Ocean & Coasts
A healthy ocean and coastal ecosystems are vitally important for humans and the environment. The ocean regulates the climate, absorbs much of the carbon dioxide emitted from human activity, and provides fish, the main source of protein for over three billion people. The ecosystem goods and services the ocean provides are estimated to be worth USD 12 trillion. The biological diversity of ocean and coastal regions also provides important services including food security, feed for livestock, raw materials for medicines, building materials from coral rock and sand, and natural defenses against coastal erosion and flooding. Millions of people rely on marine and coastal biodiversity for their food security, income, and socio-cultural and economic development. Human activities put pressure on coastal and marine ecosystems, including through climate change, overfishing, and pollution. Ninety percent of the world's fisheries are either fully or over-exploited. Eight million tons of plastics enter the sea each year and contaminate a quarter of all seafood. Eighty percent of wastewater is discharged without treatment, damaging human health and biodiversity.
Events and Articles
Showing 11 - 20 of 144 results
2024 Ocean Decade Conference
Participants shaped a set of ten draft white papers, which identify future priorities for the Ocean Decade to generate knowledge on science-based solutions to biodiversity conservation, climate change, food security, a sustainable ocean economy, pollution, and natural hazards.
1st Part of the 29th Annual Session of the International Seabed Authority
Environmental externalities, underwater cultural heritage, test mining, regional environmental management plans, environmental compensation fund, royalties, safety measures… The list goes on. New elements continue to be added to the already complex and interlinked group of elements that need to be agreed on in the negotiations on exploitation regulations for deep-sea mining.
15th Meeting of the Monaco Blue Initiative
Participants reflected on how to accomplish the urgent tasks for 2024, including progressing on ratification of the BBNJ Treaty, delivering on GBF objectives by 2030, and addressing important challenges like deep seabed mining, as well as overcome setbacks like the failure by WTO members to agree on a second phase of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.
A Wave of Ocean Action in 2023
At the end of 2023, I wrote these words in an article for TIME magazine, “Over the last two years, a positive wave of ocean action has been sweeping around the planet. It is a wave upon which hope can ride with growing confidence. Its momentum is the most powerful opportunity we have to improve humanity’s relationship with the ocean.”
Blue Leaders High-Level Event on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction
Discussions focused on kickstarting the implementation of the new BBNJ treaty, especially by identifying marine protected areas. Many also underscored ocean-climate linkages and highlighted the importance of global cooperation on ocean science.
UN Plastics Treaty: Reuse - a Climate and Plastic Solution
Speakers during this side event discussed opportunities and challenges for promoting reuse systems, which can lead to a 90% reduction in packaging production and significant CO2 emissions reductions.
66th Meeting of the GEF Council
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council Members will consider a new work program of the GEF Trust Fund under GEF’s eighth replenishment cycle, how to streamline the GEF project cycle, and possible actions to support the new agreement on conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ).
Ocean High Level Event: Powering the Ocean Breakthroughs with 100% Sustainable Ocean Management
Oceans-based climate solutions require unprecedented levels of action, cooperation, and collaboration. This event cast a spotlight on progress toward improving sustainable oceans planning through the development and implementation of Sustainable Ocean Plans (SOPs) as part of the Ocean Breakthroughs agenda.
23rd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP 23)
Delegates praised the Convention as an example of how to translate global commitments into regional action. The week’s highlights included the adoption of the new Programme of Work and Budget 2024-2025, and the Portorož Ministerial Declaration, in which Parties commit to a healthy Mediterranean environment.
3rd Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Develop an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution, Including in the Marine Environment (INC-3)
As concerns about the scourge of plastic pollution mount worldwide, delegates shared their views on the “full life cycle of plastic,” with some favoring measures addressing plastic production, and others favoring downstream measures to eliminate plastic waste. Still others focused on how best to ensure lasting design standards for plastic products.