Delivering scientific evidence for global policy and management to ensure ocean sustainability

Abstract Life depends on the ocean, with societal health, cultural systems and national economies reliant on ocean processes and resources. As ocean resources are used, and humans continue to drive climate change, the benefits from the ocean to society are being diminished. Science must meet the needs of policy and deliver to decision makers the information and tools for identifying pathways that support continued delivery of the benefits society derives from the ocean, whilst minimising impacts. This is crucial if the world’s nations are to meet the goals and targets they have set under international agreements. Here, we outline how a global assessment that focuses specifically on the ocean, the World Ocean Assessment, is linking science to the governments of the world and their policies within an internationally mandated framework. In doing so, we identify key elements that are needed for facilitating engagement by decision makers and uptake of knowledge, and the pathways taken by the assessment in implementing them. We also provide insights into the evolution that the World Ocean Assessment has undertaken over its first three cycles to progress its goal of enhancing the scientific basis of policymaking. We identify the challenges in delivering science to policy at a global scale and the work that still needs to be done in filling gaps to achieve a coordinated, comprehensive mechanism for connecting science with policy and ensuring future sustainability of the ocean.