He Ocean is the great thermostat of the earth and for the 1st time in its history it is reaching the limit of its thermal capacity. Therefore, between June 9 and 13 and in the city of Nice, life on the planet will be in the center of discussions.
The III United Nations Conference on Oceans (UNOC3) seeks to improve the protection of the seas and change their exploitation and conservation model. A kind of Nice commitment similar to what the 2015 Paris Agreement was necessary and which marked the critical temperature of the Earth not to exceed.
The problem is that anti -scientific and denial discourses have also reached the areas of high policy and endanger the implementation of the necessary measures that allow protecting 30% of the high seas waters.
UNOC3: protect the oceans already
«Only 2.7 % of the ocean is totally protected, ”according to a report presented on Monday by the special envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for OceansPeter Thomson, within the framework of the United Nations Conference on the Oceans (UNOC3), which is held in Nice (France).
The 30 × 30 Oceanic Action Plan report, by Friends of Ocean Action, has been prepared in collaboration with organizations such as Blue Action Fund, Blue Marine Foundation, Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy, Mercuria, Minderoo Foundation, Oceano Blue Foundation, and with the strategic support of UNEP and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Thomson has assured that «this action plan distills the ideas of those who are already carrying out actions in the water to achieve the protection of our blue planet. The report offers a frank evaluation of current protection, identifies key opportunities to accelerate progress and outline strategic actions to catalyze the political will, mobilize financing and empower communities and institutions ».
30 × 30 Action Plan
“We have five years to do it well,” Thomson stressed, who added that “the 30 × 30 Action Plan aims to give the necessary impulse to make it so.” «We know what works. We know who leads. We know where support is needed. Now is the time to act urgently about the oceans«He added.
Based on Last scientific data, the 30 × 30 Action Plan is an action call for governments and interested parties to “align efforts, expand protection and take advantage of opportunities“That the international agreements present to” close the gap and protect critical oceanic ecosystems for climate resilience, food security and subsistence means of communities. “
According to some recent data collected in the report, Only 2.7 % is total or highly protected, only 8.3 % of the ocean covers marine protected areas (AMP), of which 7.4% are in national and 0.9% waters on the high seas.
Therefore, he affirms that without an urgent and coordinated action, it is unlikely that the objectives of the Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity agreement that urges the protection of at least 30 % of the Oceans By 2030. But the document highlights two keys: «It protects too little from the ocean effectively and advances too slowly«.
At present, only 1.2 billion dollars are allocated annually to the protection of oceans, a fraction of the 15,800 million that are needed annually to reach The 30 × 30 target, according to the data of ‘The lag in the protection of the oceans: evaluation of the advances towards the target 30 × 30’ (The Ocean Protection Gap: Assessing Progress Towards The 30 × 30 Target).
Multimillionaire benefits derived from protection
Points out that With three concrete actions: preserve natural coastal defenses, avoid carbon emissions derived from the loss of marine meadows and the recovery of overexploited fisheries in the protected areas of 30 × 30 could be generated about 85,000 million of dollars per year from here to 2050 on costs avoided and annual benefits.
Susan Gardner, director of the Ecosystems Division of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has indicated that the report clearly shows that efforts are urgently intensifying the efforts «Regarding coverage, which includes ensuring that protected areas are well managed, with effective and integrative governance and the participation of local communities«.
According to Gardner, the agreements on regional seas will play an important role in this regard, tending bridges between the realities on the field, regional collaboration and world frames, including andThe World CDB Biodiversity Framework and the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity Beyond national jurisdictions (BBNJ). EFE / ECOticias.com