Category:Oceans: Difference between revisions

Water -- the blue -- is the key to life."

-- Sylvia A. Earle

"The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the the Ocean's Are One"

* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Sea-Level_Rise

July 2024

State of the Ocean

• https://www.ioc.unesco.org/en/stor2024

The State of the Ocean Report aims to stimulate research and policy actions towards ‘the ocean we need for the future we want’.

The reports contribute to sustainable development goals as well as other global processes such as the UNFCCC climate efforts, the Convention on Biological Diversity and Disaster Risk Reduction.

Structured around the seven UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development Outcomes, the Report provides important information about the achievement of the UN Ocean Decade objectives and, in the longer term, about ocean well-being.

More than 100 authors from 28 countries contributed to the Report. The different sections provide insights on ocean-related scientific activities and analyses describing the current and future state of the ocean, addressing physical, chemical, ecological, socio-economic and governance aspects.

• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Living_Earth.png

• https://greenpolicy360.net/w/Sustainable_Development

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Framework_Convention_on_Climate_Change

• https://greenpolicy360.net/w/2010_Biodiversity_Target

• https://greenpolicy360.net/w/The_Commons

~

The Outlaw Ocean Project

with Ian Urbina https://twitter.com/ian_urbina/ | https://linktr.ee/ian_urbina

• https://www.theoutlawocean.com/about/
• https://www.theoutlawocean.com/the-outlaw-ocean-institute/
• https://www.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/
• https://www.theoutlawocean.com/dispatches/
• https://theoutlawocean.substack.com/

The Outlaw Ocean Project produces investigative stories about human rights, labor, and environmental concerns on the two thirds of the planet covered by water.

More than 50 million people work offshore. Roughly 80 percent of the goods we consume reach us by way of the sea. Half the air we breathe comes from the oceans. And yet, this realm is home to a variety of urgent concerns that go largely overlooked by most news outlets because it is too costly, too dangerous and too time consuming to report on them. These concerns include the murder of stowaways, arms trafficking, illegal fishing, pollution, dumping, drilling and human slavery on fishing ships. The organization was founded and is directed by Ian Urbina, who produced an award-winning series in 2015 in The New York Times and a subsequent best-selling book in 2019.

The Outlaw Ocean Project’s journalism is distinct not just in its focus, but also in how the reporting is conducted and distributed. Most of the stories are reported at least partially at sea. In the United States, the non-profit publishes its stories in various news outlets, including the New Yorker, NBC News, The Atlantic and The Washington Post. The reporting is also translated into a half dozen languages and further disseminated abroad in partnership with dozens of foreign newspapers, magazines, radio and television venues.

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Nations Agree on Language for Historic Treaty to Protect Ocean Life

The United Nations agreement is a significant step toward protecting biodiversity under growing threat from climate change, overfishing and seabed mining

March 4, 2023

• https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/climate/united-nations-treaty-oceans-biodiversity.html

• https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134157

After two decades of planning and talks that culminated in a grueling race over the past few days in New York, a significant majority of nations agreed on language for a historic United Nations treaty that would protect ocean biodiversity.

As marine life faces threats from climate change, overfishing, the possibility of seabed mining and other dangers, the treaty would make it possible to create marine-protected areas and enact other conservation measures on the “high seas,” the immense expanse of ocean covering almost half the world.

“Today the world came together to protect the ocean for the benefit of our children and grandchildren,” said Monica Medina, an assistant secretary of state. “We leave here with the ability to create protected areas in the high seas and achieve the ambitious goal of conserving 30 percent of the ocean by 2030.”

Nations Agree on Language for Historic Treaty to Protect Ocean Life

GreenPolicy360: This is historic and a foundation of legal agreement to build on... The text of the High Seas agreement comes after decades of geopolitical negotiating over ocean resources, rights and responsibilities of nations to the protection of oceans and ocean life, and now moves on to the realities of legal enforcement of promises/pledges that have now been memorialized.

Nations agree on ‘world-changing’ deal to protect ocean life

More than 190 countries have reached a landmark deal for protecting the biodiversity of the world’s oceans, agreeing for the first time on a common framework for establishing new protected areas in international waters.

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/05/un-ocean-treaty-high-seas/

Via the Associated Press

Nichola Clark: “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect the oceans — a major win for biodiversity.”

• https://apnews.com/article/un-oceans-biodiversity-treaty-0b024fa07e8c1947236d8b8491ebf92c

The treaty will create a new body to manage conservation of ocean life and establish marine protected areas in the high seas. Clark said that’s critical to achieve the U.N. Biodiversity Conference’s recent pledge to protect 30% of the planet’s waters, as well as its land, for conservation.

