A decade at the bedside of the oceans begins

By Bertrand prevost
Published on 6 Jan 21 at 16:00

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On January 1, Unesco opened the Decade of the Oceans. This decision was taken on December 5, 2017, as the United Nations proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, to be held from 2021 to 2030. This decade will provide a common framework to ensure that ocean science can fully support the actions of countries to sustainably manage the oceans and more particularly to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This decade will provide an opportunity to create a new foundation, through the science-policy interface, to strengthen the management of our oceans and coasts for the benefit of humanity.

This body, Ocean Science, combines a variety of disciplines (physical, geological and chemical oceanography as well as marine biology) that study and provide data on the global marine environment (marine organisms, ecosystem dynamics, ocean currents, waves, ocean dynamics. geophysical fluids, plate tectonics and seabed geology as well as the fluxes of various chemicals and physical properties in the ocean and across its boundaries).

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development was born out of the recognition that much remains to be done to reverse the cycle of declining ocean health and create better conditions for the sustainable development of oceans. oceans, seas and coasts.

Indeed, the first global oceans assessment published in 2016 notes the cycle of declining ocean health, with changes and losses in the structure, function and benefits obtained from marine systems. Over the coming decades, a changing climate, a growing world population and multiple environmental stressors will have significant impacts.

Existing knowledge could also be shared more equitably with coastal communities who are most vulnerable to current and future changes in the ocean.

More inclusive approaches to designing and conducting marine scientific research could also support a sustainable blue economy, break the business model and share responsibility for ocean protection by complementing policies and management actions that protect the ocean by promoting better management of our ocean resources.

Overfishing and rising waters

Françoise Gaill, emeritus research director at the CNRS and scientific coordinator of the Ocean & Climate platform, recently explained in the magazine Sciences et Avenir that “This initiative will give the ocean, which represents 71% of the earth’s surface, a central role in future development activities”.

In spring 2020, 230 contributions were identified to participate in this celebration of the oceans. The issues of overfishing, pollution, warming, acidification and desertification will all be addressed.

Although oceanographic research is one of the most promising areas of applied science, states spend on average only 1.7% of their research budgets on ocean science, much less than in other major scientific fields, according to the World Ocean Science Report, published on December 14 by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of Unesco. This low percentage is all the more difficult to justify as the contribution of the sea to the world economy was estimated at 1.5 trillion dollars in 2010 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a figure far from marginal and probably underestimated. In the same year, the maritime economy generated more than 30 million direct full-time jobs.

Nestled in the heart of the South Pacific, French Polynesia should find, within a few years, material to participate or collaborate in some of the events planned. For now, the only ones listed on the Unesco site, concerning the Pacific, are located in Hawaii and are past events.