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

European Association of Fish Pathologists e. V.

EAFP 1979 Zagreb Croatia D

European Association of Fish Producers Organizations

EAPO 1980 Ostend Belgium D

European Association of Fisheries Economists

EAFE 1989 Sukarrieta Spain E

European Association of Geographers

EUROGEO 1979 Saragossa Spain F

European Association of Innovation Consultants

EAIC 2021 Brussels Belgium D

European Association of Mining Industries, Metal Ores and Industrial Minerals

EUROMINES 1996 Brussels Belgium D yt

European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories

EARSeL 1977 Münster Germany D

European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

EAZA 1988 Amsterdam Netherlands D

European Boating Industry

EBI 2009 Brussels Belgium D t

European Buddhist Union

EBU 1973 Brussels Belgium D

European Bureau for Conservation and Development

EBCD 1989 Brussels Belgium F

European Business Aviation Association

EBAA 1977 Brussels Belgium D t

European Centre for Information on Marine Science and Technology

EurOcean 2002 Lisbon Portugal G

European Centre for Marine Mammal Rehabilitation

Montpellier France N

European Centre for Restoration Techniques

ECR 1988 Heusden-Zolder Belgium G

European Centre for River Restoration

ECRR 1995 Lelystad Netherlands E

European Cetacean Bycatch Campaign

G

European Cetacean Society

ECS 1987 Liège Belgium D v

European Charter on Environment and Health

1989 T g

European Chlorinated Solvents Association

ECSA 1989 Brussels Belgium E t

European Christian Environmental Network

ECEN 1998 Brussels Belgium F

European Climate Research Alliance

ECRA 2011 Brussels Belgium D

European Colloquium on Geo-Chronology, Cosmo-Chronology and Isotope Geology

Jerusalem Israel S c

European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization

CENELEC 1973 Brussels Belgium D

European Committee of Environmental Technology Suppliers Associations

EUCETSA 1999 Brussels Belgium E

European Committee of the Regions

CoR 1993 Brussels Belgium E g

European Community on Protection of Marine Life

ECOP Marine 2002 Espenau Germany K

European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers' Organisations

ECCO 1991 Brussels Belgium D y

European Conference on Chemistry and the Environment

Wroclaw Poland S c

European Conservation Agriculture Federation

ECAF 1999 Brussels Belgium D

European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling

ECORD 2003 Aix-en-Provence France E

European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions Concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children

1980 Strasbourg France T g

European Cooperation in Science and Technology

COST 1971 Brussels Belgium E g

European Council for the Conservation of Fungi

ECCF 1985 Birmensdorf Switzerland D

European Decontamination Institute

EDI 2013 Brussels Belgium D t

European ECO Forum

1993 Brussels Belgium F

European Ecological Centre - Terre vivante

1994 Mens France G

European Elasmobranch Association

EEA 1996 Plymouth UK D

European Environment Agency

EEA 1990 Copenhagen Denmark F g

European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils

EEAC 1993 The Hague Netherlands D

European Environment Information and Observation Network

EIONET 1990 Copenhagen Denmark F g

European Environmental and Contact Dermatitis Research Group

EECDRG 1984 Helsinki Finland D v

European Environmental Bureau

EEB 1974 Brussels Belgium E y

European Environmental Centre, Warsaw

1994 Warsaw Poland G

European Environmental Communication Networks

EECN 1995 Paris France F

European Environmental Law Forum

EELF Leipzig Germany F

European Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society

EEMGS 1970 D v

European Extruded Polystyrene Insulation Board Association

EXIBA 1987 Brussels Belgium E

European Federation for Transport and Environment

T&E 1989 Brussels Belgium D y

European Federation of Agencies and Regions for Energy and the Environment

FEDARENE 1990 Brussels Belgium D

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