At least 26 countries signed this Saturday (8) a “declaration of peace to the ocean” at the end of a forum on marine protection held in Costa Rica, “Immersed in Change”, in preparation for a crucial meeting of the UN in France in 2025.
Among the signatories are Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Israel, South Korea and Costa Rica itself.
After two days of debates, calls to action, presentation of successful initiatives and sharing of knowledge in San José, delegations from 50 participating countries called for action to improve the poor health of the oceans.
“We are committed to expanding ocean transformative actions to support nature-positive economies, based on the best available science and scientific information, traditional knowledge and innovation”, stipulates the document.
This Costa Rican initiative, which is non-binding, is a base text to continue conversations and commitments at the III United Nations Conference on the Ocean (Unoc), scheduled for June 2025 in the French city of Nice and organized by France and Costa Rich.
“The ocean can no longer withstand our mistreatment and indifference. Therefore, in Costa Rica we decided that it is time to declare peace to him”, said the chancellor of the Central American country, Arnoldo André, during the event.
UN Deputy Secretary-General for Social Affairs Li Junhua agreed with the Costa Rican minister on the need to act without delay: “Protecting the ocean and sustainably using marine resources is not an option, but an imperative.”
Topics of governance, global warming, fishing and marine biodiversity were discussed at this forum to help with decision-making in France.
– Ratify agreements –
One of the main calls was for the ratification of the High Seas Protection Treaty, signed in 2023 by more than 70 countries, a binding agreement to protect the ocean beyond the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of States, around 200 nautical miles ( 370 km) from the coasts.
Currently, only about 1% of the high seas are under conservation measures, and the treaty’s main tool is the creation of marine protected zones in these waters.
The final declaration also points to the “effective implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework for the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity and resource mobilization.”
This treaty was adopted in 2023 after the COP15 environmental conference held in Montreal, Canada, in 2022, and seeks to safeguard and sustainably use biodiversity in pursuit of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Paris Agreement in 2015, which must be achieved by 2030.
– Ocean health –
“There is no healthy planet without a healthy ocean, and the current health of the oceans is worsening,” warned the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, Peter Thomson, during the forum.
An idea that is initialed in the declaration of peace for the ocean, where the authorities committed to contributing “to the global objective of protecting or conserving at least 30% of marine and coastal areas by 2030”.
“If we want to arrive in France with our homework done, it is this weekend in Costa Rica that we must move from words to action,” marine biologist Pilar Marcos, head of Oceans at Greenpeace International, told AFP.
– Politics and science –
Plastic pollution, water contamination, unsustainable fishing, sea acidification, global warming and deep-sea mining are scientists’ main concerns.
Therefore, and with the idea of improving decision-making, science and politics must converge in the task of recovering the ocean, according to experts.
The Director of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries at the European Commission, Charlina Vitcheva, told AFP that “it is absolutely essential” to rely on science to develop “robust policies” that match the reality of the ocean situation.
The final declaration in Costa Rica contemplates “supporting and promoting efforts to strengthen the interface between ocean sciences and policy”.
– Aquaculture and fishing –
During the sessions of the “Immersed in Change” forum, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released a global report that revealed that, for the first time, the farming of aquatic animals surpassed capture fishing in production.
“Aquatic foods play a fundamental role” in the fight against hunger and poverty in the world, Manuel Barange, director of FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture division, told AFP.
Barange added that in 10 or 20 years “we will eat even more fish, but that fish, the majority, will come from aquaculture and not fishing.”
2024-06-09 09:30:21