Latest news with #oceanconference
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nations advance ocean protection, vow to defend seabed
A global oceans summit wrapped up Friday with world leaders taking major steps toward marine protection and vowing a showdown when nations meet to negotiate rules for deep-sea mining next month. But as a cacophony of ship foghorns sounded the close of the UN Ocean Conference in France, a lack of funding pledges and the total omission of fossil fuels disappointed some observers. The summit was just the third -- and largest yet -- dedicated entirely to what the United Nations calls an "emergency" in the world's oceans. More than 60 heads of state and government joined thousands of business leaders, scientists and environmental campaigners over five days in the southern city of Nice. - Treaty tide - There was unanimous praise for efforts to ratify the high seas treaty designed to protect marine life in the 60 percent of oceans that lie beyond national waters. Some 19 countries formally ratified the pact at Nice, taking the overall tally to 50 -- but 60 nations are needed to bring the treaty into force. France's oceans envoy, Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, said the numbers would be reached by September and the treaty should take effect by January, 2026. Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance, welcomed the "incredible progress" but urged "all remaining nations to ratify without delay". The summit sought a collective lift for oceans even as countries brace for tough talks over deep-sea mining in July and a plastic pollution treaty in August. More than 90 ministers called in Nice for the treaty to enshrine limits on plastic production -- something fiercely opposed by oil-producing nations. The summit also rallied behind a defence of science and rules-based oversight of common resources -- most notably the unknown depths of the oceans -- in a direct rebuke of US President Donald Trump. Trump was not present in Nice and rarely mentioned by name, but his shadow loomed as leaders thundered against his unilateral push to mine the ocean floor for nickel and minerals. - Seabed row - France and like-minded countries vowed to block any effort to permit deep-sea exploration at negotiations over a mining code at the International Seabed Authority next month, said Poivre d'Arvor. "Nobody knows what is there in the deep sea... you cannot launch recklessly down this path," he said in a closing address. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged caution, warning against turning the deep sea into "the wild west". Leaders "made it unmistakably clear: deep-sea mining is one of the biggest threats facing our ocean, and the world is saying no", said Sofia Tsenikli from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. But for all the rhetoric, a global alliance opposed to deep-sea mining only attracted four new members at Nice, rising to 37 nations. - Missing billions - Greece, Samoa and Colombia were among 14 nations who unveiled plans for vast new marine protected areas, taking the share of the world's oceans under conservation to more than 10 percent. Some also announced restrictions on bottom trawling, a destructive fishing method captured in grisly detail in a new David Attenborough documentary. Activists had pushed for a total ban on this kind of trawling, which uses heavy weighted nets dragged across the ocean floor. Developing nations hoping their larger and wealthier counterparts would open the chequebook in Nice were disappointed. Small island nations in particular have long complained they lack the finances required to build seawalls against rising tides and protect their waters from illegal fishers. While private donors pledged around 8.7 billion euros ($10 billion) over the next five years, the UN says $175 billion a year is needed for sustainable ocean development. Fossil fuels -- the main driver of climate change, ocean warming and the acidification of the seas -- were notably absent for a summit dedicated to marine protection. "Ignoring the imperative of phasing out offshore oil and gas is not just an injustice: it is inadmissible," said Bruna Campos from the Center for International Environmental Law. The summit closed with the unanimous adoption of a political statement, negotiated over many months, that contained no mention of coal, oil and gas. "We must all reckon with the reality that you cannot protect the ocean without confronting the biggest root cause bringing it to the breaking point," former US special climate envoy John Kerry said in a statement. np-aag/jj
