Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability

n 2010, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO hosted in Paris the first “Ocean in a High CO2 World” Symposium. Since then, the IOC-UNESCO’s commitment to globally lead, facilitate, and coordinate the research and observation of ocean acidification has been only strengthening, and the scope of activities has been constantly broadening. Adoption in 2015 of the UN 2030 Agenda with the Ocean Sustainable Development Goal 14 opened a new page in this work. IOC became the custodian agency for informing the world about progress in achieving of the Sustainable Development Goal Target 14.3: Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels. Finally, in 2021, a new era in this work arrived when IOC-UNESCO started to coordinate the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, guided by the vision of “the science we need for the ocean we want.” Modern leadership is in partnership, and the Ocean Decade has taken the cooperation in ocean sciences to new heights. The global ocean acidification research community responded to the Decade call by co-designing a pioneering UN Decade programme entitled “Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability” (OARS). The programme is led by three partners: Plymouth Marine Laboratory (UK), University of Washington (USA), and IOC-UNESCO. OARS provides the blueprint to foster cooperation of ocean acidification research, improve understanding of the impacts of the phenomenon and, ultimately, develop approaches for mitigating its effects by acting on sources and identify adaptation approaches. The OARS white papers in this publication summarize where the global community currently is on this path and what should be done in the future to include the ocean acidification dimension for combatting the degradation of ocean health under various anthropogenic stressors including the changing climate.