The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2020. The Commission was created within UNESCO to promote coordinated international research about the global ocean and its various basins, based on the pioneer experiences of the International Geophysical Year (1957-58) and the first International Indian Ocean Expedition.

The 60th Anniversary of IOC is an opportunity to take stock of what has been achieved and look forward to a UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) filled with challenges and opportunities.

https://ioc.unesco.org/media-and-publications/publications

The high number of storms has meant that, among other things, the WMO's annual list of storm names for a calendar year was exhausted by September and it had to use Greek alphabets to name the storms thereafter.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/30-till-nov-30-atlantic-ocean-reports-record-number-of-storms-in-2020-7104956/

Leaders of Australia, Canada, Chile, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia, Norway, Palau and Portugal commit to sustainably manage nearly 30 million sq km of their national waters by 2025. Leaders put a healthy ocean at the top of the global policy agenda to accelerate economic recovery.

More information: https://ioc.unesco.org/news/14-world-leaders-commit-100-sustainable-ocean-management-solve-global-challenges-and-call-more

Featuring some of the world’s top experts in ocean deoxygenation, a new webinar series shares the latest scientific knowledge and explores the impacts of extremely reduced levels of oxygen in increasingly larger parts of the ocean, from the coast to the high seas.

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Lack of funding is hampering the development and implementation of marine research and its valuable applications, according to the second Global Ocean Science Report, published by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), ahead of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).

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This virtual session “Co-designing the science we need for Africa” was convened by IOC-UNESCO Sub Commission for Africa and the Adjacent Island States (IOCAFRICA), with the support of the Swedish Ministry of the Environment, as part of the Ocean Decade Virtual Series.

It explored opportunities and challenges and discuss best practices to deliver co-designed, solution-oriented research that will lead to transformative Decade Actions with long-lasting benefits to the ocean and society.

The report of the session will be shared soon.