The head of the United Nations has warned the world’s seas are in crisis as an international conference aimed at restoring the health of our oceans got underway on Monday in Portugal.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told 20,000 participants on day one of the event in Lisbon that humans needed to “turn the tide” on their relationship with the sea.
“Sadly, we have taken the ocean for granted, and today we face what I would call an ocean emergency," Guterres said.
Heads of state, scientists and senior officials from more than 190 countries will work together over the next five days to adopt a declaration for the protection of the ocean and its resources.
Ocean hazards
Threats include global warming, pollution, acidification and deep-sea mining that lacks proper regulations.
Microplastics, now found inside Arctic ice and fish in the ocean's deepest trenches, are estimated to kill more than a million seabirds and over 100,000 marine mammals each year.
While oceans cover some 70 percent of the earth’s surface and provide food and livelihoods for billions of people, there is no international framework in place to ensure their sustainability.
The oceans generate 50 percent of the oxygen we breathe and provide essential protein and nutrients.
Portuguese Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho said he hoped the UN Oceans Conference would provide the “decisive impetus” needed to save the seas from crisis.
The event also hopes to lay the groundwork for two critical summits later this year: the COP27 climate summit in November, hosted by Egypt, followed by the long-delayed COP15 UN biodiversity talks in Montreal.
(with wires)
