The University of Exeter has led a collaboration to define the term “Oceans and Human Health” for a new Encyclopaedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The encyclopaedia has been created to ensure clarity and common language is used around the UN’s 17 sustainability goals, created as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In the sustainability goal 14 “life below water”, the UN pledges to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Each goal has its own encyclopaedia, published by Springer, to provide a common description of a range of terms, allowing a better understanding and fostering knowledge.

The new chapter on Oceans and Human Health was led by Professor Lora Fleming, Director of the University of Exeter’s European Centre for Environment and Human Health. She worked with a wide range of organisations including the European Marine Board, Universitas Esa Unggul (Indonesia), Universiti Malaya, and the Scientific Center of Monaco. Together, they comprehensively summarised a wide body of research to bring clarity to the terms, and to outline the risks and opportunities presented by the interlinking relationship between our seas and human health.

Professor Fleming said: “I’m delighted to bring together this international and interdisciplinary expertise on this wide-reaching and complex issue, towards the critically important goal of improving sustainability around our oceans. Humans and the ocean are inextricably linked – we impact on each other in myriad ways. It’s crucial that we do all we can to reverse some of the trends that can cause harm in order to benefit both our health and our Global Ocean.”