While many are aware of climate change, ‘Ocean Change’, is something that requires greater attention.
This is according to Fiji’s Ambassador Peter Thomson and the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean. He believes that Ocean Change, which includes marine litter, coral bleaching, acidification, warming, plastic pollution, dead zones, and more, require immediate action to save life in the ocean and reverse the cycle of decline in which it is caught.
Special Envoy Thomson visited the IMO this week and said that solutions to address human-induced ocean change are needed now.
“As a grandfather, I find these changes tragic. It is time for us to implement the solutions to ocean’s many problems”, he said during his visit.
At the moment the only universal commitment to the ocean is the Sustainable Development Goal 14. What is required over the next three years is concerted action, claims Special Envoy Thomson.
Special Envoy Thomson will work closely with communities to ensure the commitments are developed and implemented into meaningful ocean action.
This will include cooperation with Member States and the UN system to optimise the effectiveness of UN-Oceans, the UN’s inter-agency mechanism for ocean action. It will also include work with civil society, the scientific community, the business sector, and other relevant stakeholders, to coalesce and encourage their activities in support of the implementation of SDG 14.
Image courtesy of the IMO.
Fathom-News
editor@fathom-mi.com