Free Malaysia Today
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Leaders warn race for minerals could turn seabed into ‘wild west'
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the third UN Ocean Conference in Nice, French Riviera. (AP pic) NICE : World leaders on Monday called for strong rules to govern deep-sea mining and warned against racing to exploit the ocean floor in a thinly-veiled rebuke of US President Donald Trump. Growing anxiety over Trump's unilateral push to fast-track deep-sea mining in international waters shot to the surface at the opening of the UN Ocean Conference in southern France. 'I think it's madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it and release irrecoverable carbon sinks – when we know nothing about it,' said French President Emmanuel Macron. Imposing a moratorium on seabed mining was 'an international necessity', said Macron. The number of countries opposed to seabed mining rose to 36 on Monday, according to a tally kept by the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, an umbrella group of non-governmental organisations. Trump was not among the roughly 60 heads of state and government in the seaside town of Nice but his spectre loomed large as leaders defended the global multilateralism he has spurned. Of particular concern, his move to sidestep the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and issue permits directly to companies wanting to extract nickel and other metals from waters beyond US jurisdiction. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for 'clear action' from the seabed authority to end a 'predatory race' for deep-ocean minerals. 'We now see the threat of unilateralism looming over the ocean. We cannot allow what happened to international trade to happen to the sea,' he said. The deep sea, Greenland and Antarctica were 'not for sale', Macron said in further remarks directed clearly at Trump's expansionist claims. The ISA, which has jurisdiction over the ocean floor outside national waters, is meeting in July to discuss a global mining code to regulate mining in the ocean depths. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he supported these negotiations and urged caution as countries navigate these 'new waters on seabed mining'. 'The deep sea cannot become the wild west,' he said, to applause from the plenary floor. 'Wave of hope' Island nations also spoke out against seabed mining, which scientists warn could result in untold damage to ecosystems largely unexplored by humanity. 'Here in Nice, we can feel that the looming threat of deep sea mining, and the recent reckless behaviour of the industry is seen by many states as unacceptable,' said Megan Randles from Greenpeace. Meanwhile, a flurry of last-minute signatures in Nice brought a treaty to protect the 60% of the world's oceans outside national jurisdiction closer to law. Macron told reporters that 55 nations had ratified the high seas treaty, just five shy of the number required for its enactment. The president gave two thumbs up and a broad grin as he posed with the new signatories, and said the accord would come into force by Jan 1, 2026. 'Today's surge of ratifications for the High Seas Treaty is a tidal wave of hope and a huge cause for celebration,' Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance, told AFP. 'Prove you're serious' On Monday, the UK announced plans to extend a partial ban on bottom trawling in some of its protected marine areas, following a similar move by France at the weekend. Greece, Brazil and Spain took the opportunity Monday to announce the creation of new marine parks, following recent similar action from Samoa. And French Polynesia unveiled what will be the world's largest marine protected zone, said the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Just 8% of global oceans are designated for marine conservation, despite a globally agreed target to achieve 30% coverage by 2030. Macron said he hoped that coverage would grow to 12% by the summit's close on Friday. Environment groups say that for marine parks to be considered truly protected they need to ban trawling and other harmful activities, and be properly funded. Wealthy nations face pressure in Nice to commit money to make that level of ocean conservation a reality. Small island states are leading the charge for money and political support to better combat rising seas, marine trash and the plunder of fish stocks that hurt their economies. 'We say to you, if you are serious about protecting the ocean, prove it,' said President Surangel Whipps Jr of Palau, a low-lying Pacific nation.
