UN Ocean Conference: It’s the best and last opportunity for us to take action

Biodiversity, especially in marine and coastal ecosystems, is a core foundation for sustainable development and the source of livelihood for a large part of humanity. Currently, more than 3.5 billion people depend on the ocean as their primary food source, and 15% of all animal protein consumed by humans derives from marine fish. However, population growth and economic development have placed tremendous pressure on marine and coastal ecosystems in the past few years. This has resulted in irreversible damage to their capacity to provide food, energy and materials. Although the world has put forth several policy frameworks to protect the ocean, such as marine protected areas and their broader networks, it’s not enough. The decline of biodiversity has not been reversed and is exacerbated by climate change. The impact of this decline on marine and coastal biodiversity will be catastrophic for future generations if we do not take effective action to reverse the current trend.

To achieve this goal and create a blueprint for more ambitious ocean actions, the 2022 U.N. Ocean Conference convened in Lisbon from June 27 to July 1. The conference captivated the entire world’s attention. Delegates from sovereign states, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector congregated to help save Earth’s largest resource — the ocean. In their interactive dialogues regarding climate change’s impact on the ocean, conference panelists discussed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular, they emphasized the mutually reinforcing relationship between SDG 14: “Life Below Water,” which focuses on conserving and sustaining marine ecosystems, and other broader objectives such as climate mitigation. To this end, the panelists proposed ocean actions informed by ecological and economic perspectives on the institutional and ground levels.

Firstly, conference panelists emphasized that marine protection actions should be further integrated into existing frameworks such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Paris Agreement to encourage synergy between climate and ocean. In past decades, the ocean absorbed substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This absorption caused acidification, hampering the ocean’s ecosystems and reducing its ability to function as a sink for GHG. As a root cause of climate change is GHG emissions, panelists called for the energy sector, particularly offshore energy, to use a greater mix of renewables to reduce such emissions. In order to realize equal access to clean and renewable energy as well as solve transboundary climate- and nature-related issues, panelists from developing countries also encouraged more frequent technology exchanges. Panelists also delineated steps taken by the World Trade Organization to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries. These steps include prohibiting subsidies for unregulated fishing in order to reverse the decline of biodiversity caused by overfishing.

Secondly, panelists called for inclusive approaches that recognized the critical role of women, indigenous people and youth in marine protection. Specifically, panelists highlighted the seaweed industry, a mature industry in most places in Asia but underdeveloped in other parts of the world. In Asia, the seaweed industry generates socioeconomic benefits such as promoting gender equity and alleviating hunger, especially for low-and-middle-income countries. As women comprise the majority of the workers in seaweed farming, panelists hypothesized that seaweed revolutions could be “Sheweed” revolutions. They believe the time has come to implement an industry-wide “gold standard” to realize social equity for women, indigenous people and youth. It is hoped that the rich nutrition of seaweed will help ease hunger issues in developing countries, increase the work performance of youth and women, and thereby positively impact overall national development in the long term.

Finally, panelists emphasized the importance of data collection and scientific research to ensure risk-based, science-informed and trajectory-oriented decision-making. The mutually reinforcing relationships among SDGs can be better understood through regular progress monitoring and collecting comprehensive data. These SDG relationships can be leveraged more effectively by incorporating this data into the decision-making process. SDG 13: “Climate Action” has a close interlinkage with SDG 14: “Life Below Water.” Policies to address ocean climate change are urgently needed and must be informed by sound science leveraging available technologies that improve mitigation and adaptation efforts. The panelists mentioned closing the data collection gap in some under-sampled areas and realizing equal access to data among different types of data users. A comprehensive, accessible database will not only ensure data-backed efficient decision-making across risk and economic levels but also help realize synergy between developing and developed countries in terms of their National Determined Contribution to climate change addressing and biodiversity conservation.

Throughout the conference, panelists stated that the issue of marine and coastal biodiversity is a justice issue not only for us but also between ourselves and future generations. We are already falling behind in the Sustainable Development Agenda. Oceanic biodiversity loss is worsening and negatively affecting human communities’ livelihoods. Ours can be the generation to end this vicious cycle and start a new trend that reverses biodiversity loss and restores the ocean’s ecosystem. Our actions should be inclusive and science-informed by recognizing the importance of sharing data and research findings as well as including the voices of people from different social and economic backgrounds.