What do UN press records and event rosters show about participants at ocean‑related SDG events in 2013–2014?
Executive summary
The UN press records and event rosters available in the supplied reporting show that ocean issues moved from proposal stage in 2013–2014 into multi‑stakeholder meetings that included governments, diplomats, scientists, NGOs, and policy experts, but no single comprehensive UN roster from 2013–2014 is provided in these sources to enumerate every participant [1] [2] [3]. Documentation from that period emphasizes the Pacific Small Island Developing States’ push for a standalone Ocean SDG and convenings such as the US‑hosted 2014 International Ocean Conference that drew a broad mix of actors rather than a narrowly defined official UN attendance list [1] [2].
1. The push for an “Ocean SDG” and who championed it
Press materials in the collection record that the stand‑alone SDG for oceans—what became SDG 14—was proposed by the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) in late 2013 and early 2014 as the Open Working Group began its work, a political origin that explains the strong representation of small island and coastal constituencies in subsequent meetings [1]. That origin implies nation‑level champions rather than a single UN Secretariat initiative, which shaped the participant mix in 2014 toward diplomats and regional delegations advocating for ocean priorities [1].
2. Conferences and rosters: “who came” in 2014
Contemporaneous event listings and reporting for 2014 show that the United States Department of State hosted an International Ocean Conference with an explicitly broad convening mandate—announcing it would bring together “individuals, experts, practitioners, advocates, lawmakers, and the international oceans and foreign policy communities”—language that signals multidisciplinary attendance but does not provide an exhaustive UN roster of names in the supplied sources [2]. The available summaries therefore identify participant categories more reliably than complete participant lists: government delegations, scientific experts, civil society advocates, and policy practitioners were prominent [2].
3. Expert group meetings and named participants
UNDESA event materials for Expert Group Meetings on SDG 14 and its interlinkages cite specific senior participants and institutional actors involved in preparatory and consultative work—examples include diplomats and officials such as former Permanent Representatives and International Seabed Authority staff like Marie Bourrel‑McKinnon, and references to experienced diplomatic figures (Thomson, Liu) engaged in discussions on the SDG’s design and implementation—but these citations are selective snapshots rather than full attendance rosters [3]. Those records show the meetings were anchored in intergovernmental and technical expertise, reflecting a UN‑style convening where named senior experts and institutional representatives are highlighted [3].
4. Limits of the record from 2013–2014 and how later conferences fill gaps
The supplied sources do not include an official, comprehensive UN press roster listing every individual participant for ocean‑related SDG events in 2013–2014; instead they document political origins, event hosts, participant categories, and select named officials [1] [2] [3]. Later Ocean Conference cycles and UN registries—cited here for context—show how the UN evolved toward formal multi‑stakeholder registries and thousands of voluntary commitments (the Ocean Conference registries and Communities of Ocean Action), illustrating the trajectory from the 2013–2014 proposal and consultative phase to comprehensive participant registries in subsequent years [4] [5] [6]. Where the 2013–2014 record is silent on exhaustive rosters, the sources are explicit about the types of actors involved and named several senior contributors, leaving a clear picture of the convening footprint even if not a full headcount [2] [3].