The United Nations is holding The Ocean Conference June 5–9, 2017.
U.N. General Assembly President Peter Thomson explained why.
“This will be the moment of history when we put that cycle of decline in reverse and start restoring the ocean’s integrity,” he said. “Why is that so important to us? Every second breath you take comes from ocean-produced oxygen.”
“Without a healthy ocean we’re in deep trouble,” he continued. “Whether it’s food, whether it’s our climate, we have to have the integrity for the ocean, the source of life.”
The focus of the meeting will be implementing Sustainable Development Goal 14. SDG 14 is a sort of Paris Accord for oceans.
Ocean Conference Secretary-General Wu Hongbo said that since oceans are global, only global action would be relevant.
“If you drop a plastic bottle anywhere near your sea, it may end up in some other places,” he said. So all these seas and oceans are connected; so regional or individual action seems very weak. We need global solutions to the global challenge.”
The Ocean Conference has attracted some 80 high-level government officials.
About 5,000 representatives from science and business will also attend.
The conference coincides with two global green holidays.
World Environment Day is June 5 and World Oceans Day is June 8.
