Ocean governance is complex and influenced by multiple drivers and actors with different worldviews and goals. While governance encompasses many elements, in this paper we focus on the processes that operate within and between states, civil society and local communities, and the market, including industry. Specifically, in this paper, we address the question of how to move towards more sustainable ocean governance aligning with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the UN Ocean Decade. We address three major risks to oceans that arise from governance-related issues: (1) the impacts of the overexploitation of marine resources; (2) inequitable distribution of access to and benefits from marine ecosystem services, and (3) inadequate or inappropriate adaptation to changing ocean conditions. The SDGs have been used as an underlying framework to develop these risks. We identify five drivers that may determine how ocean governance evolves, namely formal rules and institutions, evidence and knowledge-based decision-making, legitimacy of decision-making institutions, stakeholder engagement and participation, and empowering communities. These drivers were used to define two alternative futures by 2030: (a) ‘Business as Usual’—a continuation of current trajectories and (b) ‘More Sustainable Future’—optimistic, transformational, but technically achievable. We then identify what actions, as structured processes, can reduce the three major governance-related risks and lead to the More Sustainable Future. These actions relate to the process of co-creation and implementation of improved, comprehensive, and integrated management plans, enhancement of decision-making processes, and better anticipation and consideration of ambiguity and uncertainty. Supplementary information The online version of this article (10.1007/s11160-020-09631-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

中文翻译：

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海洋治理的未来


海洋治理非常复杂，受到具有不同世界观和目标的多个驱动因素和参与者的影响。虽然治理包含许多要素，但在本文中，我们重点关注国家、民间社会和当地社区以及市场（包括行业）内部和之间运作的流程。具体来说，在本文中，我们解决了如何根据可持续发展目标（SDG）和联合国海洋十年实现更加可持续的海洋治理的问题。我们应对治理相关问题引发的三大海洋风险：（1）海洋资源过度开发的影响； (2) 海洋生态系统服务的获取和惠益分配不公平，以及 (3) 对不断变化的海洋条件的适应不足或不适当。可持续发展目标已被用作开发这些风险的基础框架。我们确定了可能决定海洋治理如何演变的五个驱动因素，即正式规则和机构、基于证据和知识的决策、决策机构的合法性、利益相关者的参与和赋权以及社区赋权。这些驱动因素被用来定义到 2030 年的两种替代未来：(a)“一切如常”——当前轨迹的延续；(b)“更可持续的未来”——乐观、变革，但在技术上是可以实现的。然后，我们确定哪些行动（作为结构化流程）可以减少与治理相关的三大风险并带来更可持续的未来。这些行动涉及共同创建和实施改进的、全面的和综合的管理计划的过程，加强决策过程，以及更好地预测和考虑模糊性和不确定性。 补充信息 本文的在线版本 (10.1007/s11160-020-09631-x) 包含补充材料，可供授权用户使用。