Transitioning to Sustainable Life below Water

The formulation of the Agenda 2030 of the United Nations in 2015 has given rise to a substantial increase of attention payed to the sustainable governance of our oceans. Yet, the institutional landscape remains fragmented and driving an ecologically and socially just transition of existing ocean governance practices forward remains a challenge. This introductory chapter gives an insight into the background discussions that led to this edited book on the Sustainable Development Goal 14 and offers an overview over the structure of the book.

Abstract: The number of chemicals that have a detrimental influence on the world’s marine systems is almost uncountable. Some of them, e.g., mercury and its organic compounds, have to an extent always been part of global cycles, but have been released in far greater amounts since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century. Others, such as pharmaceuticals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and microplastics, have emerged only during the last 100 years, but in alarming proportions. Their influence on marine ecosystems is often very poorly understood. Sources are as diverse as the substances are: sewage water (e.g., pharmaceuticals and microplastics), atmospheric release (e.g., metals and POPs) and even intentional dumping of waste (e.g., munitions and metals). Many of these substances can be found even in pristine areas such as the deep-sea Mariana trench or the perpetual ice of the Arctic. While problematic on their own, it seems that some of these compounds interfere with each other. Microplastics, for example, are discussed as a vector for hydrophobic organic components such as POPs, metals and microbiota. This chapter provides an overview on the topics of microplastics, persistent organic pollutants, metals, munitions, and pharmaceuticals. The condition of the Baltic Sea, which is considered the most polluted sea in the world, is given as an example. These pollutants serve as representative and well-recognized contaminants, which are gaining more public attention. It is intended to serve as an introduction to further research on ecotoxicologically relevant chemicals.

This chapter deals with SDG 14 (‘life below water’) and the curious inclusion of a clause (Article 14B) supporting the global population of small-scale fishworkers and their marine livelihoods. It enquires as to the background of this particular clause, which it traces back to the drawn-out international negotiation process that was marked by the ratification of FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (1995) and the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (2014). Social movements, NGOs and the academic community are demonstrated to have played an important role in both achievements. While Article 14B provides an additional impulse to the international small-scale fisheries movement, the challenges that small-scale fishworkers face are still substantial. As Article 14B concedes, the struggle focuses on maintaining access to resources and markets, but also responding to the critiques of the conservation movement.

Three major global processes in ocean governance under the umbrella of the United Nations are currently underway: negotiations for an international legally binding agreement under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ); the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets adopted in 2010 as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 are coming to an end and new and updated biodiversity targets will be adopted as part of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework in 2020; and many of the targets set under the Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) as part of the ocean United Nations 2030 Agenda, which includes focuses on 17 Sustainable Development Goals, to holistically address current global challenges are set to expire and are expected to be updated or renewed. This Chapter highlights the need to ensure coherence across these global processes for marine conservation and provides ways in which ocean governance can be strengthened to support global processes and marine conservation goals.

Increased human activities—in particular energy generation and land use—have led to atmospheric pollution by the significant emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane. The associated climate change is also affecting the ocean while, at the same time, the ocean plays a fundamental role in mitigating climate change by serving as a major heat and carbon sink. We highlight some of the most salient aspects of climate change impacting the ocean as articulated in the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in 2019. It shows that the ocean is warming, the global sea level is rising, ocean heatwaves are more frequent, the ocean is becoming more acidic, marine ecology is shifting, levels of dissolved oxygen are reducing and the melting of ocean-terminating glaciers and ice sheets around Greenland and Antarctica is rapidly increasing. From the perspective of meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 14, there are strong synergies between promoting climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, which are enshrined in SDG 13 and outlined in more detail by the Paris Agreement. Scientific research and solution-oriented knowledge generation require the growth and transformation of the science system. Specifically, they will require more freely shared ocean data, new and more effective ways of analyzing observational data fused with ocean and climate models, and enhanced timely assessment, predictions and scenario development of future ocean conditions. At the same time, knowledge from natural and social sciences, as well as informal knowledge, must be considered. Ocean science must be in a position to support decision makers by providing knowledge and frameworks to weigh the ecological, environmental and human impacts with an expected increase in use of the ocean for different sustainable development pathways. In recognition of this challenge, the United Nations declared 2021–2030 as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development in order to advance “the science that we need for the ocean we want”. The ocean decade seeks to catalyze a change towards more international, shared and solution-oriented ocean science.

Deep-sea mining is increasingly suggested to meet the metal demand of the growing world population and to bring revenue and resource independence to many countries. Deep-sea mining is often also presented as a source for the metals required for the transition to a low-carbon economy. However, the exploitation of marine mineral resources will also be associated with considerable adverse impacts. Therefore, it is necessary to assess deep-sea mining impacts from a sustainability perspective and discuss if and how deep-sea mining could be compatible with sustainable development. Although deep-sea mining describes the extraction of a finite resource and, therefore, appears to contradict the Brundtland definition of sustainable development, this assessment finds that deep-sea mining could, under certain conditions, contribute to sustainable development. Important pre-requisites for this include the availability of an effective fiscal and revenue management system to ensure that the returns from deep-sea mining secure long-term benefits for national economies and stringent environmental regulations. Furthermore, environmental and social impact assessments have to be conducted early in the process and complemented with, inter alia, sound environmental and social management plans. As the success of these measures strongly depends on the availability of trained personnel, capacity-building initiatives need to be implemented in prior or in parallel to the establishment of deep-sea mining operations. Nevertheless, there is an urgent need to explore alternatives to deep-sea mining, including the increase of recycling rates, the substitution of critical materials and an overall change of consumer behavior.