On 8 June 2021, World Oceans Day, UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO-IOC) officially announced more than 60 approved initiatives and programmes during the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development ("Ocean Decade"), as the first official initiatives of the Decade to contribute to the development of marine science. Led by the scientific community, governments, civil society, United Nations agencies, the private sector, philanthropy and international organizations, these Ocean Decade flagship programmes reflect broad global engagement. Details of the main programs are as follows:
Blue Climate Initiative - Solutions for People, Ocean, Planet
Lead agency: "Blue Climate Initiative" (funded by the Tetiaroa Society). The Blue Climate Initiative involves scientists, community groups, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, government leaders and global influencers to identify, develop and implement scientific solutions to protect the oceans and harness them to address climate change and other pressing issues of the day, including renewable energy, sustainable food supplies, human health and a resilient ocean economy.
Challenger 150 - A Decade to Study Deep-Sea Life
Lead agency: Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI). Challenger 150 is a global collaborative initiative dedicated to providing the science needed to sustainably manage the deep sea. At the heart of the initiative is to build deep-sea expertise, particularly in developing countries, to develop a new generation of global managers who maintain the integrity of deep-sea ecosystems. In addition, by supporting the development of new technologies and the expansion of observational activities, Challenger 150 aims to improve understanding of deep-sea biodiversity and its distribution, function and services, and to use this new knowledge to educate, motivate and promote better management and sustainable use of the deep sea.
(3) Digital Twins of the Ocean - DITTO
Lead agencies: GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel University. The Digital Twin Ocean (DITTO) will establish and advance a digital framework that enables all ocean data, modeling and simulation, as well as AI algorithms and specialized tools, including best practices, to acquire, manipulate, analyze and visualize ocean information. DITTO will help users and partners build ocean-related development scenarios that address issues such as energy, mining, fisheries, tourism, and nature-based solutions. The digital twin ocean is able to quantify benefits and environmental change and provide powerful visualizations. DITTO will also help marine professionals create their own local or local digital twin "ocean problems" by employing standardized workflows.
(4) Global Ocean Oxygen Decade
Lead agency: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research. The programme will raise global awareness of the role of ocean deoxygenation, inform actions, develop mitigation and adaptation strategies and solutions to ensure the continued supply of ecosystem services, and minimize impacts on the ocean economy through actions at the local, regional and global levels, including interdisciplinary research, innovative advocacy, marine education and literacy.
Joint Exploration of the Twilight Zone Ocean Network (JETZON)
Lead Agency: National Oceanographic Centre (NOC). "Joint Exploration of Marine Networks in the Twilight Zone" (JETZON) focuses on marine areas at depths of 200 to 1000 meters. The Twilight Zone is facing multiple pressures, including fishing, deep-sea mining, climate change and co2 reduction methods. Since much of the Twilight Zone stretches beyond national borders, is vast and difficult to reach, it is only through concerted international action that it is possible to study it, which is precisely the goal of JETZON.
(6) Ocean Voices
Lead agencies: Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center, EarthLab, University of Washington. The role of marine science in promoting sustainable development is determined by human beings. Recognizing the participants, cultures and well-being involved, as well as how dynamics of power and decision-making processes affect the oceans and seas are critical to achieving the goals of the Decade and ensuring that knowledge, strategies and governance frameworks include all. The Voices of the Oceans programme will create favourable conditions for the fairness of the Decade.
(7) One Ocean Network for Deep Observation
Lead agency: French Institute for Marine Development (IFREMER). The plan proposes to bring about a major revolution in deep-sea science by developing observational and exploration technologies at multiple sites in the global ocean. These collaborative activities contribute to an understanding of how deep-sea ecosystems work, how climate change and human activities affect the deep-sea, while helping to protect humanity from natural disasters. The project will be carried out in tandem with other relevant ten-year initiatives, such as international initiatives driven by DOOS, DOSI/Challenger 150, Smart Cables, POGO and Goos/Argo.
Pacific solutions to save our ocean: an integrated ocean science programme towards a healthy Blue Pacific Continent to sustain future generations）
Lead agency: South Pacific Community (SPC). The Ocean Decade aims to leverage a range of national ocean policy (NOPs) launched in the Pacific in recent years to meet the needs of integrated ocean management. The initiative aims to enhance scientific capacity and create opportunities for marine science to be translated into concrete decisions. To achieve these goals, the plan focuses on three main areas, including a regulatory framework, a decision support system, and increased consideration of Pacific culture and the environment. As the guardian of the Pacific continent, the world's largest marine ecosystem, the program helps save the oceans and provide solutions to some of the challenges that currently exist, such as climate change.
(9) Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project
Lead Agency: Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project. The Japan Foundation-Depth Map of the World's Oceans (GEBCO) 2030 Seabed Program is a collaborative project between the Japan Ocean Foundation and GEBCO to map the entire ocean by 2030. The resulting bathymetric chart will be available free of charge to all users.
