United Nations to convene ‘game changer’ conference on sustainable oceans

/ littlebluedotpress

The health of the world’s oceans will be first and foremost at the United Nations this summer.

From 5-9 June, The Ocean Conference will bring together high-level UN delegates and key stakeholders to address issues relating to marine conservation, sustainable use and development as part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 14. It is billed as ‘a game changer that will reverse the decline in the health of our ocean for people, planet and prosperity’.

Some of the SDG’s targets, proposed relatively recently by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2016, were penned with prodigious ambition:

  • Target 14.3. Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification

Discussions on this point are almost certain to be, quite literally, up in the air. The biggest driver of ocean acidification—oceanic uptake of ever-increasing, human-generated atmospheric CO2—is nested within the bigger, often thorny political issue of carbon emissions and climate change. It will be interesting to see how this target is approached, and whether the solutions are actionable by the stakeholders in attendance.

  • Target 14.4. By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and destructive fishing practices…in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least…[to their] maximum sustainable yield

A worthy goal, but this target’s blithe wordwashing makes light fare of what are arguably some of the biggest threats to ocean sustainability. Historical declines in fish populations exemplify the bleak if consistent cycle of overfishing: perceived abundance leads to a frenzy of unsustainable exploitation, dire warnings from the scientific community are ignored, and the eventual (and at times dramatic) collapse of the stock follows. On the other hand, IUU fishing is a shape-shifter of a problem, with regional variations in size and scope, and is both born out of and linked to issues economic, social, cultural and political. The world and everyone in it would need to drop everything and work like dervishes to solve either of these problems within the next two years, never mind both of them.

  • Target 14C. Enhance the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources by implementing international law

This one might expose some uncomfortable truths to the people that most need to hear them. If relevant laws exist but are being enforced unevenly or not at all, then the foundations for those laws must be carefully inspected. To what degree is law enforcement frustrated by poverty, lack of capacity and corruption? Do we need better enforcement, better laws, or both? Perhaps more importantly, do key international pacts such as the Paris Climate Change Agreement have the legal authority needed to hold their members to account? If signatories are wriggling out of their obligations, then this meeting will be an opportunity to address the concrete results that we can expect, if any, from non-binding international accords, treaties, and memorandums of understanding (MoUs).

These targets and others will be up for what promises to be an informative and hefty debate. Check back here in June for our post-conference wrap up to hear about all the key decisions, outcomes and highlights from the meeting.

For more information about The Ocean Conference, visit https://oceanconference.un.org/ and follow #SaveOurOcean on Twitter.