Urgent Ocean Safety Demanded on World Oceans Day Celebration
Let's dive deeper into World Oceans Day, happening on June 8, 'cause our big blue planet needs a damn good party! This day, initiated by the United Nations, highlights the oceans' vital role for our planet's life—from the breathable air we gasp to the climate balancing act they perform, food, and livelihood for billions.
In 2023, the theme sets the stage with a clear message: Catalyze Action for Our Ocean and Climate. Time to stop chattin' and start actin', people.
Major Ocean Foes
The ocean's Big Bads? Pollution, overfishing, loss of biodiversity, and rising water temperature, all fuelled by human actions and global warming. Don't ignore it, 'cause the U.N. Organization warns the "ocean crisis" is in full swing and demands an urgent, global response.
Now buckle up, 'cause the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) is coming to town—Nice, France, to be exact, from June 9 to 13, co-hosted with Costa Rica. The goal? Nothing short of a historical ocean agreement, like the Paris Agreement on climate, which turned 10 this year.
The conference will end with the adoption of the Nice Declaration for Ocean Action, a political document reflecting international consensus on crucial issues like marine biodiversity, financing, governance, and pollution combat. But wait, there's more! The Nice Action Plan for the Ocean also makes an appearance, with countries offering voluntary commitments to get this party started. Costa Rica's UN ambassador, Maritza Chan, wants this time to be all about results and zero BS.
Ratifying the High Seas Treaty is the main course of the conference menu. Signed in 2023 after two decades of negotiations, this treaty aims to protect marine biodiversity in international waters—that's around 70% of our planet's surface! Portugal has already ratified the treaty and will fight tooth and nail for it to enter into force, but we need 60 countries to do the same before that's possible (currently, we're at 29).
This year, we're expectin' a historic guest list: around 80 heads of state and government, double the number that attended the previous conference in Lisbon in 2022. Unfortunately, the United States won't be joinin' the party, with their current president, Donald Trump, still snubbing the Paris Agreement.
But hey, we got some leadership from Portugal, who's been pointin' out as a leader in some areas. In March, they approved a moratorium on deep-sea mining until 2050 in their national waters. However, environmentalist Francisco Ferreira warns that the transitions from paper to practice need to happen faster. Despite strong legislative moves, Portugal lags behind in creating marine protected areas.
With urgency escalatin' and time tickin' away, our oceans await firm commitments. World Oceans Day and UN Ocean Conference might just be our best shot at turnin' things around. But as Francisco Ferreira rightly pointed out, we're at our third conference, and there's still a hell of a lot left to be done. So let's put the pedal to the metal and make some serious changes!
In the realm of science and health-and-wellness, the ocean's crisis is increasingly alarming due to climate change, pollution, overfishing, and loss of biodiversity, all of which are exacerbated by human actions and global warming. This year, the Nice Declaration for Ocean Action and the Nice Action Plan for the Ocean, agreed upon at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), aim to combat these issues and protect marine biodiversity, with a focus on governance, financing, and pollution combat in the context of environmental-science.
