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SDSN Northern Europe launches the Oceans Solutions Report at SIF Oceans

By SDSN-intern

On Tuesday, May 16th, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Northern Europe and the Maritime Cluster of West Sweden together launched the Oceans Solutions Report at the Solution Initiative Forum (SIF) Oceans in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Our oceans are key to well-being and social and economic development worldwide. At present, as much as 40% of our oceans are heavily affected by human activities. Observing that they are polluted, overfished and contaminated with plastics, SDSN Northern Europe and the Maritime Cluster of West Sweden joined forces to promote innovative solutions to meet these challenges by creating the Oceans Solutions Report and getting together at the Solution Initiative Forum (SIF) Oceans.

The Oceans Solutions Report is created to inspire you to act – act to reach Sustainable Development Goal 14 : Life Below Water – Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. The report showcases examples of solutions from Northern Europe to show that a sustainable use of our oceans indeed is possible. Among the solutions proposed are various initiatives within four key areas;

  • Reducing marine litter: solutions focused on collecting, recycling and replacing plastic with other materials.
  • Smart and clean energy for all: solutions focused on marine renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.
  • Finding sustainable protein sources: solutions focused on production of marine food
  • Marine pollution: solutions focused on reducing emissions of environmental pollutants.

All the solutions comprised in the Oceans Solutions Report have gone through a self-evaluation of their impact in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a so-called SDG Impact Assessment. An Advisory Panel took part in the review of submissions and gave feedback to the solution owners regarding their replies in the self-evaluation. The focus has been on the learning process of going through an SDG Impact Assessment, especially to learn to reflect holistically about potential effects of the solutions on the SDGs.

At SIF Oceans, the Oceans Solutions Report was handed over to the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate and Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin, as part of the preparatory work for the high-level United Nations Ocean Conference in New York the 5–9 June 2017.

The full report can be found here.