The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are one of the leading initiatives for addressing the critical, complex and often inter-related issues of our world. SDG 14 — Life below water — focuses on our oceans, estuaries, rivers and watersheds, and the human systems that intersect with them. Unfortunately, it has struggled to gain attention and support on an international scale.

This handbook focuses on how a range of actors in a variety of contexts can use MEL to understand which SDG 14 targets and initiatives are working, which are not, why, for whom and how. Ultimately, it advocates for widespread learning on how to accelerate progress towards the transformations needed for success in conserving and using the oceans, seas and marine resources in a sustainable way.