The 14th goal found under the United Nations’ Global Goals is Life Below Water, which entails protecting our waters and the creatures that call it home, while using the oceans for resources and development.

Before Covid-19 and the restrictions that surround it took over the globe, ocean acidity and pollution was on a continuous rise, with a 100-150% increase in acidity by 2100, affecting half of marine life (UN). Then, with the drastic reduction in human activity brought forth by the stay-at-home orders of Covid-19, oceans and marine life were given a chance to recuperate and improvements were seen (UN).

Goals and targets in the Life Below Water section include: by 2025, prevent and significantly reduce pollution from land-based activities, enhance the conservation and sustainable usage of oceans and their resources by implementing international law, increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, by 2030, increase the economic benefits to Small Island developing States and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, and more (UN).

Helping to protect ocean life and make sustainable use of the ocean is vital, since the ocean is home to nearly 200,000 species and provides food for 2.6 billion people (UN).

How to Help

On the Global Giving website, the “How to Help” section gives insight into projects from all over the world that need attention and donations. For example, you can donate to protect marine turtles in Thailand, which are at a critical risk due to tourism. Or, donate to help the Coral Reefs in the Dominican Republic, which take up less than 0.001% of the world’s ocean surface, yet are home to about a quarter of marine life.

https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal14

https://www.globalgiving.org/sdg/life-below-water/