The Festival, organized by the Global Brain Foundation, will galvanize people across the world to bring public attention to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs<\/a>), specifically Goal 14<\/a>, on conservation and sustainable use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, \u201cright here in New York City, a premier coastal city,\u201d said Ms. Abeywardena.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough these gatherings, people will come together to catalyze specific steps we can take as a community to preserve our oceans and engage our citizens and in particular, our young people,\u201d she said, adding that, with 520 miles (about 835 kilometres) of coastline, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio\u2019s administration recognizes the need for cities to lead on protecting the planet from degradation through sustainable consumption and effective management of the world\u2019s natural resources and mitigating the worst impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n For his part, Assembly President Thomson said New York City is a model not only in the United States but around the world of what cities can do in integrating the SDGs<\/a> with their urban development planning, drawing attention to Mayor de Blasio\u2019s \u2018One NYC\u2019 initiative.<\/p>\n As for the Conference, he said \u201cthe ocean is in deep trouble,\u201d facing threats such as marine pollution; fishery subsidies at a time when fish stocks are collapsing; and degraded coastal ecosystems planet-wide. \u201cThe Ocean Conference is \u201cWith ocean acidification, we\u2019re already seeing the effects of this; its serious business in Oregon and Washington state and its spreading around the world and is also serious business for the tropics, where because of rising temperatures life is leaving our waters because it is too hot,\u201d explained Mr. Thomson, noting that 40 per cent of the cause of rising sea levels is due to the fact that oceans are heating up.<\/p>\n UN Photo\/Martine Perret<\/p><\/div>\n And yet \u201call human problems have human solutions and that\u2019s what the Ocean Conference is about, working to find what the solutions are,\u201d he emphasized, noting that UN Member States are currently making good progress on the \u2018call to action\u2019 that would be agreed by the Conference. Further, in addition to a plenary, the Conference would also feature seven partnership dialogues focused on SDG 14.<\/p>\nAn opportunity to address major woes humanity has put upon the ocean<\/em><\/h5>\n
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