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Every year the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development meets to advance the UN System’s agenda on sustainable development. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is leading the discussion on urgent environmental issues through five side-events.

On the 14th of July, UNEP and The Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) hosted a High-Level Political Forum side-event on Engaging Industry through the Global Partnership on Marine Litter to deliver SDG14. The online event highlighted the need for accelerated and concerted action and demonstrated examples of industry engagement through transformative pathways. 11 speakers from various sectors took part in the event, which was watched by 164 people. You can watch it below;

On the 30th June 2020, 1,900 young people joined together at the Virtual Youth Summit in India to celebrate their completion of the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge in India. The challenge is a global initiative to educate young people about plastic pollution.

World Oceans Day on June 8 celebrates the underwater world whose abundant marine resources sustain the land above it. Some of these resources and ecosystems, such as the overlooked seagrass, mighty mangroves, and colourful corals offer potent, nature-based solutions to climate change and sustainable development.

A global study has revealed exactly why corals glow during ocean heatwaves: to try and survive. 

The research by the University of Southampton’s Coral Reef Laboratory shows that some corals exhibit a dazzling colourful display when they suffer bleaching due to warmer temperatures—to protect themselves.

World Oceans Day 2020 encourages ‘Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean’. With eight million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean ever year, innovation is critical to find new approaches to waste management, especially as the world looks to build back better after COVID-19.

Nairobi, 8 June 2020 – Seagrass meadows can be a powerful nature-based climate solution and help sustain communities hard-hit by stressors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, but these important ecosystems continue to decline.

World Oceans Day on June 8 is a time to celebrate and honour the oceans that feed us, regulate our climate, and generate most of the oxygen we breathe. They also serve as the foundation for much of the world’s economy, from tourism and fisheries to international shipping. Careful management of this essential global resource is necessary for a sustainable future.

Fishing is big business in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand. The industry supports amillions of people in the region and accounts for some 10 per cent of total global fisheries production every year.

But the region’s success as a seafood exporter has come at a cost – the depletion of local fish stocks, environmental damage and, ultimately a decline in food security and livelihood opportunities for local communities.

Our ocean is connected. Distant areas are linked by currents that transport heat, food, and nutrients essential to life. The smallest microbes and ocean giants, such as whales and sharks, traverse ocean basins on their migratory routes. These movements connect all parts of the ocean, from the deep seas to shallow waters, and from coast to coast.

The world is at a standstill to flatten the COVID-19 curve, a pause that has been especially devastating to the travel industry.

But for some marine tourism operators in Indonesia and Malaysia, the lockdown has inspired new innovations.

The United Nations proclaimed 22 May as the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.

The world is figuring out how to move forward in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic by finding newer ways to support economic development, animal and human well being, and ecosystem integrity.

Remote diving is the new remote working.

Schools, events and activities in so much of the world have come to a standstill in the wake of COVID-19, with little or no movement recommended. But that does not mean we cannot still enjoy the world and mysteries that abound below and above its surface.

Tourists and divers flock the pristine Nusa Penida Island in Bali, Indonesia for the scenic views, beautiful beaches, towering limestone cliffs and life underwater.

Nusa Penida is known for its healthy corals famed to harbour small reef fish that in turn attract the bigger marine life such as manta rays (mobula alfredi) and the famous mola mola (ocean sunfish).

Schools and gatherings are being cancelled around the world as a result of the Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Outbreak. It can be difficult to occupy your children with exciting activities for hours on end, especially when you may also be working from home.

This 2020 theme for the International Day of Forests on 21 March is Forests and Biodiversity. It's an often-quoted fact that forests are home to 80 per cent of terrestrial biodiversity, but did you know that one type of tree also supports marine biodiversity—the mangrove tree?

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology teamed up to undertake a microplastics research and Ocean Literacy project linked to the Japan-Palau Goodwill Yacht Race—celebrating 25 years of Palau’s independence.

On 26 July 2019, 22-year-old Sam Bencheghib asked the crowd of friends, supporters and media gathered around him, to take two deep breaths as a reminder of the importance that the oceans have in giving life.

Did you know that coral reefs provide a home that supports more than a quarter of all marine life? Corals are much more than just beautiful to watch. They provide important ecosystem services to people and planet. Yet they are under threat of near extinction if we don’t act now. For 2020's #WorldWildLifeDay, the United Nations Environment Programme created special materials to call attention to the role corals play for climate action.

In Onna Village in Okinawa, Japan, a coral reef is never far away. It is only a short stroll to the water from most parts of the self-styled “Village of Coral”. At the shoreline, the dusky forms of the reef are almost always visible through the shimmering blue-green coastal water.

Creating the conditions for sustainable seagrass restoration in Maputo and Inhambane bays 

“People can’t think of Inhaca without thinking about seagrass,” says Salamao Bandeira of Maputo’s Eduardo Mondlane University, knee-deep in the shallow waters on the seaward side of Maputo Bay, as he points at the shores of Inhaca Island.

The Reef-World Foundation—the international coordinator of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Green Fins initiative—is reminding tourists of the huge environmental impact their actions can have and is calling on people to protect coral reefs by following a few simple guidelines.

Shipping gold from Africa, tin from Britain and linen from Egypt, the Phoenicians were once one of the most significant trading powers in the world. Their position as dominant seafarers has been noted by Homer, The Bible, and Ancient Egyptian artwork.