Ocean Observing Co-Design: evolving ocean observing for a sustainable future
Lead Agency: Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), funded primarily by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO). Through targeted and timely observation activities, humans can track the status of the oceans, provide sophisticated forecasts and early warnings, manage marine resources, enhance societies' resilience to change, and ultimately assess the impact of actions on sustainable oceans. The programme aims to generate the processes, infrastructure and tools needed for collaborative design, to develop the international capacity needed to develop truly integrated ocean observing systems, and to ensure that flexible observing activities and modelling capabilities are matched to needs.
Observing Together: Meeting Stakeholder Needs and Making Every Observation Count
Lead Agency: Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), funded primarily by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO-IOC). The programme aims to transform the way ocean data is accessed and available by building links between ocean observers and the areas they serve, strengthening support for new and existing observation programmes. Collaborative design will expand access to marine knowledge and related applications for equitable access by a wide range of stakeholders. The programme will use the Global Ocean Observing System 's network of expertise to provide the observing and forecasting data needed to relevant users and global data streams to ensure the value of observing activities.
A Transformative Decade for the Global Ocean Acidification Observing System
Lead Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The decade plans to further expand carbon dioxide observing systems by developing next-generation sensors, training new experts, providing the materials needed for accurate measurements, and filling gaps in areas to be observed. The project will also develop the capacity to provide public data and incorporate it into products that are useful to stakeholders.
Committee on Earth Observation Satellites - Coastal Observations, Applications, Services, and Tools, CEOS COAST
Lead agencies: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Environmental Satellite (NESDIS), Data and Information Services Center (NESDIS), Satellite Applications and Research Center (STAR). THE EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE COMMITTEE - COASTAL OBSERVATION, APPLICATIONS, SERVICES AND TOOLS (CEOS COAST) IS A GROUP WITHIN THE EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE COMMITTEE THAT FOCUSES ON COASTAL ZONES, PARTICULARLY AT THE LAND-SEA JUNCTION. BY WORKING WITH STAKEHOLDERS, CEOS collaboratively designs and develops core products that meet the needs of key institutions. In addition, by leveraging THE institutional capacity of THE CEOS, the CEOS COAST pilot project will have the capacity to use Earth observation activities to provide a multidisciplinary approach to address issues such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, disaster reduction and coastal resilience in the context of climate change.
(14) France's Priority Research Program "Ocean of solutions"
Lead agencies: French Institute for Marine Development (IFREMER), French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). The French Priority Research Programme, Ocean Solutions, aims to address the social challenges associated with the ocean through integrated research. The plan identifies five main challenges: (1) prediction and adaptation to extreme events in the Overseas Territories; (2) prediction of climate-driven changes in the polar oceans; (3) protection of marine biodiversity; (4) sustainable management of marine physical and biological resources; and (5) characteristics of marine exposures from pollution. The program will also address two horizontal challenges: (1) combining ocean observation with modelling; and (2) improving ocean literacy. The plan was announced by the President of France in December 2019 as a major contribution of France to the United Nations Decade of the Oceans.
（15）GEOTRACES
Lead Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF). GEOTRACES is an international project aimed at coordinating actions and data related to the geochemical cycles of marine organisms of trace elements and their isotopes (TEIS). The first task is to identify and quantify changes in the processes that control the distribution of key trace elements and isotopes in the oceans, and to determine the sensitivity of these distributions to changing environmental conditions.
(16) Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Array (GO-BGC Array)
Lead Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF). The Global Marine Biogeochemical Array has created a global team of robotic buoys that will revolutionize the way humans observe the oceans. The plan will deploy a network of 500 robotic buoys to the global ocean to collect chemical and biological data from the ocean surface to a depth of 1 mile. The plan helps to transform humanity's ability to observe and predict globally the impacts of climate change on ocean metabolism, carbon uptake and the management of living marine resources.
(17) Integrating Coastal Wetlands Data into Greenhouse Gas Inventories for Developing Countries: A New International Blue Carbon Initiative
Lead Agency: U.S. Department of State and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The plan will use the expertise of the U.S. government to develop tools and templates to develop greenhouse gas inventories in line with the guidance of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in particular the 2013 IPCC Wetlands Supplement, and will provide technical assistance to developing countries for capacity building in this area. Improving the accuracy of GHG inventory information can lead to better wetland management strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while better protecting coastal ecosystems.
(18) International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)
Lead Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF). The International Ocean Discovery Programme (IODP) is an international ocean research collaboration that aims to use the Ocean Research Platform to explore the earth's historical and dynamic activities to recover data recorded in sediments and rocks on the seafloor and to monitor the seafloor environment. IoDP's facilities are funded by 3 platform providers, with funding from 5 other partner institutions. Participants covered 23 countries. IODP's science program identifies 14 challenges in four areas: climate change, deep-sea life, geodynamics and geological hazards.
(19) Italian Navy HIGH NORTH Program
Lead agency: Italian Navy Hydrographic Institute. The Italian Navy, the National Ocean Centre for Arctic Research, launched a multi-year joint research program for the Arctic in 2017. The proposed period of the plan is 10 years. A new 3-year activity is currently under way to help enhance three-dimensional mapping from satellites to the seabed. The Italian Navy's Arctic Program consists of 3 basic components: exploration, environment and education, supported by collaboration, coordination and cooperation.
