The ocean is one of the most amazing wonders of our world. From its incredible biodiversity to the way it shapes the cultures of millions of people on Earth, the ocean demonstrates its power and resilience. All life on Earth originated in the ocean. It provides us with food, sustenance, and half of the oxygen in the atmosphere. It protects us and protects the climate. The sea is life.
But corporate greed is pushing marine life to its limits. Industrial fishing, pollution and climate change threaten the future of marine biodiversity. Coastal communities and fishermen are fighting against corporations that put their own interests ahead of people’s lives and basic human rights. Plastic pollution from our communities has spread to every corner of our blue planet. And emerging industries seeking to explore for minerals deep in the ocean are putting the deep ocean at risk before we have a chance to really understand it.
Indigenous peoples, coastal communities, scientists, and a growing movement of people around the world have called for protection of marine biodiversity, the rights of people who depend on healthy marine ecosystems, and the cultural connections experienced by diverse coastal peoples. How can this be achieved? By prioritizing indigenous knowledge and indigenous-led conservation, promoting the creation of a global network of marine protected areas covering 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, and holding corporations accountable for ocean destruction.
This World Oceans Day, here are five ways you can take action, drive these solutions forward and protect the rights of our oceans and the people who depend on them.
One. Call for a world maritime treaty ratification
The World Ocean Treaty adopted by the United Nations in June 2023 was a historic step toward ocean protection. This treaty is a powerful tool for creating vast protected areas where marine life can thrive as well as recover from the pressures of industrial activity and marine pollution. Healthy oceans are essential to protecting the climate and ensuring the livelihoods of millions of people around the world, including coastal communities, fishermen, sailors and everyone who depends on the ocean.
Many countries and organizations have worked for decades to get to where they are today, with the support of people like you, but there is still work to be done. The Earth and Oceans Treaty will only enter into force after at least 60 governments have enshrined it in their laws. Although 90 countries have signed the treaty, only five have so far enacted it into law. The 60-nation target must be reached by June 2025 or the maritime treaty will not enter into force. Canada has announced its intention to ratify, but we need a big World Oceans Day to signal that we need to do so as soon as possible.
In the meantime, we encourage the Government of Canada to continue to advocate for proposed marine protected areas, such as the Emperor Seamounts, and to work with other countries to prepare a treaty for successful implementation as 2030 quickly approaches. Important work is now being done It must be done as much as possible.
That’s where you come in. Urge the Canadian government to ratify the World Ocean Treaty!
2. Ensuring Canada advocates a moratorium on deep sea mining
The deep ocean is one of Earth’s last untouched frontiers. It is home to fascinating biodiversity and vital to the livelihoods and traditions of millions of people around the world, including those of the Pacific region. But the deep sea mining industry is a looming threat to this part of the planet. Some countries and companies are racing to extract metals and minerals such as cobalt, nickel, manganese and copper from the seabed, under the pretense that these minerals are needed for the clean energy transition. Some people want to profit for military purposes.
If only we could have stopped the fossil fuel industry before it caused so much damage to our planet. But we have an opportunity to stop the deep-sea mining industry from using its giant machines to plunder our pristine seabed and destroy everything.
The hopeful news is that there is growing support from civil society and world leaders to prevent deep-sea mining before it begins. last year, Canada declares support for moratoriumNow we want to get other countries involved and help push for a moratorium at the International Seabed Authority, the governing body where decisions on deep-sea mining are made.
More than 800,000 people around the world have joined the movement to increase political pressure on deep sea mining. Marine life needs protection, but it’s not just another threat.
three. Supporting Coastal Communities
Millions of people have a connection to the sea. The ocean not only provides us with food and oxygen, but is also deeply embedded in the culture and ancestral wisdom of diverse indigenous and coastal communities around the world. But industrial fishing and aquaculture, ocean pollution and the climate crisis have had a direct impact on the livelihoods and traditions that the oceans have shaped for thousands of years.
Indigenous peoples and coastal communities have protected marine ecosystems for generations. Two recent examples related to our Global Oceans Campaign include: Seychellois restoring fragile mangrove forests; And the Senegalese women who fought against industrial fishing due to COVID-19. Indigenous, Black, Brown, and other people of color, 2SLGBTQI+, other marginalized peoples, women, and coastal peoples are disproportionately affected by the climate and biodiversity crisis and environmental injustice. We must stand with indigenous peoples, coastal communities, seafarers, local fishermen and other affected groups in demanding protection of livelihoods and oceans for all.
In British Columbia, the salmon farming industry threatens wild salmon and coastal ecosystems. The Canadian government has pledged to eliminate salmon farms in B.C. by 2025. Salmon licenses are set to expire in June of this year, but the government is threatening to renew them.
Support the calls of over 120 indigenous peoples to remove fish farms from our oceans.
4. Call for a plastic-free future with the Global Plastics Pact
Plastic pollution is everywhere. Plastic pollution has flooded the planet, harming people’s health, accelerating social injustice, destroying biodiversity and aggravating the climate crisis at each stage of its life cycle.
Given the scope of the problem, a global solution is needed to tackle plastic pollution at the source. This year is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to end the plastic era. World leaders are discussing the Global Plastics Treaty, an agreement that will help significantly reduce plastic production and accelerate the just transition to a reuse-based, zero-waste era. It’s about turning the tide on plastic pollution in the future.
Global opinion polls show people want a plastics treaty to reduce plastic production. Stop biodiversity loss and limit climate warming to 1.5°C. We need world governments to raise their level of ambition and courage before the final round of negotiations in November.
Join the global movement demanding that world leaders secure a strong global plastics treaty.
5. Stop the fossil fuel industry
We know that oil production poses a threat to climate and biodiversity. Global temperatures continue to rise in both the atmosphere and oceans. Oil spills pollute the oceans and leave a path of destruction. Even international courts have recognized the impact emissions have on the oceans. But the fossil fuel industry continues to grow and generate record profits.
But the big oil companies are feeling the pressure, and we will not back down. We are joining our allies in taking direct action to demand that companies take responsibility for contributing to the climate crisis. From seizing Shell’s oil platforms in the North Sea to blocking oil tankers in the Salish Sea to fighting to protect the Amazon coast from drilling to keeping fossil fuels out of the ocean and atmosphere – these are the keys to avoiding crisis. Devastating extinction of marine life by the end of the century This is what scientists are warning.
7. Be part of the movement
Already signed all these petitions and want to do more? Share this petition and visit our Law page to find out how you can take action. support us financially.
Just as every day is Earth Day, every day is World Oceans Day on our blue planet. Every action counts.
