Greenpeace: “The historic UN agreement on the oceans: a victory”
[ad_1]
After almost twenty years of negotiation, tonight the Member States of the United Nations finally agreed on a Global Treaty on the Oceans. The text will now be subjected to editorial corrections and translated before being adopted in a subsequent session. This treaty is a monumental victory for ocean protection and an important signal that multilateralism is still working in an increasingly divided world.
The Global Treaty on Oceans gives a concrete possibility to the 30×30 goal: protect 30% of the oceans by 2030. The text, the result of close negotiations, nonetheless presents some critical points and it is now up to the governments to ratify the treaty as soon as possible and then put it into practice quickly, effectively and fairly.
UN, after 15 years of historic agreement to protect the high seas: the emotion of the president
“This is a historic moment for the protection of nature and the oceans. It is also a signal that in an increasingly divided world, the protection of nature and people can trump geopolitical calculations,” he says. Laura Meller of Greenpeace. “We congratulate all countries for reaching a compromise by setting aside their different positions and producing a treaty that will allow us to protect the sea, increase our resilience to climate change and protect the lives and well-being of billions of people.”
For Greenpeace, however, now is the time to move from words to deeds: rapid ratification is needed to allow the treaty to enter into force soon and therefore begin to create those sanctuaries useful for protecting the oceans that we need. We have little time to reach the 30×30 goal and we cannot delay.
The States of High Ambition Coalition, which includes the European Union, the United States and China, were instrumental in closing the deal, showing a willingness to cooperate and seek compromise in the final days of the negotiations, seeking allies rather than sowing divisions. Countries in the group of island states (Small Island States) have shown leadership throughout the process and the G77 group of countries, which includes most of the other states, has led the process to ensure that the treaty can be implemented fairly and justly.
Biodiversity
“Oceans Looted Like Mines: New York Gets Last Chance to Protect Them”
by Fiammetta Cupellaro
Now the countries, including Italy, must reach the 30×30 objective in time: a rapid ratification of the Treaty is needed and then the creation of an effective network of sanctuaries to protect the entire sea, inside and outside the limits of territorial waters. Furthermore, it is important to use this success to stop old and new threats – such as deep sea mining, the so-called Deep Sea Mining – and put the protection of the sea at the centre. Over five and a half million people globally signed the Greenpeace petition calling for a fort Global Treaty for the Oceans: this is a victory for all of them.
[ad_2]
Source link
