
UN summit to tackle 'emergency' in world's oceans
NICE: A global summit on the dire state of the oceans kicks off Monday in France, with calls to ban bottom trawling and bolster protections for the world's overexploited marine areas.
World leaders attending the UN Ocean Conference in Nice have been told to come up with concrete ideas -- and money -- to tackle what organisers call a global 'emergency' facing the neglected seas.
The appeal for unity comes as nations tussle over a global plastics pollution treaty, and the United States sidesteps international efforts to regulate deep-sea mining.
On the eve of the summit, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that leaders must act now: 'The planet can no longer tolerate broken promises.'
A wave of new commitments is expected Monday in Nice, where around 60 heads of state and government will join thousands of business leaders, scientists and civil society activists.
'Never in the history of humanity have we brought together so many people for the oceans,' French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday before hosting leaders for an official dinner.
Trawling targeted
On Monday, the United Kingdom is expected to announce a partial ban on bottom trawling in half its marine protected areas, putting the destructive fishing method squarely on the summit agenda.
Bottom trawling sees huge fishing nets dragged across the ocean floor, a process shockingly captured in a recent documentary by British naturalist David Attenborough.
Greenpeace welcomed the UK announcement on trawling but said in a statement it was 'long overdue'.
Macron on Saturday said France would restrict trawling in some of its marine protected areas, but was criticised by environment groups for not going far enough.
French environment minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told reporters Sunday that other countries would make 'important announcements' about the creation of new marine protected areas.
Samoa led the way this past week, announcing that 30 percent of its national waters would be under protection with the creation of nine marine parks.
Just eight percent of global oceans are designated for marine conservation, despite a globally agreed target to achieve 30 percent coverage by 2030.
But even fewer are considered truly protected, as some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden in marine zones, or lack the finance to enforce any rules.
Words into action
Nations will face calls to cough up the missing finance for ocean protection, which is the least funded of all the UN's 17 sustainable development goals.
Small island states are expected in numbers at the summit, to demand money and political support to combat rising seas, marine trash and the plunder of fish stocks.
The summit will not produce a legally binding agreement at its close like a climate COP or treaty negotiation.
But diplomats and other observers said it could mark a much-needed turning point in global ocean conservation if leaders rose to the occasion.
'The UN Ocean Conference gives us all an opportunity to turn words into bold and ambitious action,' said Enric Sala, founder of Pristine Seas, an ocean conservation group.
Another summit priority will be inching towards the numbers required to ratify a global treaty on harmful fishing subsidies, and another on protecting the high seas beyond national control.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
30 minutes ago
- The Star
HK to tighten national security scrutiny of restaurants
AUTHORITIES will toughen screening of catering premises for potential violations of national security, which civil servants should accord top priority in deciding on licence approvals, the city's leader said. Critics see the move as targeting the territory's many businesses, including cafes and restaurants, that have previously displayed posters, symbols or images expressing solidarity with its embattled pro-democracy movement. Such businesses, widely called the 'yellow economic circle', have faced growing pressure from authorities, such as tax inspectors, at a time when they are reeling from a broader economic and retail downturn. 'Food and environmental hygiene officers ... should place national security as the most important consideration and make appropriate assessments,' John Lee told reporters. He called the move 'appropriate and necessary', saying that all civil servants were expected to rate security as the highest priority under the national security law. The city's food and hygiene department would follow the law in considering new licences and renewing existing ones, he added. In recent years, authorities in the Asian financial hub have made use of sweeping national security laws imposed after mass anti-government protests in 2019 to systematically crack down on many of its liberal pockets. In May, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department sent letters to thousands of food and entertainment premises, obliging them to accept new terms related to national security. In one document seen by Reuters, the government told business owners to ensure no activity in which they were engaged or involved in 'may constitute or cause the occurrence of an offence endangering national security'. The former British colony's crackdown on dissent, from arresting democratic activists to shuttering liberal media and civil society groups, has drawn criticism from countries such as Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States. — Reuters


The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Pupil, 14, stabs to death assistant at French school
NOGENT: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday condemned a 'senseless wave of violence' after a 14-year-old fatally stabbed a teaching assistant in the country's latest deadly school attack. The secondary school student was arrested after attacking the 31-year-old assistant with a knife during a bag search in Nogent in eastern France, officials said. France has been shocked by attacks on teachers and pupils by other schoolchildren amidst a general rise in youth crime. In April, a student killed a girl and wounded several other pupils in a stabbing spree in the western city of Nantes. Reports of bladed weapons in schools have jumped by 15 percent in the last year, according to government figures released in February. The education ministry said 6,000 checks in schools resulted in the seizure of 186 knives between March 26 and May 23. 'Horrific act' The assistant at the Francoise Dolto school was stabbed several times as pupils arrived to have their bags inspected in the presence of police, education officials said. 'He is a young man from a family where both parents work, who does not present any particular difficulties,' Education Minister Elisabeth Borne said at the scene, referring to the suspect. 'Young people are shocked,' Borne said. 'They are also very shocked to see that one of their classmates could commit such a horrific act. And this classmate was very well integrated in the middle school.' The victim, a former hairdresser who had been working at the school since September, was the mother of a young boy, said one of her cousins, Aurore. 