The Ocean: benefits, challenges, and solutions

Our Blue Planet, and all of its life, depends on a healthy ocean. Covering over 70% of Earth’s surface, the ocean plays a key role in regulating the climate, absorbing and transporting heat via sea currents from the equator to the poles; and it also produces half of the world’s oxygen. Under climate change, scientists estimate that the ocean absorbs at least 25% of CO2 emissions and has captured 90% of excess warming due to greenhouse gasses over the last 50 years [1,2]. Furthermore, the ocean is home to around 250,000 described species, with scientists estimating that another 700,000 are undiscovered [3]. Such diversity of life is possible due to the array of rich habitats within marine and coastal ecosystems, including coral reefs, seagrass meadows, kelp forests, mangrove forests, as well as coastal shores.

People – and economies – also directly rely on the ocean. It is estimated that around 680 million people live on the coasts, and this number is expected to grow [4]. Additionally, the livelihoods of over 3 billion people depend on the ocean. Marine and coastal areas contribute significantly to the food, tourism and recreation, and transport industries. The global market value of ocean resources and its associated sectors is estimated to be around US$2.5 trillion per year [5].

Yet, the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution is causing ocean health to decline, putting these benefits at risk. Rising temperatures are contributing to impacts like sea level rise and marine heatwaves, while the absorption of excess CO2 leads to ocean acidification [4]. Excess nutrient pollution is leading to algal blooms, which can produce harmful toxins, as well as dead zones where there is no oxygen, which can grow to thousands of km² in size. Increased production, consumption, and improperly managed disposal of plastic pollution has resulted in millions of tons of plastic reaching the ocean yearly (up to 12 million in 2010) [6]. Wildlife can then become tangled in debris, or ingest it and starve with stomachs full of plastic. Unsustainable use of ocean resources, including practices such as overfishing, have also decimated wildlife populations and ecosystems.

To combat problems like these, the United Nations embedded a goal supporting Life Below Water within the Sustainable Development Goals. Specifically, Goal 14 looks to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. This Goal was formed with the recognition that the ocean and its resources represent a tremendous opportunity for people and the planet – if we properly use them.

Enhancing SDG 14: The UN Ocean Conference

Clearly, supporting the realization of SDG 14 is crucial for sustainable development. To reinforce this objective, the UN has held the Ocean Conferences. The first Ocean Conference took place from 5 to 9 June 2017 in New York City, sounding the alarm about the state of our oceans while providing a space to discuss solutions and build partnerships. Additionally, from 27 June to 2 July 2022, over 6,000 participants – made up of individuals from civil society, the private sector, states and governments, the scientific community, and more – gathered in Lisbon, Portugal for the 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference. I had the opportunity to support the Conference from the preparation phase through its conclusion in Lisbon.

Preparations

Such a large event does not happen without a lengthy preparatory process. My main role was to provide assistance to the Sustainable Development Officers in the UN Division for Sustainable Development Goals (Department of Economic and Social Affairs) as they worked to actualize the Conference. For me, this looked like attending meetings and taking notes on logistic and substantive aspects of the Conference, as well as related topics. Along with other students, I prepared draft documents such as summaries, remarks, and presentations for supervisors to review, and provided virtual support such as email correspondence, creating or uploading documents, maintaining databases, checking registrations, and updating the Conference website as needed.

Outcomes

Political Declaration

A main outcome of the 2022 UN Ocean Conference is the Political Declaration, “Our Ocean, Our Future, Our Responsibility”. During the preparatory process, co-facilitators held consultations with Member States to get their feedback as the draft document was revised. The document contains a list of science-based and innovative actions needed to support the ocean and those who rely on it for sustainable development. In the end, the final draft was accepted and successfully adopted at the 2022 UN Ocean Conference.

Plenary sessions and partnership dialogues

The Conference programme included both plenary sessions and eight interactive dialogues. During the plenary sessions, Member States and other stakeholders could make interventions. This provided a forum for sharing their experiences, problems, solutions, and more. The eight interactive dialogues centered around different ocean and SDG-related topics. For each of these Dialogues, a panel discussion with experts in each field was held, followed by a discussion period where stakeholders could give statements.