The Guardian
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australian government to declare almost a third of its oceans ‘highly protected' in the next five years
The Australian government plans to declare 30% of its ocean 'highly protected' by 2030, raising expectations from conservationists it will ban fishing and drilling in nearly a third of the country's waters. The environment minister, Murray Watt, told the UN Ocean Conference in France a review of 44 of Australia's marine parks would 'lay the foundation' to increase the area of the country's ocean with higher levels of protection. Some 52% of Australia's ocean area has previously been declared marine park since the late 1990s, giving different levels of protection to wildlife and habitats, but only 24% has levels of protection that keep out all forms of fishing and extraction. 'It's clear that Australia can achieve 30% of our marine protected area estate in highly protected areas by 2030 and a three-year review of our remaining 44 marine marks will lay the foundation for this,' Watt said. The term 'highly protected' means all extractive activities are banned – which can include fishing, drilling and mining. Conservationists welcomed the commitment, but said the ocean was also under assault from global heating and Australia needed to set more ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for 2035, beyond the current 2030 goal of a 43% cut, based on 2005 levels, by 2030. Watt told a reception at the conference that Australia protected 'more ocean than any other country on Earth' and 1.3m sq km of highly protected areas had been added in the past three years – an area almost the size of the Northern Territory. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter 'A healthy ocean is critical to Australia's environment, economy and wellbeing,' Watt said. 'Australia may be a large country, but our ocean territory is bigger than our land mass and is central to our national identity.' Watt also confirmed the government would introduce legislation before the end of the year to allow the ratification of a high seas biodiversity treaty, which the country signed in September 2023 but had not yet ratified. Christabel Mitchell, the oceans director at Pew Charitable Trusts, said: 'Fully protected marine sanctuaries are the heart of a healthy ocean. They are critical breeding and feeding grounds for the fish, seals, whales, turtles and other marine life which go on to populate our oceans. 'Australia has some of the most diverse and magnificent oceans on the planet and it's our privilege and responsibility to protect them.' As reported in the Guardian, swathes of corals on reefs across vast areas of Western Australian coastline have died in recent months after an unprecedented marine heatwave scientists said was fuelled by global heating. Adele Pedder, a campaigner for marine protected areas at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said some of Australia's most critical areas were still under-protected, but 'increased protection needed to be matched by increased ambition on climate change'. Sign up to Clear Air Australia Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis after newsletter promotion Pedder said 'highly protected' marine areas excluded all fishing and extractive activities, such as drilling. She said: 'Science has shown us that these fully protected areas give resilience to ecosystems so they have a fighting chance in the face of climate change.' Recent approvals of fossil fuel projects showed the weakness in the country's environment laws 'that the government absolutely needs to address', she said. The Albanese government has promised to set an emissions reduction target for 2035 ahead of this November's UN climate talks in Brazil. Richard Leck, the head of oceans at WWF Australia, said that target needed to be in line with keep global heating to 1.5C – a 'critical threshold' for coral reefs. Australia's commitment to increasing marine sanctuaries and ratifying the high seas treaty was a 'significant step forward', he said. A new documentary from David Attenborough, called Ocean, has also called on the UN Ocean Conference to ratify the high seas treaty and push for the goal to have 30% of the planet's oceans highly protected in areas known as marine sanctuaries. 'Australia has just committed to both the actions called for by Sir David Attenborough,' Leck said. 'Ocean ecosystems are incredibly resilient when you reduce the threats that they face. We see this time and time again. Marine sanctuaries aren't just for biodiversity. They're an insurance policy for the fishing industry as well.'
RNZ News
08-06-2025
- Science
- RNZ News
'Pacific solutions are indeed global solutions' - Pacific Ocean commissioner heading to summit
Photo: AFP / Christoph Gerigk / Biosphoto The third UN Ocean Conference kicks off on Monday in Nice, France. Leaders, civil society groups, scientists and businesses, including those from the Pacific region, are due to attend the week-long summit. Dr Filimon Manoni, the current Pacific Ocean Commissioner, will be among the Pacific contingent at the conference. His role, established through the Pacific Islands Forum architecture, is to advocate for ocean priorities regionally and internationally. Manoni touched on what he expected to be discussed this week in a special pre-conference briefing. "We want this also to be the platform it needs to be - one where we can share our knowledge and success stories, to bring in traditional knowledge and share that, to show how traditional knowledge systems have helped the region manage our resources sustainably for generations," Dr Manoni said. "We want to share the community-led, coastal marine protected area initiatives [and] coastal resilience initiatives that are working in the Pacific." Examples of successful initiatives included the region's work on tuna fisheries management. The main tuna stock has been brought back from the "verge of extinction" through regional management techniques, he said. Now, Dr Manoni said, between 50 and 60 percent of the global tuna supply was from the western and central Pacific Ocean. He