Sustainable Development Goals Data

 SDG Goal 14

The world’s oceans and seas continue to struggle against increased acidification, eutrophication and plastic pollution, which are endangering the planet’s largest ecosystem and the billions of livelihoods depending on them. The pandemic has not eased that burden, as an estimated 25,000 tons of plastic waste has steadily entered the global ocean owing to an increase in single-use plastic primarily from medical waste. Owing to the initial lockdowns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries experienced a 40–80 per cent decline in fish production, with small-scale fisher communities hardest hit. The pandemic also led to a dramatic reduction in tourism, causing substantial income losses for coastal and island communities.

The satellite-derived eutrophication indicator shows an increasing trend from 2016 to the present. While the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused some reduction in coastal pollution in certain areas owing to reduced tourism and activity, the pandemic does not appear to have globally reduced eutrophication. In fact, there was an increase of over 23 per cent in the peak values of the indicator for the 2020 and 2021 calendar year average, compared with the mean value for previous years.