Treaty negotiations initially were anticipated to conclude Friday (March 3), but stretched through the night and deep into Saturday. The crafting of the treaty, which at times looked in jeopardy, represents “a historic and overwhelming success for international marine protection,” said Steffi Lemke, Germany’s environment minister.

(Note from GreenPolicy360: Lemke is a member of the German Green Party and one of the co-founders of the Green Party in the GDR in 1989... see more about the Greens, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen who hold a number of top positions in the current German government -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_90/The_Greens)

“For the first time, we are getting a binding agreement for the high seas, which until now have hardly been protected,” Lemke said. “Comprehensive protection of endangered species and habitats is now finally possible on more than 40% of the Earth’s surface.”

The question now is how well the ambitious treaty will be implemented.

Formal adoption also remains outstanding, with numerous conservationists and environmental groups vowing to watch closely.

The high seas have long suffered exploitation due to commercial fishing and mining, as well as pollution from chemicals and plastics. The new agreement is about “acknowledging that the ocean is not a limitless resource, and it requires global cooperation to use the ocean sustainably...”

• https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/05/high-seas-treaty-agreement-to-protect-international-waters-finally-reached-at-un

• https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64839763

Via ICUN.org

International Union for Conservation of Nature

We congratulate the President of the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, the secretariat of the UN, and all the state delegates for their efforts.

“The High Seas Treaty opens the path for humankind to finally provide protection to marine life across vast swathes of the ocean. Its adoption will close a significant gap in international law and offer a framework for governments to work together to protect global ocean heath, climate resilience, and the socioeconomic wellbeing and food security of billions of people. We stand ready to support its implementation,” says IUCN Director General, Dr Bruno Oberle.

Although more ambitious measures will be needed, this legally-binding agreement marks an important step towards protecting the two-thirds of the ocean that lies beyond national jurisdiction.

IUCN particularly applauds the alignment of the Treaty with other international commitments including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and the creation of a special fund to finance the rehabilitation and ecological restoration of marine biodiversity.

IUCN and its Members have been advocating for such an agreement for two decades and have been providing scientific and legal advice to negotiators since the start of the formal negotiations (in 2018), in particular on provisions concerning area-based management tools, especially marine protected areas. Commitments must now be implemented in ways that help address climate change and the many threats to marine ecosystems, and guarantee the critical benefits marine ecosystems provide to people.

IUCN is calling for adoption and ratification to be fast-tracked, to bring the High Seas Treaty into force. The Union is offering its continued support to Parties and stakeholders to lay the foundation for a rapid, effective, and equitable implementation.

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GreenPolicy360: Environmental Law Takes Precedent-Setting Legal Step after Decades of Negotiations

Future generations will look back this High Seas Treaty and ask why it took so long

We ask it's time 'to get to work' with enforcement, there is no time for delay

The agreement comes 41 years after Ambassador Tommy Koh served as President of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (known as resolution 2340 (XXII) of 18 December 1967), which led to the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea and now another Singapore Ambassador, Rena Lee, has presided over successful negotiations on the UN high seas treaty.

Here are links to the legal documents: Intergovernmental conference on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction

Fifth session

New York, 20 February – 3 March 2023

Further refreshed draft text of an agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction

• https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/LTD/N23/057/74/PDF/N2305774.pdf?OpenElement

• https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N22/467/94/PDF/N2246794.pdf?OpenElement

UN Secretary General António Guterres said on the landmark treaty:

"Our ocean has been under pressure for decades. We can no longer ignore the ocean emergency. In adopting a robust and ambitious agreement at this meeting, you can take an important step forward in countering these destructive trends and advancing ocean health for generations to come. This treaty can ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of over two-thirds of our life-sustaining ocean space."

UN Ambassador for the Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues Rena Lee said:

"Yesterday I mentioned the way forward, we have finish the text of the agreement. We will run through the text for technical edits. The text will then be translated into all six language versions and time to be specified. We will then formally adopt the text in all six official languages of the United Nations."

