Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water & Sanitation & Hygiene May -June 2017 | Page 23

2017
meeting in its headquarters in New York, to prepare for
an Ocean Conference in June this year, which will aim “to
help safeguard the planet’s oceans and help them recover
from human-induced problems.“
Healthy oceans have a central role to play in solving one of the biggest
problems of the 21st century – how to feed 9 billion people by 2050.
Credit: FAO
bags on our environment…”
According to estimates, at the rate we are dumping items
such as plastic bottles, bags and cups after a single use,
by 2050 oceans will carry more plastic than fish and an
estimated 99 per cent of seabirds will have ingested plastic.
Major announcements are expected during The Ocean
Conference in New York at the UN Headquarters 5 – 9
June, and the December UN Environment Assembly in
Nairobi, Kenya.
“No Need to Invent or Negotiate Something New…” –
Sweden
In addition to the 8 million tons of plastic dumped each
ears in the waters, oceans are also victims of overfishing,
acidification and increasing global water temperatures
linked to climate change.
The United Nations on 15 February held a two-day
On this, the deputy prime minister and climate minister of
Sweden, Isabella Lövin, said in a video log on Twitter that
the Conference could be a “chance of a lifetime” to save
the oceans under enormous stress.
Most likely reflecting the general feeling of most scientists,
environmentalists and civil society organisations, Lövin
said “We don’t need to invent or negotiate something new,
we just need to have action to implement what we already
agreed upon.”
Lövin was referring to the expected ‘Call to Action’
that will result from the Conference in connection with
stopping illegal fishing, stopping marine pollution and
addressing the special circumstances of small island
developing States.
“The World Going in the Totally Wrong Direction”
In an interview to IPS UN Bureau, Lövin said the world
is going “in the totally wrong direction,” when it comes
to achieving the goal of sustainable oceans and life below
water.
“If you look at the trends right now, you see more and
more overfishing, we are seeing more and more pollution,
plastic litter coming into our oceans, and we’re also
seeing all the stress that the ocean is under due to climate
change, acidification of the water, but also the warming
and sea level rises and all of this is putting a tremendous,
tremendous pressure on our oceans,” Lövin explained.
During the New York meeting, the UN has called for
voluntary commitments to implement Goal 14 and on
February 15 launched an online commitment registry,
which has its first three commitments – the Swedish
Government, the UN Environment Programme, and
Peaceboat, a non-governmental organisation.
The site will be up through the end of the Conference,
which starts on World Environment Day, marked annually
on 5 June, and includes 8 June, celebrated as World
Oceans Day.
In 2017, the Swedish climate law is signed by Isabella Lövin, with other
female cabinet members.
The voluntary commitments “underscore the urgency
for action and for solutions,” said Under-Secretary-
General Wu Hongbo, who heads the UN Department for
Economic and Social Affairs and serves as the Secretary-
General of the Conference.
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