66 Time September 23, 2019
As you’ve likely heArd, the ocean’s health is in
trouble. You’re probably aware of overfishing and the
harmful practices of fisheries driving a third of the
planet’s fish stocks toward extinction, and you surely
know about the unconscionable amount of pollution, in
particular plastic, that we dump in the ocean. But that’s
not the worst of it. The ocean is steadily warming; its
oxygen levels are falling; and it is becoming more acidic,
making conditions for life below the waves ever harder.
Planet- warming greenhouse gases are the common enemy
in that trio of changes. And by now we all know who has
been creating those gases.
When you’re a grandfather like me, and you care more
about the well-being of your grandchildren than about
your own creature
comforts, there’s no time
for idle behavior. Last
year, a report from the
U.N.’s Inter governmental
Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) revealed
that as global warming
moves from 1.5°C above
pre industrial levels to
2°, already observable
trends—like the
worsening of extreme
weather, rising sea levels
and loss of biodiversity—will be exacerbated. The report
also indicated that when we go above 2° warming, we lose
the planet’s coral reefs, the vast nurseries that foster life
in the ocean. We have no idea how the ocean’s biome will
function without them or what that will mean for our eco-
system. The predicament is that the planet is still on a
devastating course toward 3° to 4° global warming.
And yet, the IPCC report notes, it is still possible to
stay at 1.5°. The good news is that we have a plan. It’s
multi faceted and requires a radical change of human
production and consumption patterns, but it will succeed
if people from all walks of life get behind it.
On a global level, we must exercise fidelity to the Paris
Agreement; to the U.N.’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, including Goal 14 (conservation and
sustainable use of the ocean’s resources); and to the broad
mosaic of multilateral agreements supporting them.
Beyond that, it is vital that we establish
new law for marine bio diversity beyond
national jurisdictions. There is already
a conference under way at the U.N.
working on this issue, as there is a
growing scientific consensus that we
need to move toward a goal of protecting
30% of the ocean by 2030.
On an individual level, we all have a
role to play as well. In my own work, one
of my top priorities is putting an end
to the billions of dollars in government
subsidies worldwide that go mostly to
industrial fleets chasing diminishing
stocks of fish—and ensuring that
the public funds saved are spent on
beneficial measures like establishing
and enforcing marine- protected areas.
But everyone, from government officials
to business executives to scientists
to students, has the ability to make a
difference. We can choose not to use
nonessential plastics. We can consume
seafood only from sustainable, legally
caught stocks. We can get serious about
reducing our carbon footprints, so we are
on the right side of global efforts toward
a carbon-neutral world by 2050.
Finally, we must scale up ocean
science. We increasingly understand
how little we actually know, and in these
precarious times, it is essential that we
have a firm grasp on whether we can
afford to add new stressors to the ocean’s
ecosystem.
All of this, and much more, is
necessary if we want to deliver on
the plan to save life in the ocean.
Considering that every second breath we
take comes from the ocean, it is clear we
must.Thomson is the U.N. Secretary-General’s
special envoy for the oceanPreserving ocean life is
essential to preserving
human life