Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14—life below water—significantly elevated global awareness of the importance of the oceans. It is also a key SDG for achieving the other 16 goals and targets. However, the global community is a long way off achieving this goal and serious equity concerns have been raised in the context of SDG 14. This perspective paper provides a summary of the overall progress, or the lack thereof, in achieving SDG 14 and examines some of the obstacles which might undermine the achievement of this goal, such as weak indicators and a lack of recognition of Indigenous and traditional knowledge. This paper also provides recommendations on how countries and stakeholders could take a step closer to achieving SDG 14. Overall, reiterating the calls of global experts, it is imperative that SDG 14 is implemented in an equitable and just way, without further discriminating against developing countries and vulnerable communities.

可持续发展目标 (SDG) 14——水下生物——显着提高了全球对海洋重要性的认识。这也是实现其他 16 个目标和具体目标的关键可持续发展目标。然而，国际社会距离实现这一目标还有很长的路要走，并且在可持续发展目标 14 的背景下提出了严重的公平问题。本视角文件总结了实现可持续发展目标 14 的总体进展或不足，并探讨了一些问题可能妨碍实现这一目标的障碍，例如指标薄弱以及缺乏对土著和传统知识的认可。本文还就各国和利益攸关方如何进一步实现可持续发展目标 14 提供了建议。总体而言，重申全球专家的呼吁，