Here’s What Happened before UN Ocean Conference

All eyes will be focused on the UN Ocean Conference that is being  held in the Portuguese city of Lisbon between 27 June and 1 July.

With the bang of a gavel, and delegates from the UN Member States, non-governmental organizations, and universities attending,the upcoming meeting aimed at intensifying efforts to combat water pollution and is designed to provide a space for the international community to push for the adoption of innovative, science-based solutions for the sustainable management of the oceans, including combating water acidification, pollution, illegal fishing and loss of habitats and biopersity.

This year’s conference will also determine the level of ambition for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). The Decade will be a major theme of the conference, and will be the subject of several important events, laying out the vision of a healthier, more sustainable ocean, according to the UN.

As one of active UN member states and the host of the upcoming COP 27, Egypt, which announced that it will take part in these activities, is setting the forum to be an important opportunity to redress the climate change crises and damage that mankind continues to inflict on marine life and livelihoods.”

The UN has set 10 ocean-related targets to be achieved over this decade. As part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Organization’s blueprint for a fairer future for people and the planet. They include measures to prevent and reduce pollution and acidification, protect ecosystems, regulate fisheries, and increase scientific knowledge.

At the upcoming conference, interactive dialogues will focus on how to address many of these critical issues, including the issue of 680 million people living in low-lying coastal zones.

In May, the World Meteorological Organization revealed that more than one-third of the world’s fish stocks are harvested at biologically unsustainable levels. A significant proportion of coral reefs have been destroyed. Plastic pollution has reached the remotest islands and deepest ocean trenches. Coastal dead zones from land-based pollution are growing.

It noted that there are four key climate indicators broke new records in 2021: sea-level rise; ocean heat; ocean acidification; and greenhouse gas concentrations.

Responding to this data, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, "It is clear that the triple crises of climate change, biopersity loss, and pollution are threatening the health of our oceans, on which we all ultimately depend. The ocean produces more than 50 percent of the planet’s oxygen and is the main source of sustenance for more than a billion people. Ocean-based industries employ some 40 million people. Yet ocean resources and biopersity are being undermined by human activities."

Last week, a number of Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport students, from different Arab states, such as Egypt, Djibouti, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Mauritania, sent a creative video message to the UN Ocean Conference, which will put the issue of oceans pollution at the top of the international agenda when it convenes in Europe.

The theme of their video is “Save Our Oceans”, and it focused on mobilizing and unifying the world’s efforts to support the sustainable management of the world’s oceans by fostering a global movement of citizens to protect ocean resources and the marine environment.

This is an urgent call to action, according to the Naval Academy students.

Commenting on the event, Dr. Kareem Mahmoud Tonbol, an Associate Professor of Physical Oceanography and Climatology and Vice Dean for Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research indicated that the hundreds of students were motivated to send their nautical SOS, out of concern for humanity’s future.

“Oceans are the heart and lungs of our planet, supplying most of the oxygen we breathe,” he pointed out. “They are also a vital element of the ecosystem and a key source of food and medicine.”

“Our message is to mobilize and unify the world’s efforts to support the sustainable management of the world’s oceans by fostering a global movement of citizens to protect ocean resources and the marine environment,” Dr. Tonbol noted.