MPAs as sentinel sites for ocean conservation, science and literacy
Lead Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The programme aims to: (1) recognize climate impacts on the oceans; (2) strengthen research into the use of marine protected areas and the socio-economic benefits of coastal communities; (3) develop initiatives that contribute to the promotion of marine literacy; and (4) support relevant national and international initiatives to establish networks of marine protected areas.
Navigating the New Arctic
Lead Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF). Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) is one of the long-term research and process areas funded under NSF's 10 Big Ideas, which will support integrated research by combining different disciplinary perspectives to advance cutting-edge developments in science and engineering around the world. The NNA aims to innovate in fundamental integrated research in the fields of society, nature, environment, computing, information science, and engineering to address the interactions or connections between the natural and anthropogenic environments and social systems, while recognizing the guiding implications of these connections for Arctic change and its local and global impacts.
(22) NOAA Coastal Aquaculture Siting and Sustainability Program (CASS)
Lead Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NOAA Coastal Aquaculture and Sustainable Development Program (CASS) aims to provide coastal managers with high-quality science, guidance and technical support to develop sustainable aquaculture while maintaining and improving ecosystem health. Actions undertaken through the CASS program provide regulatory, industry and research stakeholders with the information necessary to make sound decisions about the approval, establishment and operation of marine fish farms.
NASA Sea Level Change Science Team (N-SLCT)
Lead agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Since 2014, NASA's Sea Level Change Science Group (N-SLCT) has been conducting interdisciplinary sea level scientific research by collecting and analyzing observational evidence of sea level change, quantifying the root causes and driving mechanisms of sea level change, predicting future sea level change, and promoting NASA's latest findings to the public through the sea level portal. N-SLCT has made many important advances in sea level science, contributing to a better understanding of ice sheet dynamics, ocean processes, the development of development tools, and the assessment of the damage caused to coastal cities by massive loss of ice sheets and glaciers, as well as vertical land movements associated with coastal subsidence, plate motion, and Earth's post-ice age rebound.
(24) NSF Coastlines and People, COPE
Lead Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF). The National Science Foundation Shoreline and Population Program (COPE) aims to fund diverse and innovative coastal research centers. The types of PROJECTs that receive COPE grants are as follows: specialized research centers with a duration of 3 to 5 years and less than $1 million per year, and large-scale research centers with an annual limit of $2 million to $4 million per year for up to 5 years. The funded research centres are able to reflect the links between coastal sustainability, the human dimension and coastal processes, and contribute to a change in the understanding of the interactions between natural, anthropogenic and social systems in densely populated coastal environments.
Promote Seabed 2030 and Ocean Mapping
Lead Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The 10-year plan to "Advance Seabed and Oceanographic Mapping by 2030" will help develop the full digitization of the ocean. Only 20% of the world's oceans are currently mapped by modern standard means, and most of the oceans have not yet been fully measured by modern multibeam sonar.
(26) Reef Recovery 2030
Lead agency: Great Barrier Reef Foundation. The Coral Reef Restoration 2030 program aims to save the Great Barrier Reef and support global coral reef conservation. Led by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and working with world-renowned reef scientists, australian governments, reef managers, businesses, Indigenous peoples and local communities, the initiative will enhance the resilience of this unique ecosystem and the populations on which it depends. This 10-year, $1 billion collective initiative will reverse the decline of coral reefs around the world.
NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission: Advanced satellite measurements of the sea and sky
Lead agency: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Marine Ecosystem (PACE) mission is the next major step in NASA's funding to use satellites to obtain data on ocean colors, clouds, and aerosols to further gain insight into the ocean's response to Earth's climate change. With a projected launch time of 2023/2024, PACE's primary instrument is a global spectrometer capable of enabling in-depth understanding of aquatic ecosystems and providing new information on phytoplankton community composition and algal bloom monitoring. PACE will also carry two multi-angle polarizers, providing a new perspective on the composition of miniature aquatic communities.
(28) The World Ocean Database Programme (WODP): Openly discoverable, accessible, adaptable, and comprehensive digital global profile oceanographic data of known quality）
Lead Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Global Ocean Database (WOD) is the world's largest open ocean database with high data quality and uniform format spanning 1778 to the present. The data cover fundamental changes in the ocean climate, plankton and other variables. WOD is based in NOAA and is part of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) International Oceanographic Data Exchange (IODE) program. Through the partnership with IODE, NOAA proposes to develop and deploy a data acquisition tool at IODE's Belgian project office, with cloud services as a starting point for the collaboration. The vision of the program is to achieve global digital data on the ocean that is publicly searchable, accessible, resilient, of high quality and comprehensive.
Please indicate the source and author when reprinting this article: Resource and Environment Dynamic Monitoring Express, Lanzhou Documentation and Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 12, 2021, compiled by Xue Mingmei and Wang Jinping.