A summary for each plenary session and interactive dialogue was to be prepared for inclusion into the final Conference report. Part of my responsibility on the ground was to provide support by taking notes at these sessions and submitting these to the lead, who would then prepare the summary for approval.

Enhancing ocean action: voluntary commitments

To recover and retain the health of the ocean, actors make voluntary commitments to support the implementation of SDG 14. Any initiative which contributes to the advancement of SDG 14 may be submitted as a voluntary commitment. These projects, either carried out by individuals or as partnerships within or across sectors, represent concrete steps taken by stakeholders to create positive change in the ocean and to reverse its decline. You can find information regarding any of these initiatives within the registry of voluntary commitments, which houses all commitments made since the first Ocean Conference in 2017. Currently, the number of commitments stands at 2,093.

Do these commitments make a difference? A 2021 analysis of their impacts found that voluntary commitments have led to at least 3.3 million km2 of new marine protected areas. Many litter-collecting and awareness-raising initiatives have been held, and governments have implemented bans on single-use plastics under the voluntary commitment framework. Enhanced partnership and scientific cooperation have led to benefits in capacity development, technology development and transfer, and ocean governance. These positive impacts will increase, given the many strong commitments made at the 2022 UN Ocean Conference.

My peers and I assisted with reviewing commitments and corresponding with voluntary commitment holders in case of any issues. We also kept track of the approved voluntary commitments for inclusion into the report of the Conference.

Conclusions

Through this experience, I was able to learn both about ocean issues by listening and speaking directly to top experts across disciplines. I heard how these issues were impacting people and different ways to tackle them; as well as how to sustainably use the opportunities of the ocean. I saw concrete action, partnerships, and cross-sectoral collaboration, and diplomacy driving innovative solutions through the voluntary commitments and the adoption of the outcome document by governments. I also gained insight into the interconnections between the SDGs and saw this reflected throughout the Conference and its lead up.

Overall, being able to take part in the Ocean Conference was a valuable experience, made particularly rewarding by the fact that I was involved during (a portion of) the preparation through the conclusion of the Conference itself. This allowed me to see how the scientific and environmental dimension mixes with the economic, social, and political aspects of sustainable development at different stages to ultimately culminate in the Ocean Conference and its outcomes. At the same time, I had the chance to see first-hand how the UN supports and facilitates all these pieces, and more, for sustainable development.

References

[1] Zanna, L., Khatiwala, S., Gregory, J. M., Ison, J., & Heimbach, P. 2019. Global reconstruction of historical ocean heat storage and transport. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(4): 1126–1131. Link

[2] Watson, A.J., Schuster, U., Shutler, J.D. et al. 2020. Revised estimates of ocean-atmosphere CO₂ flux are consistent with ocean carbon inventory. Nature Communications (11): 4422. Link

[3] W. Appeltans, S.T. Ahyong, G. Anderson, M.V. Angel, T. Artois, N. Bailly, R. Bamber, A. Barber, I. Bartsch, A. Berta, et al. 2012. The magnitude of global marine species diversity. Current Biology. 22: 2189-2202. Link

[4] IPCC, 2019: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, N.M. Weyer (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 755 pp. Link

[5] UNCTAD. 2021. Advancing the potential of sustainable ocean-based economies: trade trends, market drivers and market access. Link

[6] Jambeck J. R. Geyer R. Wilcox C. Siegler T. R. Perryman M. Andrady A. Narayan R. Law K. L. 2015. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science 347(6223): 768-771 pp. Link

The post 2022 UN Ocean Conference appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Some of you may know that I am from Brazil and I have a Bachelor of Science in Sanitation and Environmental Engineering. Among the subjects I studied was waste management. Considering we are constantly generating waste on this planet, it struck me that only in 2010 a law that concerns waste management was enacted in my home country, the Brazilian National Solid Waste Bill n. 12.305/2010. Even though it was considered a revolution at the time and perhaps even now still is—I think it shows how much we are neglecting the crucial waste management agenda.

