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

International Centre for Environmental Education and Community Development

ICENECDEV 2005 Buea Cameroon G

International Centre for Environmental Social and Policy Studies

ICESPS Nairobi Kenya G

International Centre for Global Earth Models

ICGEM Potsdam Germany E

International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy

ICIEE 1998 Lyngby Denmark G

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

ICIMOD 1981 Kathmandu Nepal E g

International Centre for Sturgeon Studies

ICSS Nanaimo BC Canada N

International Centre for Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems

SDEWES Centre Zagreb Croatia G

International Centre for the Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas

International EMECS Centre 1994 Kobe Japan G

International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

ICCROM 1958 Rome Italy F gy

International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change

ICWRGC Koblenz Germany E g

International Centre of Climate and Environmental Sciences

ICCES 1991 Beijing China G

International Centre of Comparative Environmental Law

1982 Limoges France E

International Cessna 120/140 Association

1976 Rockford IL USA N

International Cetacean Education Research Centre

ICERC 1987 Tokyo Japan G

International Charter "Space and Major Disasters"

1999 F

International Chemical Secretariat

ChemSec 2002 Gothenburg Sweden G

International Christian Maritime Association

ICMA 1969 London UK B y

International Civil Aviation Organization

ICAO 1947 Montréal QC Canada B g

International Cleaning and Restoration Association

ICRA 2011 Sacramento CA USA G

International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project

ICECAP N

International Co-operative Agricultural Organisation

ICAO 1951 Seoul Korea Rep E

International Co-operative Alliance

ICA 1895 Brussels Belgium A y

International Coalition of Fisheries Associations

ICFA 1988 Reston VA USA F

International Coastal and Ocean Organization

ICO 1989 Newark DE USA D

International Collaborative for Science, Education and the Environment

1992 Wayland MA USA N

International Collective in Support of Fishworkers

ICSF 1986 Chennai India F

International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

ICCAT 1969 Madrid Spain E g

International Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine Basin

1970 Utrecht Netherlands D g

International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River

ICPDR 1998 Vienna Austria E gy

International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine

ICPR 1963 Koblenz Germany D g

International Commission for the Protection of the Water Lake Geneva

1962 Nyon Switzerland G

International Commission of the Congo-Ubangui-Sangha Basin

1999 Kinshasa Congo DR E g

International Commission of the Schelde River

1995 Antwerp Belgium E g

International Commission on Bioindicators

1988 Kuopio Finland F v

International Commission on Stratigraphy

ICS Cambridge UK E v

International Commissions for the Protection of the Moselle and Saar

ICPMS 1961 Konz-Saarburg Germany E g

International Committee for Marine Conservation

ICMC 1997 Hochheim am Main Germany E

International Committee for Research and Study of Environmental Factors

ICEF 1969 Lugano Switzerland F v

International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics

ICCM 1977 Rome Italy D

International Committee for the Defence of the Breton Language

ICDBL 1975 E

International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS

ICW 1992 F v

International Conference on Artificial Reefs and Related Aquatic Habitats

CARAH S c

International Conference on Asian Marine Geology

ICAMG S c

International Conference on Baltic Sea System Analysis - Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Management in the Baltic Region

S cg

International Conference on Behavior of Offshore Structures

Cambridge MA USA S c

International Conference on Carbon for Energy Storage and Environment Protection

CESEP S c

International Conference on Chemistry for Protection of the Environment

Alexandria VA USA S c

International Conference on Clean and Green Energy

ICCGE 2012 S c

International Conference on Coastal and Port Engineering in Developing Countries

COPEDEC 1983 S c

International Conference on Coastal Dynamics

S c

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