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DG Statement 07 Jun, 2024

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Director General's Statement for World Ocean Day

The ocean is a world with three dimensions. The first is depth, from the tides lapping at our feet on a beach to the marine trenches that plunge far into a realm untouched by sunlight. The second is length, with waves that travel thousands of miles between North Pole and South. The third is width, an immense body of saltwater enveloping the entire globe, coursing unbroken for more than 40,000 kilometres.

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Photo: Masayuki Agawa-Ocean Image Bank

Hammerhead sharks near Yonaguni, Japan.

Ours is a blue planet, and the huge complex processes within its vast three dimensions underpin life as we know it. The urgent challenges facing the ocean today are similarly vast, and call for humanity to Awaken New Depths in our endeavours to save the world’s blue beating heart.

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ has worked for many years on the conservation of the ocean. Joining forces with our 1,400 Members and 16,000 experts in seven Commissions we have created tools, driven concrete impact, and influenced international policy in the right direction.

This work must continue in the face of ocean pollution, acidification, warming, and other global stressors that now threaten with extinction. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ is proud to help play a leading role for our seas, for instance by co-launching , which aims to benefit more than 70 million people in the Western Indian Ocean.

This year, we must strive for a fully functional . All signing nations should be supported in the ratification process to bring this treaty into force, moving almost into better regulation through international law. Similarly, we need to increase the number of ratifying countries for the , so that the world’s fish stocks are not overexploited. We must also continue to make the scientific, legal, and moral case for a moratorium on .

Finally, as , the protection and restoration of marine life, and planetary biodiversity in general, need to be incorporated in the upcoming , strengthening its links with the Biodiversity Plan’s targets and the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty.

It is clear that humanity must build on the momentum of our , , and ; the life of the ocean and our blue planet require it. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ is ready to play our part in turning the tide.