As the United Nations Ocean Conference meets in New York this week from 5–9 June 2017, it is imperative to restate the issue of environmental protection in the South China Sea. The Ocean Conference will discuss the strategies, challenges, and issues in achieving Goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Life Below Water. Goal 14 of the SDGs is to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources. The goal provides a path for nations to collaborate to achieve the target of sustainably managing and protecting marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts.

The SDG 14 also aims to reduce the rate of Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing to replenish fish stocks, especially in the contested waters where actors are competing to extract resources due to the absence of management bodies and monitoring apparatuses. Goal 14 urges governments to enhance collaboration in scientific studies to strengthen conservation of marine species and evidence-based policy making. Most importantly, Goal 14 encourages nations to implement and respect the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as basic guidance on the sustainable use of oceans and their resources.

… Rini Astuti is a Research Fellow with the Centre for Non-traditional Security (NTS) Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.