Atlantic Salmon Trust

AST 1967 Perth UK F v

Atlas Service Corps

2006 Washington DC USA G

Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association

ACKMA 1987 Mount Compass SA Australia N

Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine

ACNEM 1982 Melbourne VIC Australia N

Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network

AELERT 2004 Canberra ACT Australia G

Australasian Wader Studies Group

AWSG 1981 Heathmont VIC Australia G v

Australasian Wildlife Management Society

AWMS 1988 Canberra ACT Australia N

Australian Council for International Development

ACFID 1965 Deakin ACT Australia G y

Austrian Middle East Environment Protection Association

AIMEEPA N

Austrian Society for Environment and Technology

Vienna Austria G

AVI

1961 Fitzroy VIC Australia G

AWARE International

Paris France G

Balkan Environmental Association

BENA 1998 Thessaloniki Greece D

BALKANI Wildlife Society

1989 Sofia Bulgaria E

Baltic Earth

Geesthacht Germany E

Baltic Ecovillage Network

BEN F

Baltic Environmental Forum

BEF 1995 Riga Latvia F

Baltic Farmers Forum on Environment

BFFE 1998 Stockholm Sweden F

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