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

Earth and Space Foundation

1994 Cambridge UK N f

Earth Association for Regression Therapy

EARTh 2006 Kessel-Eik Netherlands D

Earth Champions Foundation

2000 J f

Earth Charter International

ECI 2000 San José Costa Rica F

Earth Child Institute

ECI F j

Earth Commission

2019 Stockholm Sweden E

Earth Council

1989 G

Earth Day Network

EDN Washington DC USA F

Earth Economics

1998 Tacoma WA USA G

Earth Federation Movement

EFM 2007 J

Earth First

1979 G

Earth Foundation International

1990 Santiago Chile N f

Earth Institute at Columbia University

New York NY USA G j

Earth Island Institute

EII 1982 Berkeley CA USA G j

Earth Law Alliance

ELA 2012 J

Earth Law Center

2008 Durango CO USA G

Earth League International

2013 Los Angeles CA USA F

Earth Link

2000 Zillmere QLD Australia G

Earth Observing System

EOS Greenbelt MD USA G

Earth Organization

N

Earth Partners Foundation

2009 G f

Earth Repair Foundation

ERF Katoomba NSW Australia N f

Earth Restoration Corps

ERC 1999 Crestone CO USA N

Earth Restoration Service

ERS 2004 London UK G

Earth Rights Institute

ERI 2001 Santa Monica CA USA G j

Earth Security

London UK G

Earth Share

Bethesda MD USA G

Earth Society Foundation

ESF New York NY USA G f

Earth Train Foundation

2001 Albany CA USA G f

Earth-Friendly Schools Hawaii-International

1992 Volcano HI USA K

Earth5R

2014 Mumbai India F

EarthCare Africa

ECAF Nairobi Kenya G

Earthcorps

1993 Seattle WA USA G

EarthEcho International

2000 Washington DC USA G

Earthjustice

1971 San Francisco CA USA G f

Earthlife Africa

ELA 1988 Dalbridge South Africa G v

Earthmind

2006 Gland Switzerland G

Earthrace Conservation

Whangarei New Zealand F

EarthRights International

ERI 1994 Washington DC USA C

Earthstewards Network

1980 Bainbridge Island WA USA G v

Earthtrust

1976 Kailua HI USA G

EarthVoice

1991 Washington DC USA G

Earthwatch Europe

1985 Oxford UK G

Earthwatch Institute

1971 Boston MA USA F j

East Asia Plant Variety Protection Forum

EAPVP Forum 2007 Tokyo Japan F g

East Asian Biosphere Reserve Network

EABRN 1995 Beijing China F

Eastern Africa Environmental Network

EAEN 1990 Nairobi Kenya F

Eastern Atlantic Hydrographic Commission

EAtHC 1984 Monte Carlo Monaco K g

Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality

ECADE 2015 Castries St Lucia D

Eastern Caribbean Coalition for Environmental Awareness

ECCEA 1995 Fort de France Martinique F

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