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

1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and other Matter

LC Prot 1996 1996 London UK T g

5 Gyres Institute

5GYRES Santa Monica CA USA G

A New Course

2010 Bainbridge Island WA USA G

A Rocha International

1983 London UK F

Abolition 2000 - Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons

Abolition 2000 1995 Oakland CA USA F y

Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative

AGEDI 2002 G g

Academic Council on the United Nations System

ACUNS 1987 Washington DC USA E y

Académie d'environnement d'expression francophone, philosophique et scientifique

1977 Le Vésinet France G jv

Accord RAMOGE

Monte Carlo Monaco E g

Ace Africa

2003 London UK F

Act Regarding Navigation and Economic Cooperation between the States of the Niger Basin

1963 T g

Acting for Life

AFL 1973 Le Bourget France G

Action for Dolphins

AFD Melbourne VIC Australia G

Action for Greening Sahel

1991 Tokyo Japan N

Action for Solidarity, Equality, Environment and Diversity

A SEED 1992 Amsterdam Netherlands F

Action Plan for Protection, Development and Management of the Marine Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region

NOWPAP 1991 Busan Korea Rep F g

Action Plan for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment and Coastal Areas of the East Asian Region

EAS 1981 Bangkok Thailand F g

Action Plan for the Protection and Management of the South Asia Seas Region

SASP 1995 Colombo Sri Lanka F g

Action Plan for the Protection of the Marine Environment and Coastal Areas in the South East Pacific

SE/PCF 1981 Guayaquil Ecuador F g

Action positive pour l'environnement et le développement en Afrique centrale

APEDAC 2002 Ndjamena Chad G

Action vivre ensemble

1977 Brussels Belgium G

Adessium Foundation

Reeuwijk Netherlands G f

Adventure Travel Conservation Fund

ATCF 2016 Monroe WA USA F f

Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea

ACOPS 1952 London UK E y

Aerospace Medical Association

ASMA 1929 Alexandria VA USA G y

Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group

ABCG 2000 Washington DC USA G y

Africa Centre for Climate and Earth Systems Science

ACCESS Rondebosch South Africa F

Africa Civil Society for the Information Society

ACSIS 2003 Dakar Senegal D

Africa Development Interchange Network

ADIN 1985 Douala Cameroon G

Africa Earth Observatory Network

AEON Port Elizabeth South Africa N

Africa Fund for Fungal Biodiversity and Mycotic Infections

Utrecht Netherlands G f

Africa Leadership Forum

ALF 1988 Ota Nigeria F

Africa Nomads Conservation

ANC Nairobi Kenya G

African and Caribbean Diversity

ACD 1990 London UK G

African Association of Insect Scientists

AAIS 1978 Nairobi Kenya D

African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment

AARSE 1992 El Jadida Morocco D y

African Biodiversity Network

ABN 2002 Thika Kenya F

African Centre for Aquatic Research and Education

ACARE 2017 Ann Arbor MI USA D

African Centre for Assistance and Protection of the Environment of the Sahel

Dakar Senegal G

African Centre for Biodiversity

ACB Johannesburg South Africa G

African Centre for Fertilizer Development

ACFD 1987 Harare Zimbabwe E g

African Coalition for Corporate Accountability

ACCA 2013 Pretoria South Africa D y

African Conservation Centre

ACC Nairobi Kenya G

African Conservation Foundation

ACF 1999 London UK G f

African Conservation Tillage Network

ACT 1999 Nairobi Kenya F

African Conservation Trust

ACT 2000 Pietermaritzburg South Africa G

African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

1968 T g

African Development Aid Association

ADAA 1988 Addis Ababa Ethiopia G

African Geoparks Network

AGN 2009 El Jadida Morocco F

African Green Foundation International

AGFI 1995 Garki Nigeria J f

Pages