The ocean covers 70% of our planet producing at least half of the planet’s oxygen. The ocean is key to the global economy with an estimated 40 million people estimated to being employed by ocean-based industries by 2030. It absorbs around 30% of carbon dioxide produced by humans, buffering the impacts of global warming.
A call to action
Home to most of the Planet’s biodiversity, oceans play a mega role in the global economy. But, despite all these benefits, the ocean is now in dire need of support and it has become time to find new balance in the human-marine environment relationship.
“It is time to realize that, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change, we urgently need collective action to revitalize the ocean. – UN Secretary-General António Guterres
According to a report from the United Nations (UN), 90% of big fish populations have been depleted and 50% of coral reefs destroyed. Humans have depleted its bounty without replenishing it. This would have severe consequences by 2030 when it is estimated that 40 million people will be employed in ocean-based industries.
UN Decade of Ocean Science
The theme for this year’s World Ocean Day is Revitalization: collective action for the ocean. It is also the year of the UN Decade of Ocean Science and its Nations Ocean Conference (NOC), the first time after it had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NOC will be held in Portugal from 27 June to 1 July 2022.
World Oceans Day is celebrated to remind us of the major roles the oceans plays in everyday life. They are literally the lungs of our Planet and a major source of food and medicine as a critical part of the biosphere.
The purpose of the Day is to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean and mobilise and unite the global population on a project for the sustainable management of the world’s oceans.
Key Role players in 2022’s event
This year, the UN will host the first hybrid celebration at its Headquarters in New York, to be broadcast live. Hosted by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs of the UN, with the generous contribution of the non-profit organisation, Oceanic Global and made possible by La Mer, this year’s annual event will shed light on how we can work together to ensure the ocean’s health and well-being.
The event will include opinions and advice from thought-leaders, celebrities, institutional partners, community voices, entrepreneurs and cross-industry experts about the biodiversity and economic opportunity of the ocean.
