3
Conclusions
Recognizing that the ocean is essential to the nation’s economy, security, and well-being, the United States has been at the forefront of advancements in marine science and technology for the past century. The United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021–2030 (UN Ocean Decade) outcomes that call for a clean, healthy, resilient, productive, predicted, safe, accessible, and inspiring ocean in 2030 are consistent with the goals defined by many U.S. reports including Science and Technology for America’s Oceans: A Decadal Vision, the federal plan which outlined five goals (understanding the ocean, promoting economic prosperity, ensuring maritime security, safeguarding human health, and developing resilient coastal communities) to advance ocean science and technology, and the nation, in the coming decade (see Table 1.1). Given the synergies between U.S. and UN Ocean Decade objectives, as well as the knowledge that the ocean connects and benefits all of humankind, the United States has a major interest in participating in what is perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage the global community to provide scientific solutions for ocean sustainability.
In 2020, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration asked the Ocean Studies Board at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) to establish the U.S. National Committee for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Initially, the main role for the U.S. National Committee was to serve as the informational hub for the Ocean Decade–related activities taking place across the United States, a task accomplished with the establishment of a dedicated website, a regular newsletter, and public meetings and webinars. In addition, the U.S. National Committee issued a call for “Ocean-Shots”—transformative research concepts—as a way to
engage and inspire the U.S. ocean science community to participate in the UN Ocean Decade.
In parallel, the UN Ocean Decade issued a call for programs and projects for endorsement by the international secretariat. In 2021, the United Nations endorsed 31 Programmes and 86 projects,1 at least 30 of which were submitted by U.S. federal agencies and/or involved participation of U.S. scientists. Many of the endorsed programs involve efforts that are already established, at least partially funded, and ongoing, and as such provide a jump start for UN Ocean Decade activities. As outlined in the discussion of next steps below, relevant endorsed programs with U.S. participation will be included in all further development of the themes. In addition, the U.S. National Committee expects that some of the research developed under the themes will lead to new activities eligible for endorsement by the United Nations.
As the next step in advancing U.S. contributions to the UN Ocean Decade, the Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology requested a consensus study by the National Academies to identify between three and five cross-cutting themes that incorporate the most promising and innovative research concepts from the Ocean-Shot submissions. Many of the submitted Ocean-Shots addressed new approaches to the conduct of science to make it more inclusive and equitable, including providing greater access to ocean data and information. In response, this consensus committee developed two foundational themes—An Inclusive and Equitable Ocean and An Ocean of Data—and four topical themes, which represent areas where the committee identified opportunities to augment and advance ocean studies that support sustainable development as described in the UN Ocean Decade Implementation Plan. Some of the relationships between these initiatives are shown in Table 3.1.
The Ocean-Shots were not written to address the themes; rather, the themes were developed from the amalgamation and natural groupings of the Ocean-Shots. As a result, the identification of submissions that fit each theme was in many cases subjective and should not be interpreted as a comprehensive list of all of the Ocean-Shots that could contribute to a particular theme. Subsequent workshops addressing these themes will provide an opportunity for the Ocean-Shot authors and other members of the community to contribute their ideas to the development of research programs. The workshops will draw from a range of sectors including federal and state agencies, private industry and business, nongovernmental organizations, and foundations to help establish partnerships for theme development. In addition, these workshops will be organized to provide opportunities for interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary collaborations. The scope of each theme crosses disciplinary boundaries, requiring contributions from natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering as well as oceanography. The 2005 report Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research (NAS et al., 2005) recommends funding the collaborative process, not just the research team. In practice, this
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TABLE 3.1 UN Ocean Decade Outcomes and the Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the Ocean Decade
| UN Ocean Decade Outcomes (i.e., seven outcomes to describe the “ocean we want” at the end of the UN Ocean Decade) | Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the Ocean Decade |
|---|---|
| A clean ocean | An Inclusive and Equitable Ocean |
| A healthy and resilient ocean | An Ocean of Data |
| A productive ocean | The Ocean Revealed |
| A predicted ocean | The Restored and Sustainable Ocean |
| A safe ocean | Ocean Solutions for Climate Resilience |
| An accessible ocean | Healthy Urban Seas |
| An inspiring and engaging ocean |
SOURCE: UNESCO-IOC, 2021a.
could include opportunities for researchers from various disciplines and sectors to meet for the purpose of enhancing communication and sharing knowledge and ideas, as envisioned here for the themed workshops. The goal is to foster scientific advances through the inclusion of the ideas and perspectives of fields beyond the traditional ocean sciences.
