To promote sustainable use of marine resources, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14): Life Below Water aims to alleviate the threats of marine pollution, habitat degradation, unsustainable fishing and ocean acidification on ocean ecosystems. With the 2030 deadline approaching, much work remains, necessitating innovative solutions for ocean health and sustainability that can be upscaled and implemented globally. The metabolic versatility of microorganisms makes them powerful, yet currently underutilized tools that can be leveraged to advance SDG 14. Here, we synthesize current microbial technologies that align with primary targets of SDG 14: plastic reduction (14.1), nutrient removal (14.1), coastal restoration (14.2) and sustainable aquaculture (14.7). Diverse microbial groups are involved in these functions in natural and human-perturbed ecosystems, including plastic-degrading bacteria, denitrifying communities, host-associated microbes, biofloc and periphyton systems, as well as photosynthetic microorganisms. We emphasize the ways in which wide-scale implementation requires mechanistic and systems-level understanding of microbial applications, environmental testing in variable environments and the development of monitoring and deployment infrastructure. We also highlight the importance of protecting microbial biodiversity to preserve the ecosystem services that will maintain the outcomes of SDG 14. Integrating microorganisms into existing ocean management and policy structures represents a compelling pathway to accelerate progress towards SDG 14-a conceptual framework that can be applied to other SDGs.
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