The Earth is covered by one global ocean, with ecosystems and processes that transcend national boundaries. Ocean science and its translation to knowledge-based action must be developed in an internationally coordinated manner to match the scale of the ocean and its management needs. This is increasingly urgent as impacts from a changing climate, growing sources of pollution, and other causes of habitat destruction continue to threaten the sustainability of the ocean’s provision of food, climate mitigation, cultural meaning, recreation, and more.
The United Nations is convening a global community at the third iteration of the UN Ocean Conference to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 with the aim of “accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.” Making the best use of the available science and committing to growing this knowledge further is critical to the conference discussions to support evidence-based policies and governance structures intended to manage ocean resources sustainably.
The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization formed by the International Council of Scientific Unions (predecessor to the International Science Council) in 1957 to serve as a means for international and interdisciplinary coordination in ocean science. This includes building scientific capacity worldwide so that science is reflective of the global nature of the ocean. Currently, 32 national committees compose the membership that help define SCOR’s activities, facilitating SCOR’s ability to serve as a forum that elevates the voice of scientists.
Ocean science is inherently global, and SCOR is the instrument by which good local ideas in this field become global. – ICSU Committee on Scientific Planning and Review, 20031
SCOR has supported 172 working groups2 since its inception to address methodological and conceptual challenges and encourage progress in a focused scientific area. SCOR also supports groups of scientists to develop priorities and coordinate large-scale research efforts,3 and infrastructural projects4 that organize scientists around support structures for research such as data management, observations, or modelling and statistical resources.
These networks have improved scientists’ capabilities to monitor, understand and forecast the ocean, which is necessary to inform evidence-based management and enable future discoveries. As one illustrative example, predicting and monitoring harmful algal blooms (HABs) to minimize human exposure to contaminated seafood, among other impacts, requires accurate understanding of the environmental factors influencing HAB distributions and dynamics, technical methods for species and toxin identification, and studies on the mode of action of toxins—fields of study that have been encouraged by the IOC-SCOR GlobalHAB project through international coordination including via workshops, technical trainings and endorsed research activities.5
Knowledge gaps: Much of the ocean remains an unexplored frontier, and the ocean and its ecosystems are poised to change dramatically in ways that are still difficult to predict.6 Through SCOR, international networks have designed a way forward to most effectively address gaps in knowledge about deep-sea ecosystems,7 the distribution of greenhouse gases in the upper ocean,8 and observational priorities for understanding climate impacts in the Southern Ocean,9 as a few examples.
Policy uptake: There continues to be a disconnect between science and policy. SCOR has always supported interdisciplinary approaches that reflect the complexity of the ocean environment, and now large-scale projects are increasingly encouraging transdisciplinary approaches that include socially relevant fields of research and input by decision-makers and community members to improve the applicability of scientific outcomes to management contexts.10
Global capacity: Global disparities persist in the capacity to contribute to international ocean research. SCOR conducts several capacity-building activities11 to help individual scientists and their institutions build their skillsets and networks. In order to have lasting impact, such efforts need to be reinforced by national support for research and infrastructure, including resource sharing among countries and the development of affordable technologies.
Investments in ocean science pay off through our ability to manage the ocean in a manner that sustains both ocean ecosystems and human livelihoods long term. Conducting this science in a globally coordinated manner amplifies the value of individual investments by ensuring that the data collected is comprehensive and comparable, solutions to shared methodological challenges are made broadly available, and policy-relevant studies are equitably developed and distributed.
SCOR will continue to facilitate collaborations and build capacity to address our global challenges, and invites all nations and individual scientists to contribute and participate in this effort.
1 https://council.science/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/ICSU_PAA_REPORT.pdf
2 https://scor-int.org/work/groups/
3 https://scor-int.org/work/research/
4 https://scor-int.org/work/infrastructure/
5 GlobalHAB, 2017. Global Harmful Algal Blooms, Science and Implementation Plan. E. Berdalet et al. (eds.). SCOR and IOC, Delaware and Paris, 64 pp.
6 IOC-UNESCO. 2024. State of the Ocean Report. Paris, IOC-UNESCO. (IOC Technical Series, 190). https://doi.org/10.25607/4wbg-d349
7 Howell, K. L., Hilário, A., Allcock, A. L., Bailey, D. M., Baker, M., Clark, M. R., Colaço, A., Copley, J., Cordes, E. E., Danovaro, R., Dissanayake, A., Escobar, E., Esquete, P., Gallagher, A. J., Gates, A. R., Gaudron, S. M., German, C. R., Gjerde, K. M., Higgs, N. D., … Xavier, J. R. (2020). A Blueprint for an Inclusive, Global Deep-Sea Ocean Decade Field Program. Frontiers in Marine Science, Volume 7-2020. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.584861
8 Bange, HW, Mongwe, P, Shutler, JD, Arévalo-Martínez, DL, Bianchi, D, Lauvset, SK, Liu, C, Löscher, CR, Martins, H, Rosentreter, JA, Schmale, O, Steinhoff, T, Upstill-Goddard, RC, Wanninkhof, R, Wilson, ST, Xie, H. (2024). Advances in understanding of air–sea exchange and cycling of greenhouse gases in the upper ocean. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2023.00044
10 van Putten, I., Kelly, R., Cavanagh, R. D., Murphy, E. J., Breckwoldt, A., Brodie, S., Cvitanovic, C., Dickey-Collas, M., Maddison, L., Melbourne-Thomas, J., Arrizabalaga, H., Azetsu-Scott, K., Beckley, L. E., Bellerby, R., Constable, A. J., Cowie, G., Evans, K., Glaser, M., Hall, J., … Xavier, J. C. (2021). A Decade of Incorporating Social Sciences in the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research Project (IMBeR): Much Done, Much to Do? Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, 662350. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.662350
11 https://scor-int.org/work/capacity/
Photo by Maël BALLAND on Unsplash
Read more about Global science for the Ocean Decade: 2021-2030 
Read more about Transdisciplinary science: Early- and mid-careers shaping the future of science 
Read more about Call for demonstration sites: Asia Science Mission for Sustainability | deadline: 16 August 
Read more about The ocean crisis demands a new kind of science 
