Oceans Day 2024, why they are warming and what we risk
As a result of climate change, the oceans are warming like never before: here are the risks not only for marine life but also for the entire planet.
ROME – World Oceans Day is celebrated on Saturday 8 June, World Oceans Day 2024. But the oceans, unfortunately, have not been doing well for a while. In fact, it is now well known that they are dramatically warming all over the world, as has never happened before. This is an effect of climate change, which could have very serious repercussions not only for the life of fish and other creatures that have their home within them (and which in some cases are disappearing), but also for humans.< /p>
“THE OCEANS ARE WARMING”
These are the words of the High Representative-Vice-President, Josep Borrell, and the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius: “The oceans are indispensable to life on earth; they play a crucial role in regulating of the climate, they provide more oxygen than all existing forests and are fundamental to meeting pressing global challenges in the fields of food security, energy and accelerating the green transition”. Ocean temperatures, however, have never been higher and marine life is disappearing at an unprecedented rate, thus putting the planet at risk. Our oceans, which are the largest carbon sink on the planet, cannot wait for a reversal of this dramatic evolution, and neither can we.”
THE UN OCEAN CONFERENCE IN 2025
“Since last year’s World Oceans Day, we have witnessed promising progress in protecting the oceans – they point out – On 19 June 2023, a historic agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of diversity was adopted marine biology on the high seas, known as the Agreement on Biodiversity in Areas Not Subject to National Jurisdiction”. The note continues: “With the vote of the European Parliament on 24 April, the European Union is getting closer to its ratification – they explain – The task facing us now is to reach 60 ratifications of the agreement so that it can enter into force and be effectively implemented. We aim to reach the goal by June 2025, when the United Nations Ocean Conference will be held in France“.
40 COMMITMENTS FOR THE OCEANS
“The EU takes action. The sustainability of the oceans is a priority of the Union’s green diplomacy. At the ninth ‘Our Ocean’ conference, held in Greece earlier this year, the EU took up < strong>40 new commitments aiming to achieve safe, clean, healthy and sustainably managed oceans, worth around 3.5 billion euros from various EU funds, the highest contribution of the Union since the beginning of the ‘Our Ocean’ conferences ten years ago – they conclude – Protecting the oceans is a shared responsibilityand only the implementation of global solutions, such as the Kunming-Montreal global framework. for biodiversity and the agreement on biodiversity in areas not subject to national jurisdiction, can contribute to achieving the objective”.