Ocean Visions – UN Decade Collaborative Center for Ocean-Climate Solutions

The Ocean Visions – UN Decade Collaborative Center for Ocean-Climate Solutions (OV – UN DCC) leads and supports collaborative processes under the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development to co-design, develop, test, and ultimately deploy scalable and equitable ocean-based solutions to mitigate and reverse the effects of climate change.

The Challenge

Our ocean is under threat from a host of pressures, including overfishing, plastic pollution, and dead zones. But no threats loom larger than those caused by the greenhouse gas pollution causing global climate change. Greenhouse gas pollution is particularly hard on the ocean, driving overheating and acidification. Ocean heating is in turn causing deoxygenation, sea level rise, and disruption of critical marine ecosystem functions and services. At the same time, the ocean’s absorption of carbon dioxide is increasing its acidity.

In order to address these challenges, the world needs to generate and scale innovative approaches and solutions at the ocean-climate nexus.

About

The Ocean Visions – UN Decade Collaborative Center for Ocean-Climate Solutions

The Ocean Visions – UN Decade Collaborative Center for Ocean-Climate Solutions (OV – UN DCC) will engage with a global set of stakeholders and institutions to connect those with the capacity for generating new science and engineering knowledge to those with capacity to develop and test innovations and solutions. Among the challenges targeted are ocean-based solutions that will:

Mitigate and reverse the effects of climate change
Enhance food security from oceans
Build the climate resilience of marine ecosystems and coastal communities

What is the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development?

In 2017 the United Nations proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development to be held from 2021 to 2030. This Decade aims to provide a global framework to ensure that ocean sciences fully support countries’ actions to sustainably manage the ocean and to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Partnership for Ocean Health

The Georgia Aquarium (GAI) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT), two of the co-founders of Ocean Visions, have provided critical support for the establishment of the Ocean Visions – UN Decade Collaborative Center for Ocean-Climate Solutions.

OV – UN DCC Factsheet

For more details on the Ocean Visions – UN Decade Collaborative Center for Ocean-Climate Solutions, download this factsheet.