The Ocean is the world’s most vital resource. It plays a major role in global climate cycles, provides us with half of our oxygen, harbors the majority of species on Earth, and underpins a ‘blue economy’ that feeds hundreds of millions of people. This resource, however, is under increasing pressure from anthropogenic threats, ranging from marine pollution and overharvesting to warming ocean temperatures and acidification.

Under the UN umbrella, major initiatives have been undertaken to halt these trends and improve the Ocean’s health. One of these is the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), which aims to bring together ocean stakeholders globally to ensure ocean science supports countries in achieving SDG 14 (life below water).

The 2024 Ocean Decade Conference brought together the Ocean Decade community and partners to celebrate achievements three years after the start of the Decade. Governments, universities, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders gathered for this three-day event to reflect on progress and set a collective vision and joint priorities for the rest of the Decade.

A key Conference outcome was the publication of a set of white papers to identify future priorities for the Ocean Decade to generate knowledge on science-based solutions to biodiversity conservation, climate change, food security, a sustainable ocean economy, pollution, and natural hazards.

The Government of Spain hosted the event, which was held from 10-12 April 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, and was co-organized with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (IOC-UNESCO). Additional event partners included the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council through the Barcelona Capital Náutica Foundation, and the Spanish National Ocean Decade Committee, which is led by the Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Spanish Research Council (CSIC).

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) writers for this meeting were Nienke Beintema; Daniel Bertram; Tasha Goldberg; and Jean-Christophe Vandevelde, Ph.D. The Digital Editor was Mika Schröder. The Editor was Leila Mead.