More than 20 countries sign “declaration of peace to the ocean” before the UN summit in 2025

At least 26 countries signed this Saturday in Costa Rica a “declaration of peace to the ocean” at the end of the “Immersed in charge” marine protection forum, prior to a crucial meeting of the UN in France in 2025.

Among the signatories are Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Israel, South Korea or Costa Rica itself.

After two days of debate, calls to action, presentation of successful initiatives and shared knowledge in Saint Josephdelegations from 50 participating countries called for action to improve the declining health of the oceans.

“We are committed to scaling up transformative ocean actions, to support nature-positive economies based on the best available science and scientific information, traditional knowledge and innovation,” the document stipulates.

This Costa Rican initiative, which is not binding, is a framework text from which conversations and commitments will continue in the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC)scheduled for June 2025 in the city of Nice, which France and the Central American country co-organize.

“The ocean can no longer bear our mistreatment and indifference. For this reason, in Costa Rica we have decided that it is time for us to declare peace,” said the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, Arnoldo Andréduring the event.

The Assistant Secretary General for Social Affairs of the United Nations, Li Junhuaagreed with the Costa Rican minister on the need to act without delay: “Protecting the ocean and the sustainable use of marine resources is not an option but an imperative.”

In this forum, topics of governance, global warming, fishing or marine biodiversity were discussed to help decision-making in France.

Ratify agreements

Among the main calls was the ratification of the High Seas Protection Treaty signed in 2023 by more than 70 countries, a binding agreement to protect the ocean beyond the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the States, about 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coasts.

Currently, only around 1% of the high seas is under conservation measures and the star tool of the pact is the creation of marine protected areas in these waters.

The final declaration also indicates the “effective implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework for the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity and resource mobilization.”

This treaty was adopted in 2023 after the environmental conference COP15 in Canada in 2022 to safeguard and sustainably use biodiversity in pursuit of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed in the Paris Agreement in 2015 and which must be met by 2030.

Ocean health

“There is no healthy planet without a healthy ocean, and the current health of the oceans is getting worse,” warned the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean. Peter Thomson, during the forum.

An idea that is signed in the declaration, where the authorities committed to contributing “to the global objective of protection or conservation of at least 30% of marine and coastal areas by 2030.”

“If you want to arrive in France with your homework done, it is this weekend in Costa Rica where you must move from words to action,” said marine biologist Pilar Marcos, head of Greenpeace International Oceans.

Politics and science

Plastic pollution, aquatic pollution, unsustainable fishing, sea acidification, global warming or deep mining exploitation are the main concerns of scientists.

For this reason, and with the idea of ​​improving decision-making, science and politics must come together in the task of recovering the ocean, according to experts.

The Director of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission, Charlina Vitchevatold AFP that “it is absolutely essential” to rely on science to develop “robust policies” that match the reality of the ocean situation.

The final declaration in Costa Rica contemplates “supporting and promoting efforts to strengthen the interface between ocean sciences and policies.”

Aquaculture and fishing

During the forum days “Immersed in change” The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released a global report that revealed that for the first time the farming of aquatic animals surpassed capture fishing in production.

“Aquatic foods have a fundamental role” in the fight against hunger and poverty in the world, he said Manuel Barangedirector of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division.

And he added that in 10 or 20 years “we will eat even more fish, but that fish, the majority, will come from aquaculture and not from fishing.”