When we protect the ocean, the ocean protects us back. In the lead-up to the UN Ocean Conference, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Peter Thomson urge governments, industries and civil society to join forces and take action to reverse the decline in the ocean’s health. 

With every breath we take, we are connected to the ocean. The ocean gives us oxygen, provides us with food and livelihoods. It stabilizes our climate, absorbing most of the heat trapped in the Earth’s system. Billions of humans, animals and plants rely on a healthy ocean. But the ocean is in trouble. Rising carbon emissions are making the ocean more acidic, weakening its ability to sustain life underwater and on land. Plastic waste is choking the ocean. More than half of the world’s marine species may stand on the brink of extinction by 2100, if we continue on the current track.

Solutions exist that can help us restore the health of the ocean. But it will require action from all parts of society, from world leaders to the person in the street.

The UN Ocean Conference, which will take place from June 27 to July 1 this year in Lisbon, Portugal, provides a critical opportunity to mobilize partnerships and increase investment in science-driven approaches.

I urge governments, industries and civil society to join forces and take action to reverse the decline in the ocean’s health. When we protect the ocean, the ocean protects us back. We must stop destroying the life support systems of this planet and restore humanity’s relationship the ocean to one of with respect and balance.

I count on your support to make that so.