The oceans cover over 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface, carry out about 50 per cent of global primary production, and support great amount of biodiversity on the planet. They are also one of the largest carbon reservoirs in the earth system. Oceans regulate our climate and the earth system. Oceans supply living and non-living resources from fisheries to marine biotechnology. They also provide social and economic goods and services. Ocean is a vital source of nourishment and livelihood for about 500 million people in countries with poverty. Ocean economies are of great value which, amongst many others, includes fisheries, production of energy, seabed recreation and exploration, biotechnologies and tourism as well. Climate change, acidification, marine pollution, and so on, are causing degradation of ocean species and threatening food security and human welfare. 

Significantly, The UN has proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) to support efforts to reverse the cycle of decay in ocean health and gather ocean stakeholders worldwide behind a shared framework that will ensure ocean science can fully support countries in creating enhanced settings for sustainable development of the ocean. The UN has avowed the Decade aspiring real changes wherein policymakers, science community, civil societies, actors in private sector, etc., are expected to contribute with their transformative engagements, from local to global scales. In the cover story this month, we talk about other such developments in this regard. COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdowns/shutdowns also impacted disruptions in ocean observations, and threatened weather forecast and climate change predictions. According to the Environmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, COVID-19 threatens to create an ocean data blindspot that could disrupt weather forecast and hamper our understanding of climate change. COVID-19 restrictions reduced the level of deployments needed to maintain sustainable flow of weather and climate forecast data. The Decade will provide an opportunity to etch new narratives by understanding significance of ocean in human lives essential for achieving sustainable future and ocean science is to be used effectively in international policies and actions.

In this month’s feature article on green budgeting, we talk about the role of green budgeting in navigating a country’s economy on a path to move to the low-carbon, climate-resilient development path. ‘Green budgeting’ is not a neutral administrative exercise, but one of the most effective tools that policymakers have to use to achieve important objectives like fighting climate change, cutting pollution, and protecting biodiversity.  ‘Green budgeting’ as is practiced in many countries uses the tools of budgetary policymaking to help achieve environmental targets. It does so by systematically examining existing and potential fiscal measures and policies to mainstream an environmentally-informed approach into the national budgeting processes—contributing along the way to an evidence-based debate on  sustainable growth.

With these articles and many other articles of current interest, we hope that you enjoy reading this issue of TerraGreen.