UN Ocean Decade of Ocean Sciences and Fundamental Challenges of Russian Oceanography

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2017 on the initiative of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and entered the implementation phase from January 2021. The main watchword of the Decade is “The Science We Need for the Ocean We Want”. It is based on seven socially significant outcomes. To achieve them, ten priority challenges have been identified. These challenges are divided into three groups: Knowledge and Solutions Challenges, Essen- tial Infrastructure Challenges and Foundational Challenges. Although the Decade Implementation Plan considers Ocean Sciences in its broadest sense, including the nature sciences and social sciences and humanities, local and indigenous knowledge, science-policy and science-innovation interactions, and technology and infrastructure etc., basic oceanographic research are of paramount importance for understanding and achieving virtually all seven Decade Outcomes.