Sustainable marine ecosystem conservation in Pakistan and its alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 14

Pakistan has a 1,046 km Arabian Sea coastline with a 240,000 km2 EEZ that supports more than 1.5 million livelihoods and important marine biodiversity but encounters an increasing rate of convergence between anthropogenic and climate-related stressors. This paper analyzes the existing situation of the marine environment in Pakistan, the rationality of its legislative and governance frameworks, and their consistency with the legally binding international obligations under UNCLOS 1982, MARPOL 73/78, and the CBD, 1992, as well as the voluntary policy commitments of SDG14 which are distinct legal categories that this study carefully distinguishes throughout and developing evidence-based policy reform recommendations grounded in comparative analysis of six jurisdictions. The methods used include time-series quantitative trend analysis for four pollution vectors, a systemic ten-target SDG 14 policy implementation scoring matrix in which each target is rated 0–2 based on published indicator data from the UN SDG Database, FAO stock assessments, Pakistan EPA reports, and data findings from IMO audit, a composite score of 4 available out of a possible 20 (20%), qualitative legal-documentary analysis, and comparative case analysis. The six comparison jurisdictions were carefully chosen to provide a spectrum of developmental levels between one developing economy and five developed states, alongside a variety of different marine governance arrangements to provide different (but calibrated) governance lessons rather than a “transplantable” model. The results show that the main contributor to the contamination load in the marine environment is untreated sewage at 55%, followed by industrial waste as 25%, plastic waste as 15% and oil spills as 5% in Karachi coastal zone. By 2023, the intensity of overfishing has increased to 90%, while the amount of fish stocks properly handled sustainably has remained at 30% since 2015 and national average of coastal erosion is 0.5 m/yr and Indus Delta hotspots experience 1.5 m/yr. of erosion. SDG 14 scoring matrix in which six targets are classified as Off Tracks and four are classified as Requiring Acceleration, resulting in a composite score of 4/20 (20%), which reflects substantial policy implementation gaps, but in none of the cases failures of legally binding international law. Legislature adopts a National Marine Protection Act as the framework for all subsequent reforms; Create a Marine Environmental Enforcement Agency to confront existing challenges in jurisdictions and evidence; Implement a Marine Spatial Planning framework that incorporates Ecosystem Based Management principles.