NDCC

The United Nations General Assembly has declared the decade of 2021-2030 as the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development ('the Ocean Decade'). The main aim of the Ocean Decade is to stimulate ocean science and knowledge generation to produce new opportunities for sustainable use of the ocean. The UN has sought responses from Member States and partners for transformative Decade Actions that contribute to the Ocean Decade vision. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO is coordinating this initiative in consultation with its 150 Member States, of which India is an important Member.Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has taken a proactive role by constituting a National Decade Coordination Committee (NDCC) involving various national institutions and stakeholders, to coordinate existing activities and develop new programs at the national level to meet the objectives and goals of ocean decade and also to enhance national access to Decade benefits.

Membership

Terms of Reference

• To review activities pertaining to the goals of UN decade being carried out by different Institutions in India and suggest a pathway to integrate/align /prioritize them to meet the goals of UN decade
• To facilitate the planning, implementation and review of national activities, both on regional and global scales, to fulfil one or more objectives of the UN decade of the Ocean
• To plan and propose new activities/initiative to address one or more objectives of the UN decade
• To provide national inputs for the formulation of Decade Actions including the facilitation of co-design initiatives across groups of stakeholders and/or nations.
• To implement or coordinate national outreach and communications activities.
• To suggest formation of sub-groups / sub-committees to organize various activities as a part of UN decade during 2021-2030
• To coordinate with other National stakeholders for providing necessary support in implementing the endorsed programmes

Kick-off meeting of the Ocean Decade and National Decade Coordination Committee (NDCC)

The kickoff meeting of the "Ocean Decade" was held on 3rd February 2021 on the occasion on INCOIS Foundation Day and was preceded by the foundation day lecture by Executive Director of International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Dr. Vladimir Ryabinin wherein he provided a broad overview of the "Ocean Decade", its objectives, goals and implementation plans. It was followed by the 1st meeting of NDCC. The NDCC overwhelmingly welcomed India's should support to the "Ocean Decade" considering the important role it will play in meeting the SDG-14 targets by 2030.

The NDCC noted that India has several ongoing programmes that contribute towards the Ocean Decade goals and it would be pertinent to identify these existing activities and align them to meet "Ocean Decade" objectives. It further advised to develop a National Ocean Decade implementation plan document, in consultation with other national Institutes and stakeholders, highlighting India's thematic contribution to Ocean Decade. It was also suggested to launch a major national outreach campaign as part of the ocean decade to create awareness among school and college students as well as general public on the importance of oceans. Also, India should continue to further strengthen capacity building initiatives in operational oceanography for Indian Ocean rim countries, as part of the Ocean Decade.

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