also pointed to the establishment of marine protected areas like the Cook Islands Marae moana, and more recently, the Marshall Islands marine sanctuary around Bikar and Bokak atolls. "Pacific solutions are not only Pacific solutions, but Pacific solutions are indeed global solutions," Dr Manoni said. "So what we want to see at the end of the summit of this conference is that the world lives with more understanding and respect for communities that rely on the ocean for livelihoods. Marine biologist and leading ocean conservationist Enric Sala said any progress around ocean sustainability would depend on the quality of commitments attendees agreed to over the week. Currently, eight percent of the world's oceans were protected. The goal was for that figure to be 30 percent by 2030, however Sala said the right areas of ocean need to be prioritised. "This is about quality as much as it is about quantity. It's not protecting any 30 percent of the ocean," he said. "We could protect areas that are now under ice and the least productive areas of the high seas and cover 30 percent of the oceans... yet that would not make any difference." Photo: 123rf/NASA Sala said the focus must be on ocean commitments and initiatives that increased marine life beyond what existed right now. That approach had already shown to be fruitful, both for ocean conservation and for interested industries like tuna fisheries, he said. For example, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which is one of the largest marine protected areas in the world located in the north-western region of the Hawaii islands. Sala said the sanctuary had led to increased tuna stocks both inside and around the protected area, benefiting tuna fisheries in the region. "The science is very clear. We have discovered over and over again that the only way for marine life to really recover is through fully protected areas where there are no extractive managing activities," he said. "And we have plenty of examples from the Pacific and from around the world, showing that the fishing industry is actually catching more fish and lobsters and scallops around no-take areas now than before, when they were fishing all over the place." Tuvalu's Prime Minister Feleti Teo has urged global leaders to recognize their collective responsibility. "No nation, no city, and no community are immune to the impacts of climate change, nor should they be required to address the devastating effects of sea level rise on their own." During his address at the Ocean Rise and Resilience Coalition Summit, Teo said finding the right solutions will require statesmanship and empathy, "beginning with an acknowledgment that a situation globally caused must also have a globally just and equitable solution". The UN Ocean Conference occurs every three years. This week's official programme is due to finish on 13 June.
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
World's nations to gather in France to tackle what UN says is a global emergency in the oceans
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The world's nations are gathering in France next month to tackle what the United Nations calls a global emergency facing the world's oceans as they confront rising temperatures, plastic pollution choking marine life, and relentless overexploitation of fish and other resources. The third U.N. Ocean Conference aims to unite governments, scientists, businesses and civil society to take action and raise money to address these and other crises facing the oceans and the people who rely on them for their survival. Conference Secretary-General Li Junhua told reporters on Tuesday he hopes it will not be another routine meeting but 'the pivotal opportunity' to accelerate action and mobilize people in all sectors and across the world. The conference, co-sponsored by France and Costa Rica, takes place in Nice on the French Riviera from June 7 to June 13. It is expected to bring together more than 60 world leaders, dozens of ministers, about 4,000 government officials and 6,000 members of civil society, Li told The Associated Press. Costa Rica's U.N. Ambassador Maritza Chan Valverde said accelerating action to conserve and use the ocean sustainably 'means cutting decision-making time from years to months' and engaging all 193 U.N. member nations, more than 1,000 cities and over 500 corporations simultaneously. 'What is different this time around?,' she said. 'Zero rhetoric. Maximum results.' Valverde said she expects participants to make commitments totaling $100 billion in new funding to address the crisis facing the oceans. France's U.N. Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont said his country's priorities for the conference include obtaining 60 ratifications for the treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas adopted in March 2023 so it goes into effect. The treaty's mission is to ensure sustainable fishing, mobilize support to protect and conserve at least 30% of the oceans' waters, fight plastic pollution, 'accelerate decarbonization' of maritime transportation and mobilize financing. Conference participants are expected to adopt a declaration that says action is not advancing fast enough to address the impact of 'the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.' 'We underscore the central role of a healthy and resilient ocean in sustaining life on Earth, ensuring global food security, and supporting billions of lives,' the final draft says. It supports new scientific research to meet the challenges of climate change and improve the scientific understanding of the oceans. It does not address the issue of deep-sea mining because a consensus could not be reached, Li said. The Trump administration said last week that it will consider selling leases to extract minerals from the seabed off the South Pacific island of American Samoa, a potential first step in a wider industry push to allow deep-sea mining, which environmentalists oppose because they say it could irreparably harm marine ecosystems. The declaration and voluntary commitments from governments and all sectors are expected to become the Nice Ocean Action Plan.
