World faces ‘ocean emergency’, UN chief warns

The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has warned that the world is facing an "ocean emergency" that threatens nature and humanity. Addressing a major  UN Ocean Conference  in Lisbon on Monday, said "We have to turn the tide."  Climate change has disrupted ocean food chains and created vast dead zones, even as humanity dumps millions of tonnes of plastic pollution into its waters every year, he said. Guterres appealed to governments and companies to commit more funds to help create a sustainable economic model for managing the oceans.

Drawing people from more than 130 countries, the five-day Ocean Conference is focused on restoring the health of the oceans, which cover 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and provide food and livelihoods for billions of people. Oceans are home to an estimated 700,000 to one million species and produce more than half of the world’s oxygen. However, they have been facing the impact of climate change, including global warming, pollution, and acidification.

“We have only begun to understand the extent to which climate change is going to wreak havoc on ocean health,” said Charlotte de Fontaubert, the World Bank’s global lead for the blue economy. Making things worse is an unending torrent of pollution, including a garbage truck’s worth of plastic every minute, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).