Countries Call for Protecting at Least 30% of the Global Ocean by 2030
More than 100 countries have publicly committed to the protection of at least 30% of the Global Ocean by 2030, often referred to as “30 by 30”.
At the U.N. event, momentum is building to deliver and finance this ambitious conservation goal.
The milestone was shared Wednesday during the high-level “Transformative Action for Nature and People” event during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
This announcement is said to be a sign of the momentum building to safeguard the ocean for people, climate, and nature.
The key objectives of the proposed 30 by 30 ocean target are to help halt and reverse biodiversity loss and enhance climate change resilience, which in turn should deliver positive outcomes for all people.
The goal is one of 21 “action targets” under negotiation for inclusion in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity is negotiating the plan, which will detail a new 10-year strategy that seeks to put humanity on a path toward “living in harmony with nature.”
The Pew Charitable Trusts is among many organizations encouraging countries to ensure the final text is ambitious, inclusive, and science-based when it is adopted by members at the 15th Conference of the Parties in China in April and May 2022.
The Solomon Islands, often seen as a global center for marine diversity, is also supporting this call. The ocean that delivers benefits to the people is said to be worth more than SBD$2.51 billion annually.
But these valuable services are under threat from multiple and conflicting uses, overuse, destructive uses, pollution and climate change. Whilst the Government of the Solomon Islands is doing what it can to address these threats at the national level, it recognizes the need to tackle such issues multilaterally, through institutions such as the UN.
Sources: PEW and Solomon Times Online.
Footnote.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