Don’t get me wrong, this was not the first bill of its kind in Brazil. However, the absence of clear goals, instruments, principles and rules can cause the accumulation and repetition of automatic actions that may lead to substantial issues in the future. Thus, the bill 12.305/2010 was created with the goal to protect public health and environmental quality; promote non-generation, reduction, reuse, recycling, and treatment of the solid waste; and to ensure the adequately environmental final disposal of the rejects (the waste that could not be recycled, reused or recovered). One important target defined by the Brazilian National Solid Waste Bill was the eradication of dumpsters in the entire country by 2014—a goal that was not achieved and postponed to 2021. Sadly, according to the Cleaning and Special Waste Companies Brazilian Association (Abrelpe), in 2017 dumpsters increased by 1% in the country, while the volume of waste destined to such places also rose in 4%. ¹ Irony can be ironic sometimes… Even with the bill, the waste management issue is not improving in Brazil.

This was supposed to be a short introduction to my review of the documentary “A Plastic Ocean”, but here I am… And indeed, there is a lot to say regarding this “waste disease”. Nevertheless, being now in Germany, I feel impressed, happy and excited when I see how well this country manages its waste. I don’t know what your opinions are if you were born and grew up in Germany. Still, compared to my upbringing in Brazil, Germany sets a great example to several governments in how to successfully implement domestic waste separation and recycling, ultimately supporting an improved quality of life, environment, and a better tomorrow for all. Now, without further ado, I will begin my documentary review, I hope you are still with me.

The documentary “A Plastic Ocean” impacted me in so many different ways. From the start of its first frame which quoted Helman Melville’s Moby-Dick until the end of the movie, it is an honest, heart-breaking, apologizing letter to the planet and to the biota present in it. This documentary was directed by journalist, filmmaker and adventurer Craig Leeson and begins with him talking about his astonishment as an 8-year-old kid when he saw a whale for the first time in a National Geographic magazine. As we are led to the ocean by the coast of Sri Lanka, diving alongside the British diver Rich Horner, the viewer is shocked as plastic and other kinds of waste are found in that area, especially because the beaches in that region have been closed for up to 30 years.

The film continues its trajectory in the ocean presenting several different locations and the environmental problems caused by plastic—up to this point, especially on the marine fauna. It is devastating as the viewer sees footage of a dying Bryde whale that had its digestive system blocked by a 6 square meter plastic sheet. Animals including dolphins, seals and sealions are physically harmed because they had some kind of plastic wrapped around their necks. It is not possible to live having this general thinking that when we throw something away, we are free of it. As some of the interviewers stressed, which is a 100% true, there is no “away.” We live in a closed system, one planet, and at this point we are well aware that nothing simply disappears. How outrageous is it to think that in some places in the ocean there is more plastic than plankton?

“A Plastic Ocean” exhibits didactically the ocean’s function and importance for the planet, as well as how it is possible for plastic to be transported from anywhere to the ocean. With an assembly of doctors and researchers, the viewer is guided through the documentary to understand the role of the currents, the existence of gyres, what is bioaccumulation, toxicity of plastic components and effects of plastic pollution on our health. There is not a moment when the viewer is left hanging. It is an essential documentary for every human inhabitant of this Earth. It emphasizes that we live in an interconnected world; it makes us travel to different corners of the planet and reminds us of social inequalities, sustainable alternatives, technological advancements and essential, immediate action. Besides counting statistical plastic production within the time frame we are watching the movie, as production never stops.

I would say find time and watch “A Plastic Ocean” today. It is a movie that challenges and confronts us. It opens our eyes to spheres of our planet and the current reality that we either sometimes neglect or are unaware of. We are active agents of change and it is a fact that we can help planet Earth. Bit by bit. One by one. The sum of everyone’s good actions can make a huge impact. And share this documentary or suggest to friends and family because, quoting Craig Leeson, “From knowing comes caring, and from caring comes change.”

Sincerely,

Éverton Souza da Silva

P.S.: “A Plastic Ocean” is available on Netflix.

1 https://ecocircuito.com.br/legislacao/

The post The Waste Disease: “A Plastic Ocean” Review appeared first on Global Change Ecology.