The UN Ocean Conference, which concluded on the 1st of July, brought excellent news for the wellbeing of our oceans: the unanimous adoption of the Lisbon Declaration “Our ocean, our future, our responsibility”.
Following a week of discussions and commitments in Lisbon, governments and heads of state agreed on a new political declaration to save our ocean, which sends a strong signal on the need to act decisively and urgently to improve the health, sustainable use and resilience of the ocean.
Countries agreed on actions ranging from strengthening data collection, recognizing the role of indigenous people in sharing innovation and practices to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from international maritime transportation, especially shipping. They also agreed to promote innovative financing solutions to achieve sustainable ocean-based economies and encourage women and girls’ meaningful participation in the ocean-based economy.
The ambitious Declaration represents a call for a greater global commitment to address the state of the ocean, while recognizing a collective failure to achieve ocean related targets so far.
Among the challenges, the ocean faces are coastal erosion, rising sea levels, warmer and more acidic waters, marine pollution, overexploitation of fish stocks and decrease of marine biodiversity.
The UN Ocean Conference provided the platform to discuss critical issues, generate new ideas and reaffirm commitments, with more than 6000 participants, including 24 Heads of State and Government and over 2000 representatives of civil society attending.
Read the Lisbon Declaration