• https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/03/un-high-seas-treaty-agreed-to-by-member-states-to-protect-vast-swathes-of-planets-oceans/

• https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/nations-secure-un-global-high-seas-biodiversity-pact-2023-03-05/

• https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/about/news-room/press-releases-and-statements/2023/03/05/pew-welcomes-completion-of-high-seas-treaty

• https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/04/world/un-oceans-treaty-biodiversity-climate-intl/index.html

• https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/what-are-the-high-seas-a-look-at-the-historic-un-ocean-treaty-and-why-it-matters

• https://www.nature.org/en-us/newsroom/new-high-seas-treaty/

• https://phys.org/news/2023-03-states-historic-high-seas.html

Via the High Seas Alliance

There are five main elements to the High Seas Treaty:

'Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

High seas ecosystems, critical to the continuation of life in the ocean, are conserved by the establishment of fully protected, well-managed networks of marine protected areas.

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)

Any proposed activity on the high seas that may negatively affect marine life is prematurely evaluated by scientists and relevant stakeholders.

Access & Benefit Sharing of Marine Genetic Resources

Developing nations have access to, and are able to benefit from, biological genetic materials discovered on the high seas.

Capacity-Building & Marine Technology Transfer

Developing nations have the capacity, technology, and educational/research opportunities necessary to participate in deep sea science.

Cross-cutting Issues

These are issues that affect a number of elements and are integrated throughout the new agreement.

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United Nations Oceans Conference

June-July 2022

5 Actions You can Take to #SaveOurOcean

• https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/5-actions-you-can-take-to-saveourocean/

To mobilize action, the Conference will seek to propel much needed science-based innovative solutions aimed at starting a new chapter of global ocean action.

About the 2022 UN Ocean Conference

The ocean covers 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, is the planet's largest biosphere, and is home to up to 80 percent of all life in the world. It generates 50 percent of the oxygen we need, absorbs 25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions and captures 90 percent of the additional heat generated from those emissions. It is not just ‘the lungs of the planet’ but also its largest carbon sink - a vital buffer against the impacts of climate change.

It nurtures unimaginable biodiversity and produces food, jobs, mineral and energy resources needed for life on the planet to survive and thrive. There is a great deal we still do not know about the ocean but there are many reasons why we need to manage it sustainably - as set out in the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water.

The science is clear – the ocean is facing unprecedented threats as a result of human activities. Its health and ability to sustain life will only get worse as the world population grows and human activities increase. If we want to address some of the most defining issues of our time such as climate change, food insecurity, diseases and pandemics, diminishing biodiversity, economic inequality and even conflicts and strife, we must act now to protect the state of our ocean.

Oceans at Risk

A sobering new international report highlights the critical state of the world's increasingly polluted oceans and the threat that degradation poses to life in the seas and the humans who depend on it.

It's a chilling and exhaustive summation, just published in Annals of Global Health and it begins this way:

The oceans are vast. They cover more than 70% of the earth’s surface, hold 97% of the world’s water, host some of the planet’s most diverse ecosystems, and support economies in countries around the world. Microscopic organisms in the seas are a major source of atmospheric oxygen. By absorbing more than 90% of the excess heat released into the earth’s environment and nearly one-third of carbon dioxide emissions, the oceans slow planetary warming and stabilize the global climate.

The oceans are essential to human health and well-being. They provide food to billions, livelihoods for millions and are the source of multiple essential medicines. They have traditional cultural value and are a source of joy, beauty, peace, and recreation. The oceans are particularly important to the health and well-being of people in small island nations, the high Arctic, and coastal communities, especially those in the Global South. The very survival of these vulnerable populations depends on the health of the seas.

Despite their vast size, the oceans are under threat, and human activity is the main source of the threat. Climate change and other environmental disruptions of human origin have caused sea surface temperatures to rise, glaciers to melt, and harmful algal species and pathogenic bacteria to migrate into waters that were previously uncontaminated. Rising seas and increasingly violent coastal storms endanger the 600 million people worldwide who live within 10 m of sea level. Rising concentrations of atmospheric CO2 have caused acidification of the oceans, which in turn destroys coral reefs, impairs development of oysters and other shellfish, and dissolves calcium-containing microorganisms at the base of the food web. The oceans are losing oxygen. Fish stocks are declining. Dredging, mechanized trawling, oil exploration, and planned deep undersea metal mining threaten the seabeds.

Pollution – unwanted, often hazardous waste material released into the environment by human activity – is one of the existential challenges of the present age. Like climate change, biodiversity loss, and depletion of the world’s fresh water supply, pollution endangers the stability of the earth’s support systems and threatens the continuing survival of human societies.

"Pollution endangers the stability of the earth’s support systems and threatens the continuing survival of human societies"

Oceans in peril, humans at risk; Widespread ocean pollution threatens the health of more than 3 billion people

Ocean pollution is widespread and getting worse, and when toxins in the oceans make landfall they imperil the health and well-being of more than 3 billion people, according to a new report by an international coalition of scientists led by Boston College’s Global Observatory on Pollution on Health and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco.

