Tag: healthy oceans

Royal Belgian Shipowners Association applauds the historic move by the UN, to finalize High Seas Treaty, the international treaty for the protection of high seas biodiversity, after years of negotiations. Also, the Association acknowledges Belgian government’s active role in the development and finalisation of the agreement.

IMO has welcomed the landmark agreement on a new oceans treaty to protect marine biodiversity on the high seas. Negotiators from more than 100 countries completed a UN treaty to protect the high seas on Saturday 5 March 2023, a long-awaited step that environmental groups say will help reverse marine biodiversity losses and ensure sustainable development.

With an annual economic value estimated at USD$2.5 trillion, ocean-linked sectors (the ones that depend upon and impact ocean health) are equivalent to the world’s 7th largest economy.

The conclusion of a five-year initiative to protect the marine environment in South-East Asia from the negative effects of ships and shipping has been marked at a high-level meeting (25-27 October) in Viet Nam with the adoption of a MEPSEAS-Halong Statement by the participating countries.  

Ocean 20, a new sustainable growth strategy for the G20, led by the World Economic Forum (WEF) with the Government of Indonesia, was launched on 14 November 2022, ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Bali, Indonesia.

The OceanCleanUp  team just published its latest findings on the composition, origins and age of plastic debris accumulating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) in the journal Scientific Reports. The new study reveals 75% to 86% of plastic debris in the Great Pacific GPGP originates from fishing activities at sea.

The Ocean Cleanup has now officially removed more than 100,000 kg of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).

Ocean plastic pollution was a focus at the recent UN oceans conference, which issued a declaration in support of an earlier decision by the UN Environment Assembly to start negotiations for a global plastics treaty. IMO also participated in the conference, highlighting its commitment to addressing climate change ocean issues for a more sustainable future.

IMO highlights its commitment to protecting the ocean and addressing climate change ocean issues at Lisbon UN Ocean Conference.

During an EU Ocean Week event, six NGOs published their assessment of the EU’s progress to secure a healthy ocean by 2030, which is the goal set by the Blue Manifesto. The analysis reveals that the EU made little progress in the last year to achieve the necessary targets outlined in the Blue Manifesto.