Day 4: The center of the SDG Super March consultations was the Goal 14 «Life below water»

• The Sustainable Development Goals consultations in Turkmenistan moved on discussing «Life below water» Goal 14, led by the State Committee for Environment Protection and Land Resources along with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Goal 14 focuses on the conservation and sustainability in the use of oceans, seas and marine resources.

«Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. However, today we are seeing 30 percent of the world’s fish stocks overexploited, well below a level at which they can produce sustainable yields.

Oceans also absorb about 30 percent of the carbon dioxide produced by humans, and we are seeing a 26 percent rise in ocean acidification since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Marine pollution, an overwhelming majority of which comes from land-based sources, is reaching alarming levels, with an average of 13,000 pieces of plastic litter to be found on every square kilometer of ocean.» [1]

Representatives of about 14 national ministries and agencies discussed the proposed ten global targets and ten indicators to the Goal 14 and their relevance to Turkmenistan. Participants of todays’ consultation agreed to adopt nine of the ten global targets as globally defined. Five of the ten corresponding global indicators were adopted unmodified. Two of the global indicators will be clarified further. Five new indicators were developed to the Turkmenistan context.

The «Life below water» discussion concentrated greatly on the critical need of experts in the field of oceanology in Turkmenistan. Representatives agreed on the importance of allocating finance for research work in the area of marine technology, as well as building scientific research centers in the country.