The Ocean Practices created a framework of high-level objectives to guide programme actions and define and monitor outcomes. These objectives are:
- HLO 1: Enable the development, adoption, and continuous evolution of context-sensitive methodologies and best practices related to ocean research, operations and applications to support the UN Ocean Decade objectives and goals;
- HLO 2: Accelerate the co-development and convergence of methodologies across ocean communities into community-accepted, trusted and interoperable best practices and standards;
- HLO 3: Sustain a trusted and FAIR- and CARE-compliant system through which the ocean community permanently archives and accesses its methods, standards, guidelines and other methodological content;
- HLO 4: Expanding from HLO 3, facilitate the creation of a federated network of complementary and seamlessly interoperable methodology management systems, bringing together UN IGOs, non-UN IGOs, NGOs, regional and global programmes, projects and the private sector; and
- HLO 5: Foster community-led capacity development in ocean best practices to enable equitable access to information, technology and knowledge and facilitate more ocean science that is fit for purpose.