Several models have been developed to promote problem solving through interdisciplinary team research. The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI)2 was designed to catalyze interdisciplinary research, using an approach that incorporated the findings from Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research. In this 15-year program, think-tank style conferences were organized around real-world challenges, with participants drawn from diverse backgrounds. The meetings were designed to provide venues for conversation, predominantly through the establishment of “seed idea groups” charged with developing solutions to the identified challenge. To extend the work beyond the conference, seed grants were awarded to participants to pursue ideas developed at the meeting analogous to start-up capital for a business. A second model is the incentive prize contest, such as that hosted by the XPRIZE foundation.3 XPRIZE characterizes its contests as “competitions to crowdsource solutions to the world’s grand challenges” (XPRIZE, n.d.). Innovators with diverse expertise are encouraged to form teams to solve the challenge and compete for a monetary prize. For example, the XPRIZE Carbon Removal challenges teams to find a method for carbon dioxide capture and sequestration “at a scale of at least 1000 tonnes removed per year; model their costs at a scale of 1 million tonnes per year; and show a pathway to achieving a scale of gigatonnes per year in future” (XPRIZE, n.d.). The reward for the winner is $100 million, funded by Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation. In both of these examples, the formation of interdisciplinary teams is motivated by the promise of funding, one at the start (NAKFI) and the other at the finish (XPRIZE).
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2 See http://www.nasonline.org/programs/keck-futures-initiative.
3 See https://www.xprize.org.
Although the two foundational and four topical themes are presented separately, it is clear from even a cursory perusal that they are not independent and unquestionably overlap in several areas. The outcomes and best practices developed by the foundational themes are designed to be applied to each of the topical themes. However, the topical themes overlap and lessons can be learned that can be applied from one to the other. Many of the themes touch on the demand for information to fuel the blue (or ocean) economy. This includes increasing access to data and models as well as their analysis and interpretation. Application of the information to support sustainable development will require workforce training as well as increased ocean literacy, not just of the ocean environment and ecosystems but also the role of the ocean in the economy. The tools, techniques, and approaches developed under The Ocean Revealed will become critical components of each of the three other topical themes. Studies of increased coastal resilience under a variety of climate scenarios developed under Ocean Solutions for Climate Resilience are not independent of the coastal ecosystems examined under The Restored and Sustainable Ocean, and nature-based solutions are common to both. The instrumentation and observational components of The Ocean Revealed, the coastal processes and sea level modeling conducted under Ocean Solutions for Climate Resilience, and the ecosystem studies and modeling of The Restored and Sustainable Ocean are all components of Healthy Urban Seas. Additionally, several themes recognize the lack of information in relatively inaccessible regions including the Arctic Ocean, Southern Ocean, and deep ocean, yet the need to understand these regions becomes ever more critical as climate drives changes in physical, chemical, and biological processes. This is not unexpected—the components of the ocean are inextricably linked and cannot be compartmentalized (indeed ocean science has been impeded by this approach), and recognition of these connections up front will allow them to be used to advantage. For example, research groups from one theme could meet with another to address overlapping issues.
The committee has recommended two foundational and four topical themes that have the potential, if further developed and funded, to openly engage a broad, inclusive community and greatly advance our understanding of the ocean—its processes, resources, and values—to enable “the ocean we need for the future we want.” The UN Ocean Decade represents a global opportunity to advance ocean science and sustainable practices; it is also an opportunity for the United States to demonstrate international leadership in furthering efforts to ensure that the ocean continues to support the well-being of communities at home and worldwide, for both current and future generations. Building on the efforts of the U.S. ocean community members who submitted Ocean-Shots, activities endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade process, and many complementary efforts such as OceanObs’19 and the High Level Panel reports, the committee offers these themes as the next step toward realizing the promise of the UN Ocean Decade.