'She was a very cheerful, very kind person.' The alleged attacker, who has no criminal record, was restrained by police monitoring the inspections, said prosecutor Denis Devallois. One officer was slightly injured, he added. 'While protecting our children, a teaching assistant lost her life, the victim of a senseless wave of violence,' Macron wrote on X. 'The nation is in mourning and the government is mobilised to reduce crime,' he added. French lawmakers observed a minute's silence in parliament. Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said the tragedy showed 'a breakdown of the society in which we live'. 'This is not just an isolated incident,' he said. France's education ministry reported in April a 60 percent rise in violent incidents in 2023, with nearly 5,000 requests for protection filed on behalf of national education staff during the course of their duties.' Bayrou called for a trial of metal detectors in schools and for authorities to 'tighten regulations' on knives by adding some that are not currently banned as weapons. 'Apathy of authorities' Far-right leader Marine Le Pen used the stabbing attack to denounce 'the apathy of the authorities'. 'The French people have had enough and are waiting for a firm, uncompromising and determined political response to the scourge of youth violence,' she said on X. Hardleft firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon said authorities must better look after 'the mental health' of young people, especially boys. In May, the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Naima Moutchou, said the carrying of knives had become 'a phenomenon' affecting the whole country. 'That's 3,000 young people a year who are arrested with a bladed weapon,' Moutchou said. Sophie Venetitay, general secretary of the SNES-FSU teachers' union, said the teaching assistant had been left 'exposed.' 'Teaching assistants have an educational role and are not security guards outside schools.' She was 'simply doing her job by welcoming students at the entrance to the school', added Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, secretary general of the SE-UNSA teachers' union. The attack 'shows that nothing can ever be completely secure and that it is prevention that needs to be focused on,' she said. Laurent Zameczkowski, spokesperson for the PEEP parents' association, said 'the real problem is the mental health of our young people, which has deteriorated since Covid.'

Malay Mail
2 hours ago
- Malay Mail
What is the UN high seas treaty and how could it change global ocean conservation?
UNITED NATIONS (US), June 11 — The high seas treaty could be law by the end of the year, affording protection to marine life in the vast swathes of ocean that belong to no one. The treaty was adopted by UN member states in June 2023. It has been ratified by 49 nations plus the European Union, according to the UN, and comes into force 120 days after its 60th ratification. The US signed the treaty in 2023 under Joe Biden's administration but is not expected to ratify it while Donald Trump is president. Here are the key points of the treaty text: International waters The treaty covers international waters, which fall outside the jurisdiction of any single state, and account for more than 60 per cent of the world's oceans. Specifically, it applies to waters beyond countries' exclusive economic zones, which extend up to 200 nautical miles from the coast. It also covers what is known as 'the Area', shorthand for seabed and subsoil beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. The Area comprises just over half of the planet's seabed. Once enacted, a decision-making body — a Conference of the Parties (COP) — would have to work with regional and global organisations that already oversee different aspects of the oceans. These include regional fisheries bodies and the International Seabed Authority, the arena where nations are hotly contesting a proposed set of rules to govern deep-sea mining. Trump's decision to sidestep the authority — to which the US is not a member — and issue deep-sea mining permits in international waters has raised tricky questions of jurisdiction. Marine protected areas Currently, almost all protected marine areas (MPAs) are within national territorial waters. The treaty, however, allows for these reserves to be created in the open ocean. Most decisions would be taken by a consensus of the COP, but an MPA can be voted into existence with a three-quarters majority, to prevent deadlock caused by a single country. One crucial shortcoming: the text does not say how these conservation measures will be monitored and enforced over remote swathes of the ocean — a task that will fall to the COP. Some experts say satellites could be used to spot infractions. Individual countries are already responsible for certain activities on the high seas that they have jurisdiction over, such as those of ships flying their flags. Sharing the bounty? On the high seas, countries and entities under their jurisdiction will be allowed to collect animal, plant, or microbial matter whose genetic material might prove useful, even commercially. Scientists, for example, have discovered molecules with the potential to treat cancer or other diseases in microbes scooped up in sediment, or produced by sponges or marine mollusks. Benefits-sharing of those resources has been a key point of contention between wealthy and poorer nations. The treaty establishes frameworks for the transfer of marine research technologies to developing countries and a strengthening of their research capacities, as well as open access to data. But it is left to the COP to decide exactly how any monetary benefits will eventually be shared, with options including a system based on specific commercialised products, or more generalised payment systems. Environmental impact studies The treaty requires signatories to assess the environmental impacts of planned activities under their control on the high seas before they are authorised in instances when such activities may have more than a minor or transitory effect. It also calls for countries to assess the potential impact on international waters of activities within national jurisdictions that may cause 'substantial pollution' or harm the high sea marine environment. Ultimately, states are responsible for giving the green light to any potentially harmful activity — a role NGOs hoped would go to the COP, to make controversial approvals more difficult. The treaty also requires states to publish updates on an activity's environmental impacts. Approvals can be called into question if unanticipated impacts arise. Though they are not specifically listed in the treaty, activities that could come under regulation include transport and fishing, as well as more controversial subjects such as deep-sea mining or even geo-engineering initiatives to mitigate global warming. — AFP