Ocean science for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use: how the Ocean Decade supports the CBD and the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

The ocean is vital for life on Earth in numerous ways, from climate regulation to providing food, nutrition, and medicine. Following the successful adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in December 2022, we need to keep in mind the centrality of the ocean to realizing our collective ambition of halting ongoing biodiversity loss as a means of achieving a future more sustainable world. Without ocean action, it will not be possible to realize many, if not most, of the targets of the GBF and of the 2030 Agenda.

Effective action is underpinned by sound science. The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), which is coordinated by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, aims to create the “science we need for the ocean we want”. With an unprecedented number of partners around the world, the Ocean Decade offers a global platform for revolutionizing how we do science, and how that science informs policy, including the GBF.

The science and knowledge produced by Ocean Decade partners is providing the basis for more targeted action to address the biodiversity crisis facing the ocean. Through new knowledge, technologies and tools, the Ocean Decade is already greatly enhancing our understanding of ocean biodiversity and the services it provides, how that biodiversity copes with multiple pressures, and how management actions can best and in a more strategic manner tackle the linked challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change.

By working together, the Ocean Decade and the CBD can provide solutions to reverse the decline in ocean health for the benefit of all of humanity, including future generations. This Policy Brief demonstrates how the Ocean Decade and the GBF are compatible and self-reinforcing, and how the science provided by the Ocean Decade will be able to address knowledge gaps and help reach the goals and targets of the GBF. The numerous examples presented in the following pages illustrate how Ocean Decade Actions are already supporting the work of the CBD. And there is more to come as the Decade expands its work and partnerships over the years. We encourage you to join the Ocean Decade movement and work with partners around the world to create the ocean, and the ocean biodiversity we want by 2030!