LIFE BELOW WATER: WHY IT MATTERS Over

What’s the goal here? exploitation have led to an 3 billion alarming level of degra- To conserve and sustain- dation. Current efforts to ably use the world’s ocean, protect key marine envi- people seas and marine resources. ronments and small-scale fisheries, and to invest depend on Why? in ocean science are not Oceans are our planet’s yet meeting the urgent marine and life support and regulate need to safeguard this the global climate sys- vast, yet fragile, resource. coastal tem. They are the world’s The drastic reduction in largest ecosystem, home human activity brought biodiversity to nearly a million known about by the COVID- species and containing 19 crisis, while rooted in for their vast untapped potential for tragedy, is a chance for scientific discovery. Oceans oceans to recuperate. It livelihood and fisheries continue to is also an opportunity to support the global popu- chart a sustainable recov- lation’s economic, social ery path that will ensure and environmental needs. livelihoods for decades Despite the critical impor- to come in harmony with tance of conserving oceans, the natural environment. decades of irresponsible So what’s the problem? Unless carefully man- protect vulnerable hab- aged, tourism can pose a itats. Establishing com- The ocean absorbs around major threat to the nat- prehensive, effective and 23 per cent of annual CO2 ural resources on which equitably managed sys- emissions generated by it depends, and to local tems of human activity and helps culture and industry. government-protected mitigate the impacts of areas should be pur- climate change. The ocean How is the ocean sued to conserve bio- has also absorbed more connected to our health? diversity and ensure a than 90% of the excess sustainable future for The health of the ocean heat in the climate system. the fishing industry. Ocean heat is at record is intimately tied to our levels, causing wide- health. According to On a local level, we should spread marine heatwaves, UNESCO, the ocean can make ocean-friendly threatening its rich eco- be an ally against COVID- choices when buying prod- systems and killing coral 19 – bacteria found in the ucts or eating food derived reefs around the world. depths of the ocean are from oceans and con- used to carry out rapid sume only what we need. Increasing levels of debris testing to detect the Selecting certified products in the world’s oceans are presence of COVID-19. is a good place to start. also having a major envi- And the diversity of spe- We should eliminate ronmental and economic cies found in the ocean plastic usage as much impact. Every year, an esti- offers great promise as possible and orga- mated 5 to 12 million metric for pharmaceuticals. tonnes of plastic enters the nize beach clean-ups. Furthermore, marine fish- ocean, costing roughly $13 Most importantly, we eries provide 57 million billion per year – including can spread the message jobs globally and pro- clean-up costs and financial about how important vide the primary source losses in fisheries and other marine life is and why of protein to over 50% industries. About 89% of we need to protect it. plastic litter found on the of the population in least ocean floor are single-use developed countries. To find out more items like plastic bags. about Goal #14 and So what can we do? other Sustainable About 80% of all tour- For open ocean and deep Development Goals visit: ism takes place in coastal sea areas, sustainabil- http://www.un.org/ areas. The ocean-related ity can be achieved only sustainabledevelopment tourism industry grows an through increased inter- estimated US$ 134 bil- national cooperation to lion per year and in some countries, the industry already supports over a third of the labour force.