Our ocean is in serious trouble and the deterioration is increasingly posing a danger to people’s lives, livelihoods and well-being. On 5 June, the Ocean Conference kicks off in New York with a clear purpose of reversing this trend, presenting concrete solutions for healthy oceans and seas. Ahead of the event, UN DESA Voice spoke with Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General of UN DESA and Secretary-General of the Ocean Conference, about some of the urgent actions needed and his hopes for what the event will achieve.

“The state of our ocean is worrying,” said Mr. Wu, describing marine pollution, overfishing and other challenges threatening the state of our global waters which cover 72 per cent of the Earth’s surface and is home to between 500,000 and 10 million marine species. “The carrying capacity of our ocean has reached its limit.”

It is against this backdrop that the United Nations is organizing the Ocean Conference under the theme “Our oceans, our future: partnering for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14” from 5 to 9 June, bringing together thousands of participants from the international community.

Oceans and seas play vital role for our survival

Healthy oceans are critical for sustaining life, eliminating poverty and promoting prosperity. Taking care of them will save both lives and money. During our discussion, Mr. Wu mentioned several areas in which oceans and seas play a vital role in our daily lives. They provide the food we eat and the nutrition we need. They are also crucial for economic and social development, for communications, transportation and for creating job opportunities.

“But that is not all. Oceans and seas are the largest carbon dioxide sink,” Mr. Wu explained, referring to their role in slowing the rate of climate change by absorbing about 30 per cent of human emissions of carbon dioxide.

Mr. Wu also highlighted the fact that they produce half of the oxygen we breathe and serve as stabilizer of the Earth’s temperature. “So imagine if we do not have this ocean, if we have it all polluted, we will be in serious trouble, not only us, but the generations to come.”

“We have to know where the threats come from”

But despite their importance, our oceans and seas continue to be negatively affected by human activities. Every year, more than 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans. This is equal to dumping a garbage truck of plastic every minute.

“You know people are joking, if you drop a plastic bottle on this side of the Atlantic, it may be picked up by the other side of the Pacific. All the plastic waste thrown into the sea, not only makes it dirty, but it is very harmful to all the inhabitants in the sea and also very harmful to our environment,” said Mr. Wu.

Indeed, it is estimated that plastic waste alone kills up to one million sea birds, a hundred thousand sea mammals and countless fish each year.

These challenges are affecting vulnerable groups and coastal communities. They are also impacting countries with a high dependency on the oceans and their marine resources, as well as the threats that the changes to our climate pose. “Climate change actually produces the adverse effect on oceans and seas. The melting of ice bergs would raise the sea level,” he said, affecting low-lying islands and coastal areas. “That would be natural disasters for many, many inhabitants on land.”

“We have to be fully aware, where the dangers come from, where the threats come from. Then we can take actions accordingly.”

Taking action now is critical

Mr. Wu stressed the need for urgent action, also expressing optimism for what the Ocean Conference will be able to accomplish. “We are going to have a very important and very large conference,” Mr. Wu said, highlighting the expected large turn-out in terms of Member States as well as NGOs gathering at UN Headquarters in New York.

“The Conference will not only serve as a place to raise awareness of the state of the oceans, but will produce a global call for action and generate new dialogues and partnerships aimed at implementing solutions. In addition, many participants will announce new voluntary commitments to address ocean challenges,” said Mr. Wu.

The main outcomes of the Conference will be a negotiated document, a “Call for Action”, with a concrete plan towards a more sustainable future for our oceans; a report featuring the co-chairs’ summary of the seven partnership dialogues; and voluntary commitments.

These pledges for ocean action have also been picking up pace in advance of the event. As of 26 May, 310 voluntary commitments have been registered on the Conference website. “We have seen a surge in new commitments to address the very real concerns that our oceans are facing,” Mr. Wu said. “We hope the pace will pick up even further.”

Helping our ocean will help our future

As we were about to wrap up our interview, we turned to the question of what people around the globe can do to help turn the tide towards healthy oceans and seas. “As ordinary citizens I think we should love our oceans, love our cities. With our love, we are going to protect them, just like with our own family.”

“As for the specific actions, it varies from place to place,” said Mr. Wu. “You have to identify the local problems in your area. For instance, in some areas and in some countries, the ocean pollution is the number one challenge. Then go to the local community and government officials to see what you can do, to help to remove all this rubbish, dumped into the sea, to clean the environment, to solve the pollution problem.”

“If it is the challenge of overfishing, then you may help the government authorities or local communities, to try to stop these overfishing activities. And of course everybody should get themselves mobilized to fight against climate change,” Mr. Wu said.

“As ordinary citizens we can do a lot. Let’s join forces with others in the community to take action immediately to help our oceans help our future,” concluded Mr. Wu.