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

Federación Interamericana del Cemento

FICEM 1973 Bogota Colombia D

Federación Latinoamericana de Ciudades, Municipios y Asociaciones de Gobiernos Locales

FLACMA 1981 Mexico City Mexico D

Federación Panamericana de Ingenieria Oceanica y Costera

FEPIOC D

Fédération des Associations Nationales des Bécassiers du Paléarctique Occidental

FANBPO 2001 Anghiari Italy D

Fédération internationale de thalassothérapie - mer et santé

1986 Paris France N

Fédération Internationale Sport pour Tous

FISpT 1982 Manama Bahrain B

Federation of African Medical Students' Associations

FAMSA 1968 Ibadan Nigeria D

Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU

1977 Brussels Belgium E

Federation of Earth

1977 J

Federation of European National Statistical Societies

FENStatS Luxembourg Luxembourg D

Federation of European Societies of Plant Biology

FESPB 1978 Rome Italy D

Federation of International Centres for the Preservation of the Architectural Heritage

1992 La Laguna Spain D

Federation of Young European Greens

FYEG 1988 Brussels Belgium E

FIAN International

1986 Heidelberg Germany F

Field Studies Council Overseas

FSC Shrewsbury UK G v

Films for the Earth

2007 Winterthur Switzerland G

Final Act of the International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea

1948 T g

Final Act of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea

1958 T g

Fish Health Section of the Asian Fisheries Society

FHS 1987 Serdang Malaysia K v

Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic

CECAF 1967 Accra Ghana E g

Floating University

FU 1991 F

Fly Fishers International

FFI 1965 Livingston MT USA J

Fondation énergies pour le monde

1986 Paris France G f

Fondation ensemble

2004 Paris France G f

Fondation internationale du Banc d'Arguin

FIBA 1986 Arles France G f

Fondation pour la Nature et l'Homme

FNH 1990 Boulogne-Billancourt France G f

Fondation Segré

1996 Zug Switzerland G f

Fondazione Mediterranea

1985 Ragusa Italy G f

Fondo Financiero para el Desarrollo de la Cuenca del Plata

FONPLATA 1974 Santa Cruz Bolivia F fg

Fondo para el Sistema Arrecifal Mesoamericano

Fondo SAM 2004 Guatemala Guatemala F f

Fonds français pour l'environnement mondial

FFEM 1994 Paris France G fg

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FAO 1945 Rome Italy B g

Food and Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region

FFTC 1970 Taipei Taiwan E g

Food Packaging Forum

FPF Zurich Switzerland F f

Forest Peoples Programme

FPP 1990 Moreton-in-Marsh UK F y

Forest Stewardship Council

FSC 1993 Bonn Germany F y

Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible

2016 F c

Forum for Development and Environment

Oslo Norway G

Forum maghrébin pour l'environnement et le développement

1989 Rabat Morocco J

Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean

1982 Panama Panama F cg

Foundation Amazon Fund

2008 Roosteren Netherlands J f

Foundation for Endangered Languages

FEL 1996 Hungerford UK F f

Foundation for Environmental Conservation

FEC 1975 Morges Switzerland F f

Foundation for Environmental Education

FEE 1981 Copenhagen Denmark F f

Foundation for Environmental Security and Sustainability

FESS 1999 Falls Church VA USA G f

Foundation for Research on International Environment, National Development and Security

FRIENDS 1991 Rawalpindi Pakistan G f

Foundation for Sustainable Development Intercultural Exchange

PanEco 1996 Berg am Irchel Switzerland G f

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition

FPMT 1971 Portland OR USA F fv

Foundation on International and Cross-Strait Studies

FICS 1994 N f

Foundation Working Group International Waterbird and Wetland Research

WIWO 1983 Nijmegen Netherlands F f

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