Paris, 11 March 2026 — At the midpoint of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030), UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) today published a comprehensive mid-term assessment of progress and called for a significant acceleration of investment in marine science globally.
Progress Since 2021
Since the launch of the Ocean Decade in 2021, the IOC has endorsed 344 Decade Actions — comprising programmes, projects, contributions, and partnerships across all ocean basins. These actions engage more than 2,500 institutions and involve participation from 130 countries.
Key achievements include: the establishment of nine Ocean Decade Collaborative Centres providing regional hubs for data sharing and capacity building; the launch of the DTO-BioFlow initiative integrating biodiversity data streams into a Digital Twin of the Ocean; and significant progress on the designation of Marine Protected Areas through improved scientific baselines.
Persistent Gaps
Despite progress, the mid-term assessment identifies significant remaining gaps. Ocean science investment in low- and middle-income countries remains critically insufficient, with an estimated eight-fold disparity in per-capita marine research expenditure between high-income and low-income coastal nations. UNESCO calls on developed countries to fulfil ocean-specific official development assistance commitments and to expand technology transfer programmes.
Digital Twin Ocean Initiative
The UNESCO-IOC Digital Twin of the Ocean programme has emerged as a flagship initiative of the Decade. The Digital Twin integrates observational data, modelling outputs, and projected scenarios into an interconnected global framework accessible to policymakers, scientists, and ocean managers. UNESCO projects full operational deployment by 2028, with immediate applications in climate adaptation planning, fisheries management, and coastal hazard mitigation.
