Why protecting the ocean is important for people and nature

Protection of the ocean is important in and of itself. We are just passing through this world, so we need to leave it at least as healthy as it was when we got here for the people who come after us.

At the same time, a well-protected ocean is important for people and their well-being right now, as well as for coastal communities around the world to have hope for a better, healthier, and more resilient future.

People all over the world will benefit from a healthy ocean for many years to come in many ways. For example, people will be able to stay in their homes and keep their jobs; tourism will be fair; beaches won't be polluted; and renewable energy will be available. The best way to make sure that ocean resources are used in a fair and sustainable way is to set up and take care of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These protect the health of life both above and below the surface of the ocean.

All UN Member States came together in 2015 to make the Sustainable Development Goals, which include SDG14 for the ocean. These goals are a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and in the future." Under SDG 14, there is a specific goal to "sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant negative impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve a healthy and productive ocean." There are also promises to fight marine pollution and overfishing in all forms. All of these are helped by having more MPAs.

In December 2022, at COP15, a meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, countries came together to sign the Global Biodiversity Framework. They promised to protect at least 30% of land and ocean by 2030, a goal that has been requested for a long time and is called "30x30."

Sylvia Earle, a marine biologist, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, lifelong diver, and member of the Friends of Ocean Action community affectionately referred to as "Her Deepness," discusses how every new stretch of the protected ocean gives people hope. Her global marine conservation movement, Mission Blue, finds places called "hope spots" that scientists say is important for the health of the ocean as a whole. Recently, a new "Hope Spot" was named around the Greater Skellig Coast in southwest Ireland. This is a beautiful part of the ocean that will be protected by law in 2023.

In January, the World Economic Forum's Ocean Action Agenda and Friends of Ocean Action put out a statement called "Ocean Action in 2023." It called for ambitious progress to be made to improve ocean health through the opportunities that are coming up.

The first of these chances was the Fifth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5), which was held in Vancouver, Canada, from February 3–9, 2023. This event was seen as a major step towards reaching the 30x30 goal.

During IMPAC5, many different commitments to protect the ocean were made, adding to the growing momentum of ocean action. These include things like setting the minimum standards needed for MPAs to work well and making promises to protect the ocean. The Canadian government also joined the growing number of people calling for a cautious approach to the possible use of resources in the deep ocean. It did this by putting an end to deep seabed mining under its control, which is the same thing as a moratorium.

As the statement Ocean Action in 2023 says, there will be more chances for hope and good news about the ocean in the coming months. The next step is for countries to agree on a strong and binding High Seas Treaty at IGC5bis in New York. IGC5bis is an extension of the Fifth Intergovernmental Conference for Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.

In the meantime, members of the World Trade Organization must finish formally accepting the deal made in 2022 to phase out the most harmful fisheries subsidies. Until the deal goes into effect, activities that lead to overfishing will continue to be financed, which will continue to deplete our ocean resources and hurt those who depend on them for their very survival. At the 2023 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2023, Switzerland was the first country to show that it had accepted the WTO deal. We hope that other people will soon do the same.