Ocean Conference concludes
Countries set to agree on decisive and urgent
actions to restore marine world to health as Ocean
Conference concludes
Universal
agreement on need for measures to reverse ocean
deterioration
New York, 9
June—The 193 Member States of the United Nations
unanimously agreed to a set of measures that will begin the
reversal of the decline of the ocean’s health as the
five-day Ocean Conference concluded today. The outcome
document, together with more than 1,300 commitments to
action, marks a breakthrough in the global approach to the
management and conservation of the ocean.
The Ocean Conference, the first UN conference of its kind on the issue has raised global consciousness of ocean problems ranging from marine pollution to illegal and over fishing, from ocean acidification to lack of high seas governance. By including all stakeholders in the discussions, the Conference produced a comprehensive and actionable range of solutions.
“The Ocean Conference has changed our relationship with the ocean,” said the President of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson. “Henceforth none can say they were not aware of the harm humanity has done to the ocean’s health. We are now working around the world to restore a relationship of balance and respect towards the ocean.”
Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the Ocean Conference, said the Conference marked a major step forward for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. “Participants from member States, NGOs, civil society, the private sector, the scientific community and academia engaged in wide-ranging discussion and shared state-of-the-art knowledge and latest information on marine science and challenges,” he said.
“They showcased and
put forward many innovative solutions, which can help us
achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14, and through its
interlinkages the other SDGs and
targets.”
Conference
Outcomes
Recognizing that the wellbeing of
present and future generations is inextricably linked to the
health and productivity of the ocean, countries collectively
agreed in the Call to Action (hyperlink: http://bit.ly/2rbdtqi) “to act
decisively and urgently, convinced that our collective
action will make a meaningful difference to our people, to
our planet and to our prosperity.”
While the ocean partnership dialogues focused on the multiple problems and challenges the ocean is facing, all participants offered solutions and commitments to reverse these challenges.
The Call for Action will be formally adopted at the conclusion of the Conference today, as well as the reports from the seven partnership dialogues that have focused on scaling up solutions, and the voluntary commitments to action.
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. Countries also agreed to develop and implement effective adaptation and mitigation measures that address ocean and coastal acidification, sea-level rise and increase in ocean temperatures, and to target the other harmful impacts of climate change on the ocean. The Call recognizes the importance of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The Call for Action 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 thevshortest 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.
The commitments, in turn, address
all the issues needed to achieve Sustainable Development
Goal 14—Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and
marine resources—and produced significant
results:
•Commitments made at the Conference
indicate that the world is well on track to protect over 10
per cent of the globe’s marine areas by 2020. The
commitments made during the conference add 4.4 per cent of
marine areas to the existing number.
•Many countries
announced steps to reduce or eliminate various single use
plastics, such as plastic shopping bags, which ultimately
find their way to the ocean.
•Numerous countries
announced that they were stepping up their efforts to reduce
the amount of sewage and pollution entering the ocean from
land-based activities.
•Many commitments focused on
expanding scientific knowledge about the ocean and
developing and sharing innovative technologies to address
ocean challenges.
•There were new commitments to
protect and manage fisheries. Some countries announced
“no-take zones” for certain fishing.
•Commitments were made to establish systems that
allow consumers to source sustainable fish.
•New
commitments were also made to combat illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing, and to curtail fishing subsidies that
are working to deplete fish stocks.
For more information
on the Ocean Conference, please visit: https://oceanconference.un.org/