The Role of Science in Global Policy

I have had the opportunity this week to be a part of something new. This week, the United Nations has convened its first ever meeting on oceans and marine sustainability. This institution of international cooperation recently adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), which include such lofty but undeniably pressing global aspirations as an end to poverty; the global availability of education; and—of special interest to me— SDG 14, sustainable human interaction with the ocean.

These goals outlined broad objectives, but in many cases the roadmap we must use to reach those objectives has not been laid out. This week, national leaders and representatives from member states around the world have come to the U.N. Headquarters in New York City to articulate their firm pledges of action for the ocean. Already, we have heard bold promises to conserve large swaths of nations’ marine territories, to implement measures to reduce pollution and other harms, and to take other actions to ensure a healthy ocean for the future. The leadership of small island nations, who have the most to lose from climate change and ocean degradation, and yet whose relatively small economies have contributed so little to these global issues, has […]

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