The United Nations Ocean Conference, 27 June -1 July 2022, Lisbon, Portugal

Pollution, ecosystem decline, climate impacts and overfishing threaten the health of the world’s ocean. The 2022 Ocean Conference provides an opportunity to strengthen synergies among stakeholders to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, ‘Life Below Water’. The targets set under SDG 14 have largely not been achieved on an international level. Marine pollution remains a major issue, while increasing deoxygenation and acidification is putting marine species and coastal communities alike in danger. Existing and emerging economic activities (such as shipping and seabed mining) are competing for the use of marine space and are threatening ecosystems and biodiversity. Fish stocks continue to be overexploited. The economies of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and many Least Developing States (LDS) depend on the health the ocean.