Atop the proposals to remediate ocean pollution, the researchers recommend: banning coal combustion and the production of single-use plastics, controlling coastal pollution, and expanding marine protected areas.

The study is the first comprehensive examination of the impacts of ocean pollution on human health. It was published in the online edition of the Annals of Global Health and released at the Monaco International Symposium on Human Health & the Ocean in a Changing World.

“Simply put: Ocean pollution is a major global problem, it is growing, and it directly affects human health,” said Professor Philip Landrigan, M.D., the director of the observatory and of BC’s Global Public Health and the Common Good Program. “People have heard about plastic pollution in the oceans, but that is only part of it. Research shows the oceans are being fouled by a complex stew of toxins including mercury, pesticides, industrial chemicals, petroleum wastes, agricultural runoff, and manufactured chemicals embedded in plastic. These toxic materials in the ocean get into people, mainly by eating contaminated seafood."

“We are all at risk, but the people most seriously affected are people in coastal fishing communities, people on small island nations, indigenous populations and people in the high Arctic. The very survival of these vulnerable populations depends on the health of the seas.”

The oceans cover more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface. Despite their vast size, the seas are under threat, primarily as a result of human activity, according to the findings, drawn from 584 scientific reports, which detail:

Pollution of the oceans by plastics, toxic metals, manufactured chemicals, pesticides, sewage, and agricultural runoff is killing and contaminating the fish that feed 3 billion people.

Coastal pollution spreads life-threatening infections. Oil spills and chemical wastes threaten the microorganisms in the seas that provide much of the world’s oxygen supply.

Mobilize global resolve to curb ocean pollution

“The link between ocean pollution and human health has, for a long time, given rise to very few studies,” Prince Albert wrote in an introduction to the report. “Taking into account the effects of ocean pollution – due to plastic, water and industrial waste, chemicals, hydrocarbons, to name a few – on human health should mean that this threat must be permanently included in the international scientific activity.

“This document on Human Health and the Ocean, prepared with the contributions of the Monaco Science Centre and Boston College, substantiates that pollution of the Ocean is not inevitable”...

Among the key findings:

Mercury pollution has become widespread in the oceans, accumulating to high levels in predator fish and once in the food chain poses documented risks to infants, children and adults.

Coal is the major source of mercury pollution, its toxins vaporizing into the air as it burns and eventually washing into the oceans.

Pollution along the coasts by industrial waste, agricultural runoff, pesticides, and human sewage has increased the frequency of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) producing toxins associated with dementia, amnesia, neurological damage, and rapid death.

Plastic waste – entering the oceans at a rate of more than 10 million tons each year – kills seabirds and fish and is consumed by humans in the form of toxic microscopic particles, now found in all humans. The waters most seriously impacted by ocean pollution are the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea, and Asian rivers.

Act Up to Protect the Oceans

Planet Citizen Action

"Without the 'blue' there could be no 'green', no life on Earth..."

Planet Citizens, Make a Difference

Global Fishing Watch

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Plastic pollution is suffocating our ocean and the many animals that call it home. Researchers estimate there are now over 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean with 8.75 million metric tons being added every year. This pollution is impacting our marine ecosystems and wildlife including seabirds, dolphins, fish, turtles, and whales. Plastic fragments are even displacing plankton as the base of the food chain. So what’s the best way to combat this global epidemic facing our ocean? It’s simple: we need to stop the problem at the source! The Surfrider Foundation’s Ocean Friendly Restaurants program does just that. One restaurant, one customer at a time, it increases awareness, drives behavior change, and ultimately creates scalable impact to reduce our plastic footprint.

Researchers estimate there are now over 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean with the number continuing to grow every day.

An estimated 100 billion plastic bags are used ANNUALLY in the United States.​

49.4 billion plastic water bottles were sold in one year’s time with only 31.1% recycled, leaving roughly 34 billion plastic bottles that were littered or went into a landfill in 2015.

Restaurants use an average of 5,800 gallons of water per day

Plastic does not biodegrade so virtually every piece of plastic ever created still exists in some form today!

​ The Ocean Friendly Restaurants program offers restaurants an easy way to show their commitment to making sustainable choices for our ocean.

• https://beachapedia.org/Plastic_Pollution_Facts_and_Figures

• https://www.beachapedia.org/Polystyrene