The Southern Ocean UN Decade
Background
In 2017, the United Nations proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health, and globally strengthen the international cooperation needed to develop the scientific research and innovative technologies that can connect ocean science with the needs of society. By gathering stakeholders worldwide, the initiative intends to set up a common framework to ensure ocean science can fully support countries in achieving the sustainable management of oceans across the globe.
The Southern Ocean process
Based on the recommendations in the global Ocean Decade implementation plan, the Southern Ocean community engaged in a stakeholder-oriented process to develop the Southern Ocean Action Plan (Figure 1). This Action Plan will provide a framework for Southern Ocean stakeholders to formulate and develop concrete activities that support the Decade vision.
Figure 1: The Southern Ocean process.
Together with outputs from the First Southern Ocean Workshop, the Southern Ocean Task Force collated strategic and scientific priorities from our individual implementation plans, together with those outlined in previous polar and Antarctic initiatives, including the SCAR Horizon Scan (2014), COMNAP Antarctic Roadmap Challenges (2016) and EU-PolarNet (2016). This desk study generated a report of identified strategic and scientific priorities for the Southern Ocean which served as a basis for the Southern Ocean survey, launched in May 2021. This stakeholder-oriented consultation aimed to identify gaps within the report and prioritize Southern Ocean objectives to ensure the well-representation of all groups. Additionally, stakeholders provided input on the activities and contributions that should be developed in the context of the Decade.
Working Groups are now being set up for each of the Decade’s Societal Outcomes. These meetings will set out to identify the needs of the Southern Ocean community in view of addressing the Southern Ocean priorities identified through the survey. The input from each Working Group will be synthesised into a Draft Southern Ocean Action Plan, which will then be jointly consulted by all stakeholders at the 2nd Southern Ocean Regional Workshop. This workshop will be held online from 20-22 September 2021 and will bring forward a community consensus on how the Southern Ocean community will engage within the Ocean Decade Framework. Following the 2nd Southern Ocean Regional Workshop, the Task Force will review and finalize the Southern Ocean Action Plan.
The 2nd Southern Ocean Regional Workshop will be co-located and co-organised with Polar Data Forum IV (PDF IV) which will focus on polar oceans (22-24 September 2021). This will enable PDF IV to be aligned with the launch of the UN Decade of Ocean Science and support its activities in the Southern Ocean.
The development process of the Southern Ocean Action Plan aims to engage a broad community spanning from the scientific research community to the business and industry sector, and governance and management bodies. Through this combined effort, we will identify synergies in priorities over the next decade and identify tangible actions and deliverables to achieve these priorities as a community.
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Best regards,
Annemie R. Janssen on behalf of the SOdecade Task Force.
