Facilitating voluntary ocean commitments.

Abstract

In their Policy Forum “From voluntary commitments to ocean sustainability” (4 January, p. [35][1]), B. Neumann and S. Unger describe voluntary commitments on ocean action, including those made at the 2017 United Nations Ocean Conference and at the Our Ocean series of conferences. Neumann and Unger recognize the potential of these commitments but express skepticism about follow-through given limited tracking and reporting. Some such concern may be justified, but Neumann and Unger do not do justice to the work under way to advance the implementation of the voluntary commitments. For the roughly 1500 voluntary commitments registered as part of the outcomes of the 2017 UN Ocean Conference, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs has launched nine thematic multistakeholder Communities of Ocean Action (COAs) to facilitate the implementation of the proposed actions ([ 1 ][2]). The UN registry [available under the Registry tab in ([ 1 ][2])] is transparent, with public access to data, and is ready for integrating with any other relevant registry. Since 2017, the COAs have been organizing webinars ([ 1 ][2]) and face-to-face meetings to assist their respective memberships by sharing experiences, best practices, and updates on actions taken and lessons learned. A periodic newsletter focused on the implementation of the voluntary commitments has also been published by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs [available under the News & Media tab in ([ 1 ][2])]. The COA coordinators (known as co-focal points) met last November and plan to meet again this month ([ 2 ][3]) to report on progress. Additionally, the 2020 UN Ocean Conference will provide a major platform for a full review of these commitments as well as galvanizing new ones. These actions may not represent the unified repository envisaged by Neumann and Unger, but they have brought together the willingness of the global ocean community to exchange ideas and advance action. The laudable proposition of a centralized registry featuring independent verification, as recommended by Neumann and Unger, would be resource-intensive, and these resources would have to be identified. In the meantime, in the best interests of Sustainable Development Goal 14 implementation, the ocean action community members—including nongovernmental organizations, companies, or governments—can become part of progress by registering their voluntary commitments ([ 1 ][2]). By doing so, they automatically join one of the nine COAs and become part of the process of supporting the realization of the voluntary commitments made in the drive to conserve and sustainably use the resources of the ocean. 1. [↵][4]United Nations, The Ocean Conference ( ). 2. [↵][5]United Nations, Communities of Ocean Action (COAS), Incheon, Republic of Korea, 30 to 31 May 2019; . [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/363/6422/35 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [5]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text