The week-long UN Ocean Conference concluded on 1 July, with the unanimous adoption of the Lisbon Declaration “Our ocean, our future, our responsibility,” and firm commitments supporting innovative science-based actions to save our ocean and action against plastic pollution. More than 6,000 participants, including 24 Heads of State and Government and over 2,000 representatives of civil society attended, including a senior delegation from WMO.
Climate change is inflicting a devastating toll on the world’s ocean, which are increasingly “hot, sour and breathless.” Record ocean heat, acidification and de-oxygenation have major implications for marine life, ecosystems, food security and socio-economic development.
“There is no way to deal with the climate problem without the ocean, and no way to deal with the ocean problem without the climate,” said US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry.
Speaking at an Interactive Dialogue on ocean acidification, deoxygenation and ocean warming on 29 June, Mr Kerry said that the rate of change was “alarming even the most neutral scientists.”
“These consequences will affect every single human being on the planet,” said Mr Kerry.
…
World Meteorological Society, 4 July 2022. Full article.
