SDG 14 - Conserve and Sustainable Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources for Sustainable Development

sdg 14 focuses on human interactions withthe ocean, seas and marine resources.It is underpinned by targets addressingconservation and sustainable use of theocean, seas and marine resources includingcoastal zones, and targets referring tocapacity building and ocean governance.Oceans cover more than 70% of the planet’ssurface and play a crucial role in planetaryresilience and the provision of vitalecosystem services. The status of the oceanand several of its resources and functionshave been deteriorating over the pastcentury. Oceans, seas and coastal zones aresubject to pollution, overexploitation andclimate change impacts such as warming,coastal erosion, sea-level rise, oceanacidification and deoxygenation. Severalcoastal regimes are under noticeablestress, compromising the services theyprovide. sdg 14 and its seven targets andthree means of implementation are aimedat an urgent need to transform humanbehaviour toward sustainable practiceswhen exploiting marine resources, andto taking action to preserve productiveand resilient oceans and seas. The seventargets largely reflect commitments underother international frameworks such asthe commitment to maintain or restorefish stocks to levels that can producemaximum sustainable yields (made in2002 under the Johannesburg Plan) or thecommitment to conserve at least 10% ofmarine and coastal areas (provided underthe cbd Aichi Target 11). However, the 2030Agenda for Sustainable Development putsuse and conservation of the ocean and itsresources, including coastal areas, into thewider sustainable development context forthe first time. The ocean space in generaland sdg 14 in particular have a cross-INTRODUCTIONcutting role in the 2030 Agenda, and sdg 14interacts with all 16 other sdgs. The natureand intensity of these interactions is highlycontext-specific and differs across the sdgsand their associated targets.The text that follows provides anoverview of interactions at the goal levelbetween sdg14 – the ‘entry level goal’ forthis assessment – and the other 16 sdgs.Taking into account all the underlyingtargets of this entry goal, a set of keyinteractions is identified between thesdg14 targets and those of other sdgs,principally interactions within the rangeof the highest magnitude or strongestimpacts based on available scientificliterature and expert knowledge. Thetypology and seven-point scale forcharacterising the range of positive andnegative interactions described in theopening chapter to this report is used toassess the selected target-level interactionsand the context in which they typicallyoccur. Illustrative examples from differentworld regions show how these linkagesmanifest themselves in practice. Policyoptions are identified for how to maximisepositive interactions and minimisenegative interactions between now and2030, and beyond. The chapter concludeswith a list of key knowledge gaps relatedto the interactions studied.