To conserve and sustainably use the world's ocean, seas, and marine resources.
Oceans are our planet’s life support and regulate the global climate system. They are the world’s largest ecosystem, home to nearly a million known species and containing vast untapped potential for scientific discovery.
Oceans and fisheries continue to support the global population’s economic, social and environmental needs. Despite the critical importance of conserving oceans, decades of irresponsible exploitation have led to an alarming level of degradation.
Current efforts to protect key marine environments and small-scale fisheries, and to invest in ocean science are not yet meeting the urgent need to safeguard this vast, yet fragile, resource.
The ocean absorbs around 23% of annual CO2 emissions generated by human activity and helps mitigate the impacts of climate change. The ocean has also absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat in the climate system.
Ocean heat is at record levels, causing widespread marine heatwaves, threatening its rich ecosystems and killing coral reefs around the world.
Increasing levels of debris in the world’s oceans are also having a major environmental and economic impact. Every year, an estimated 5 to 12 million metric tonnes of plastic enters the ocean, costing roughly $13 billion per year – including clean-up costs and financial losses in fisheries and other industries.
About 89% of plastic litter found on the ocean floor are single-use items like plastic bags.
About 80% of all tourism takes place in coastal areas. The ocean-related tourism industry grows an estimated US$ 134 billion per year and in some countries, the industry already supports over a third of the labour force.
Unless carefully managed, tourism can pose a major threat to the natural resources on which it depends, and to local culture and industry.
The health of the ocean is intimately tied to our health. According to UNESCO, the ocean can be an ally against COVID19 – bacteria found in the depths of the ocean are used to carry out rapid testing to detect the presence of COVID-19. And the diversity of species found in the ocean offers great promise for pharmaceuticals.
Furthermore, marine fisheries provide 57 million jobs globally and provide the primary source of protein to over 50% of the population in least developed countries.
For open ocean and deep sea areas, sustainability can be achieved only through increased international cooperation to protect vulnerable habitats. Establishing comprehensive, effective and equitably managed systems of government-protected areas should be pursued to conserve biodiversity and ensure a sustainable future for the fishing industry.
On a local level, we should make ocean-friendly choices when buying products or eating food derived from oceans and consume only what we need. Selecting certified products is a good place to start.
We should eliminate plastic usage as much as possible and organize beach clean-ups.
Most importantly, we can spread the message about how important marine life is and why we need to protect it.
To find out more about Goal #14 and other Sustainable Development Goals visit: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment
High in the arctic circle, Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island, Canada is one of the most remote parks on earth, it sees only around 50 visitors a year. The park takes its name from the Inuktitut language, Quttinirpaaq means 'top of the world'.
Ittoqqortoormiit was founded in 1925 by Ejnar Mikkelsen and 80 other Inuit settlers on Liverpool Land, east of Hurry Inlet, in northeastern Greenland. Today, about 450 people live here and it remains one of the most remote settlements on Earth.
Even further north is Longyearbyen on the island of Svalbard. In fact, this is the most northerly settlement on the planet. This mining town was totally destroyed during the Second World War and had to be rebuilt from scratch.
At the other end of the planet is the island of South Georgia. Lying in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 1300km from the Falkland Islands. There is no permanent population, and no regular transport, only a team of around 30 scientists and the occasional tourist party.
This Chilean village is one of only two civilian residential settlements on the continent - the others being temporary military or research stations. The village post office serves all Chilean bases on the continent, and its stamps are popular with collectors.
Finally, somewhere a little warmer. Easter Island is one of the most isolated islands on the planet, its nearest neighbours are are the small Juan Fernandez Islands, found 1,850km east. Despite this, Easter Island was once home to a flourishing civilisation.
This distant peak is famously the highest point on Earth above sea level. The world has changed a lot since it was first scaled in 1953 by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, today it's less of an obstacle and more of an attraction.
At the other end of the scale, the lowest point on Earth below sea level is... a sea. The shoreline of the Dead Sea is about 400 metres below the level of the Mediterranean, and as the landlocked sea evaporates, it gets lower every year.
This humble metal stake, sign, and flag mark the most southerly point on Earth - from here, everywhere is north. Roald Amundsen's expedition team reached this point on 14 December, 1911, only a few weeks before the doomed expedition of Robert Falcon Scott.
Want more extreme views? Check out these 11 Incredible Views from the Top
Van Gogh produced three almost identical paintings on the theme of his bedroom. The first, in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, was executed in October 1888, and damaged during a flood that occurred while the painter was in hospital in Arles. Almost a year later, Van Gogh made two copies: one, the same size, is now in the Art Institute in Chicago. This version, produced for his family in Holland, is smaller, and hangs in the Musée D’Orsay
In a letter to his brother Theo, Vincent explained what had provoked him to paint such a picture: he wanted to express the tranquillity, and bring out the simplicity of his bedroom using the symbolism of colours.
Thus, he described: "the pale, lilac walls…
...the uneven, faded red of the floor…
...the chrome-yellow chairs and bed…
...the pillows and sheet in very pale lime green, the blood-red blanket…
...the orange-coloured wash stand, the blue wash basin…
...and the green window."
He said, "I wanted to express absolute repose with these different colours".
Through these various colours, Van Gogh is referring to Japan, to its crêpe paper and its prints. He explained: "The Japanese lived in very simple interiors, and what great artists have lived in that country."
And although, in the eyes of the Japanese, a bedroom decorated with paintings and furniture would not really seem very simple, for Vincent it was "an empty bedroom with a wooden bed and two chairs". All the same he does achieve a certain sparseness through his composition made up almost entirely of straight lines, and through a rigorous combination of coloured surfaces, which compensate for the instability of the perspective.