The blue vastness of the ocean makes our land-based lives possible. The ocean dominates the hydrological cycle. Phytoplankton produce at least half of the planet’s oxygen. Over three billion people rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. The Blue Economy contributes about USD 2.3 trillion per year to the global economy.
We are causing untold harm to this incredible world through the triple planetary crisis: the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature and biodiversity loss, the crisis of pollution and waste.
The ocean is the planet’s largest carbon sink. The ocean absorbs 90 per cent of the excess heat in our atmosphere. This may sound like a boon for humanity, but it comes at a severe cost to the ocean. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others have told us, the four primary measures of climate change – greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean temperatures and ocean acidification – are at record highs. Just as many of us have been baking this year, much of the ocean has experienced at least one strong marine heatwave – threatening ecosystems, fish populations, livelihoods.
Meanwhile, plastic pollution has increased ten-fold in the past four decades. Eutrophication and dead zones caused by land-based activities are growing. Fish populations fished at biologically unsustainable levels increased from 10 per cent in 1974 to 34.2 per cent in 2017 – driven in part by what the WTO estimates is USD 22 billion in annual public support that contributes to the depletion of marine resources.
We cannot expect the ocean to keep absorbing the punches we are throwing at it.
Yes, we have a seen a growing focus on planetary and ocean health. In February, at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), nations agreed to create an international legally binding agreement on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. UNEA also passed a resolution on source-to-sea nitrogen management, a critical source of dead zones and coastal eutrophication. At the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, world leaders adopted an action-oriented political declaration, committing to improving ocean health. The General Assembly this year recognized the universal human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
However – and this is particularly relevant for the road to the next climate COP in Sharm El-Sheikh – Nationally Determined Contributions remain weak on oceans.
Until recently, climate and ocean conservation efforts have been largely separate. At the end of 2021, fewer than 20 per cent of countries with coastal blue carbon ecosystems discussed the role of seagrasses, mangroves and kelp forests as carbon sinks in their NDCS. Oceans must be a priority at the upcoming COP, as Egypt knows only too well: the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees of global warming means life or death for the unique and astoundingly beautiful Red Sea coral reefs, which attract three million divers annually.
So, action on the ocean is critical. Human prosperity and equity, and the success of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, are hugely dependent on the ocean.