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UPDATE: The draft Ocean Decade – Arctic Action Plan is now available for public review 13 March – 11 April. To provide comments – please see details below

To implement the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development in an Arctic context, a Task Force is presently preparing the development of the Ocean Decade – Arctic Action Plan. This process is a part of the global preparation process for the Ocean Decade, and will offer an opportunity for stakeholders to formulate, discuss and prioritize concrete proposals for actions in support of the Ocean Decade.

With the launch of the Ocean Decade, continued efforts to translate the global priorities of the Decade to regional-level action is essential. To deliver this, a number of regional groups and tasks forces have emerged to identify, implement and resource Decade Actions to fulfil the Ocean Decade challenges and thus contribute to the Ocean Decade vision.

Led by the Danish Center for Marine Research, a Task Force has overseen the development of the Ocean Decade – Arctic Action Plan that identify actions and priorities for the Arctic region in the Ocean Decade. 

How to comment the draft Arctic Action Plan

As a part of this process an initial draft for the Arctic Action Plan is now accessible for consultation and feedback by all sectors from 13 March – 11 April 2021.

The Danish Center for Marine Research encourages all stakeholders to provide their feedback through email to Danish Center for Marine Research (dch@danskhavforskning.net) either as single comments or as direct text edits (with track changes).
Download the draft Ocean Decade – Arctic Action Plan

Kick-off session

To introduce you to the plan and its development, the online consultation was kicked off on 16 March 2021.
Download presentation from kick-off session
Download recording of kick-off session

Key dates

• 13 March 2021: The draft Arctic Action Plan is made available
• 16 March 2021: Online consultation on draft action plan. 
• 11 April 2021: Online consultation closes.
• End May 2021: Ocean Decade – Arctic Action plan is published. 

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deliver scientific knowledge and ensure that ocean science can fully support countries’ actions to sustainably manage the ocean and to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Read more about the Ocean Decade

Key messages from the Ocean Decade Implementation Plan:

• "In its present state of development, ocean science is largely competent for diagnosing problems"
• "The capacity of science to offer systematic solutions to issues of sustainability needs a massive upgrade"
• The "Implementation Plan for the Decade presents a number of directions for research and development"
• "The focus of the Decade is on science because it can inform us what needs to be done and how"
• "We also need to find out who has to do what"

The first call for project endorsement has been announced: https://www.oceandecade.org/news/75/Call-for-Decade-Actions-No-012020-

Endorsed Decade Actions will gain from high visibility and the opportunity to create new collaborations and access new sources of support.

This Call for Decade Actions is only the first of series that will launched as part of the Ocean Decade. 

The focus is specifically on:

• large-scale, multi-country, transformative Ocean Decade programmes.
• large-scale contributions of in-kind or financial resources for Ocean Decade Actions or coordination costs.

Actions in any part of the world are welcome, and there is no limitation on who can submit a request for endorsement. Interested parties should complete and submit the relevant online “Request for Endorsement” before 15 January 2021. Decisions on endorsement under this Call will be made in the first quarter of 2021.

Note: Two virtual sessions are planned to provide additional information: the 20 October 2020 and the 6 November 2020.