A team of scientists that includes oceanographers of the CMCC Foundation welcomes contribution to design a Programme that could guide the United Nations Ocean Decade. Comments and endorsements are welcome until March 17, 2020.

On March 18-20, 2020 the second Global Planning Meeting “Building Partnerships for the Ocean We Need” concludes in Paris the culmination of a two-year process in preparation for the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) proclaimed by the United Nations.

The decade is aimed at “supporting efforts to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health and gather ocean stakeholders worldwide behind a common framework that will ensure ocean science can fully support decision-makers at all levels in creating improved conditions for the sustainable development of the Ocean”.

The global ocean community is working together during the preparatory phase (2018-2020) to gather ideas to form frameworks or Programmes that could guide actions in the Ocean Decade under six main themes: Clean Ocean, Healthy & Resilient Ocean, Predicted Ocean, Safe Ocean, Sustainable Productive Ocean, Transparent & Accessible Ocean.

Having identified “Predicted Ocean” as the key area where major gaps exist, a team of scientists that include the oceanographers Nadia Pinardi and Giovanni Coppini from the CMCC Foundation, Joaquin Tintore from SOCIB in Spain, Rosalia Santoleri from ISMAR-CNR, Villy Kourafalou from University of Miami and Pierre De Mey-Fremaux from LEGOS in France, prepared the field, drafted and are promoting a proposal for a UN Ocean Decade Programme entitled “Predicting the Global Coastal Ocean”. The proposal is now shared with the worldwide community for comments and endorsement and will be submitted for the attention of the 2nd Global Planning Meeting next month. Prof. Pinardi, member of the Strategic Council of the CMCC Foundation where she established the Ocean-Lab – the laboratory for advanced research in the field of operational oceanography in Lecce – will participate in the meeting.

The document is available on the website www.coastspredict.org and is open to comments. Moreover, scientists and stakeholders that agree with the aims and contents of this programme and would like to contribute to it can send their signature at this link until March 17, 2020.

For more information: www.coastspredict.org

**As a precautionary measure to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, UNESCO informed that the Second Global Planning Meeting planned March 18 to 20 in Paris, France is cancelled**