At the opening of the Ocean Conference, New York, on 5 June, world leaders and representatives from civil society, business, academia and science addressed the problem of the rising deterioration of the ocean, calling for action to reverse it. The opening has been marked by a surge in the number of voluntary commitments to take action to improve the health of the ocean—more than 700 commitments have been received.
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, noted that the problems of the ocean—all created by human activity, can all be reversed and prevented with decisive, coordinated action. Mr Guterres warned that the special relationship between people and the ocean, that brings untold benefits for life, is under threat as never before.
“The health of our oceans and seas requires us to put aside short-term national gain, to avoid long-term global catastrophe”, he said and added: “Conserving our oceans and using them sustainably is preserving life itself”.
The President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson, noted that immediate act is vital on the health of the ocean and on climate change, if we want a secure future for our species on this planet. He also noted:
“The good news is that we have already taken decisive action. We put in place SDG14 within the 2030 Agenda. Remedial Ocean action is getting underway. And we have ratified the Paris Climate Agreement. Remedial climate action is already underway!”
Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin called upon all UN Member States–as well as other critical stakeholders, including business, civil society and academia–to harness the unique opportunity of the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda and SDG 14, and start working to make a real difference.
“We are truly looking forward to seeing new partnerships being formed, and new voluntary commitments on SDG 14 being submitted during and after the conference, and warmly welcome the commitments already made. The momentum is really energizing.”
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, and the incoming president of the next Climate Conference, also underlined the big threat of climate change for the world, adding that the quality of oceans and seas is deteriorating at an alarming rate.
“They are interlinked, because rising sea levels, as well as ocean acidity and warmer waters have a direct effect on our reefs and fish stocks and the prosperity of our coastal communities”, he explained.
Ocean Conference Secretary-General Wu Hongbo also noted that the Call for Action, that will be adopted at the end of the Conference, contained 22 “specific actions promises to galvanize global commitments and partnerships for our Ocean.”
“I am confident that with the broad support and enthusiasm from Member States and all other stakeholders, with commitment from all of you, the Ocean Conference will bring about solutions and concrete actions in saving our Ocean, and in advancing the implementation of SDG 14.”
The Conference will result in a Call for Action, that has just been agreed by countries and will be formally adopted at the conclusion of the Conference on Friday. Additional outcomes include the results of seven partnership dialogues that will focus on solutions, and the voluntary commitments to action.
The Call for Action stresses the need to implement Sustainable Development Goal 14 and also addresses the interlinkages between this Goal and all other SDGs. In the Call for Action, countries agree to:
- implement long-term and robust strategies to reduce the use of plastics and microplastics, such as plastic bags and single use plastics.
- develop and implement effective adaptation and mitigation measures that contribute to ocean and coastal acidification, sea-level rise, and increase in ocean temperatures, and
- addressing the other harmful impacts of climate change on the ocean.
The Call takes note of the Paris Agreement on climate change. It also includes measures to protect coastal and blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves, tidal marshes, seagrass, and coral reefs, and wider interconnected ecosystems, as well as enhancing sustainable fisheries management, including to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield.
Countries are called upon to decisively prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.