A panel of business, government, conservation and academic leaders has agreed a global strategy for aligning ocean health and human well-being.
To address the oceans crisis, the World Bank convened the Global Partnership for Oceans’ Blue Ribbon Panel, which includes 21 global experts from 16 countries. The panel emphasises that without action to turn around the declining health of the ocean, the consequences for economies, communities and ecosystems will be irreversible.
“Ocean change is climate change and vice versa,” said panel chair and ocean adviser to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Ove Hoegh-Guldberg. “With looming threats of rising sea levels, warmer waters and a growing human population we need healthy oceans and coasts to mitigate climate change, feed billions and protect coastal communities.”
The panel’s report says that solutions exist that benefit both oceans and economies.
According to the panel, fragmented approaches that fail to consider social, political, economic and ecological relationships will fail to meet the complex challenges facing ocean health. The report calls for an integrated approach to ocean investment and emphasises the essential role of public-private partnerships.
The panel has proposed five principles to ensure effective GPO investments: sustainable livelihoods, social equity and food security; a healthy ocean; effective governance systems; long-term viability, and capacity building and innovation.
The panel agreed that the Global Partnership for Oceans is a platform that brings together the multi-stakeholder support, technical expertise and finance needed to change the course on oceans.
