150 States established agreements that involve investments and development of climate resilience projects and monitoring, control and surveillance of the sustainable use of the oceans
The seas cover 70% of the earth’s surface and generate 50% of the oxygen that humans need. However, the environmental footprint of man has put them at risk. Also to all the marine species that make life in them and that daily contribute nutrients to the diet of millions of people in the world.
Within the framework of the World Conference on the Oceans, the United Nations Organization (UN), which considers them a “vital buffer against the impacts of climate change” because they absorb carbon dioxide emissions, warned that the seas are in emergency due to high levels of contamination. Its program for the Environment estimated that the damage is the equivalent of dumping the garbage contained in a garbage truck into the waters, per minute.
In the technical forum, which was organized by Kenya and Portugal and closed on Friday, July 1, they addressed the threats that acidification, marine litter and pollution, illegal unregulated fishing and biodiversity loss pose to human health. , ecology and world economy. They proposed solutions to achieve sustainable management of the oceans and meet the objectives of the UN 2030 Green Agenda, always based on the application of ecological technology and the proper use of marine resources.
The meeting was attended by 24 heads of state and at least 2,000 representatives of civil society. All recognized the “collective failure” related to achieving the goal of improving the health of the oceans and pledged to redouble efforts to restore them.
«A common framework will be offered to ensure that ocean science can fully support the actions of countries for the sustainable management of the oceans (…) All this by creating a new foundation, through the link between science and policy, which strengthen the management of our oceans and coasts for the benefit of humanity”, the UN reviewed on its website.
Among the initiatives to be developed to meet this goal is “Challenge to Protect our Planet”, which requires an investment of at least 1,000 million dollars, to finance projects for the expansion and management of marine protected areas, which are endorsed by at least a hundred countries. The European Investment Bank, for its part, decided to contribute an additional 150 million euros to the Caribbean region, to collaborate with the “Clean Oceans” initiative, under the coordination of the UN. This in order to “improve climate resilience, water management and solid waste management.”
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The call of the international organization to the governments of the world is to develop national action plans for the conversation of the seas, which allows them to be used as a means of subsistence, but in a sustainable and equitable way. The 150 Member States established agreements summarized in the following points: Protect or exceed 30% of national maritime areas by 2030; achieve carbon neutrality by 2040; reduce plastic pollution in the oceans; and “dedicate billions of dollars to ocean acidification research, climate resilience projects, and monitoring, control, and surveillance.”
More details are expected to be given on the progress of this issue in two other very important summits on environmental matters that will take place at the end of 2022: the UN climate conference COP, which will be on November 27 in Egypt; and the COP15 biodiversity conference, to be held in Canada.
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