The Navigator would like to begin this month’s edition by giving a HUGE shout out to Lewis Pugh, extreme swimmer extraordinaire, UN Ambassador for the Ocean and Ocean Unite Network member, for being the first person to complete the long swim of the entire length of the English Channel - all 560 km of it (…that’s about 16 Channel crossings!). Lewis set off in July and swam for 49 days, through calm waters, blue skies, wind, rain, storms and jellyfish in just his trusty Speedos. (Relive Lewis’ swim here). The aim of the swim was to raise awareness about the plight of the Ocean (in the UK and globally) and the need to ensure at least 30% of it is fully protected by 2030 - the level of protection scientists say is needed to make sure Ocean life can withstand the impacts of our fast-changing climate.
Well done Lewis - we hope you're catching up on your sleep and Netflix!
Seen from the Lighthouse– what's happening now?
Tracking the high seas treaty negotiations
On Tuesday, negotiations formally started in New York to develop a new UN treaty to put in place strong measures to ensure the high seas (that’s 2/3 of the Ocean) are properly managed and protected. This meeting, which is seen as “the last chance” for the Ocean, is the first of 4 negotiating sessions, with a further 2 meetings planned in 2019 and a final session scheduled for the first half of 2020. To help track negotiations, the High Seas Alliance just launched a super-handy online tool - the High Seas Alliance Treaty Tracker. It includes summaries of statements and key issues being discussed, as well as expert perspectives on how things are progressing at the meeting. They’ve also developed 4 briefing documents with recommendations on some of the main subjects, including marine protected areas (MPAs) and marine reserves and environmental impact assessments.
High seas protection is severely lagging, with only about 1% protected. Check out MPAtlas’ high seas protections tracker map. Increasingly, the question being asked is whether this area should be permanently closed off to fishing altogether, especially as new research shows that high seas fisheries play a negligible role in global food security, with heavily-subsidized vessels doing the fishing and just a handful of countries benefiting. While it’s highly unlikely that such an outcome will result from the discussions in New York, a new treaty could benefit fisheries, as increased MPAs will help build healthy fish populations that will spill-over into neighboring areas.
Strong leadership by governments is essential to make sure we don’t miss the boat on achieving a progressive and conservation-focused agreement. Follow @HighSeasAllianc and the Treaty Tracker to keep your flipper on the high seas negotiations pulse.
Following years of being in the back seat (and, some may argue, even reversing Ocean action), Canada has been revving up its Ocean program and its leadership on this at the G7 is a case in point. In 2017, they announced their $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan and plan to meet the international target of 10% protection of their marine and coastal areas by 2020. Recently, the government designated a number of marine refuges. Of these areas, 29 are existing fisheries closures but with a new name. MPA connoisseurs will know that fisheries closures are not the same as MPAs, as they have far fewer restrictions on activities and are easier to reverse - click for an MPA 101. The Navigator hopes that Canada is not taking shortcuts to meet its global commitments.
It's great to see the Ocean high up on the G7 agenda and we hope this continues when France takes up the Presidency. These economic giants could have a huge impact on Ocean conservation if they work together and get others on board. Follow #G7, #G7Charlevoix and @G7 on twitter to find out what’s happening at the G7 meeting.
Climate and Ocean - a steady drumbeat building for action
Many of us - especially in the Northern hemisphere - couldn’t avoid noticing that this summer was unseasonably hot, hot, hot. While this is a pleasant change for some (especially if you live in the Netherlands), these heatwaves are resulting in terrifyingly high record-breaking temperatures, and are yet another sign that climate change is well and truly upon us. And, while we may flock to the Ocean to cool down, it is also heating up. Marine heatwaves are becoming longer and more frequent, with significant impacts on marine ecosystems, fishing and aquaculture industries, not to mention melting sea ice at the Poles.
With these climate change and Ocean risk foghorns sounding off loud and clear, it's good to see a steady drumbeat of climate related meetings (and hopefully action) happening ahead of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in December. Currently, governments are meeting in Bangkok as the “final leg of the journey “ to completing and adopting all the implementation guidelines that will ensure the Paris Agreement is fully functional at the COP in Poland this year. The Global Climate Action Summit will take place in California from 12-14th September, focusing on “taking ambition to the next level”, with Ocean stewardship on the agenda. This meeting is important as it shows that, even in the absence of high level action from the White House, there is still leadership within the US on climate. Then, at the G7 Environment Ministerial in Halifax, coastal resilience is a key theme. Finally, later in the month, from 24-30th September, it will be Climate Week in New York, with a jam-packed agenda. Ocean conservation is an untapped strategy to fight climate change - we need to make sure that it becomes an integral part of our arsenal of climate change-busting strategies at all of these meetings.
Can tourism save the Ocean? Watch this Economist film on how eco-tourism could provide a way of protecting and conserving Indonesia’s bio-diverse waters.
Significant Antarctic protection up for decision
From 22nd October - 2nd November, the 25 members of CCAMLR (including the EU) - the body in charge of protecting Antarctic waters - will have their annual meeting in Hobart to decide on a couple of very bold MPA proposals. After 7 years of negotiations, hopefully the East Antarctic MPA proposal, that’s been put forward by Australia and France (on behalf of the EU), will finally be approved. Last year, only Russia and China were standing in the way of consensus. (Let's just pause here, take one of those breaths that the Ocean provides us, and think about what an awfully long time 7 years is to discuss actually doing something.) Another MPA proposal, put forward by Germany (on behalf of the EU) to protect the Weddell Sea, is also on the table. These proposals have the backing of members of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, including a huge public campaign by Greenpeace and Oscar winning actor Javier Bardem. Even Pamela Anderson has got on board with Antarctic protection by urging Russia to support the new MPA proposals.
The MPA proponents now need to pull up all their diplomatic socks to get unanimous support by CCAMLR members in October. The recent EU-China Summit offers some hope - with the signing of a landmark Partnership on Oceans, including an agreement to work together on “the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources”. See the European Commission’s press release for more details.
Sign Avaaz’s petition NOW to voice your support for urgent Antarctic action by European leaders and call on CCAMLR members not to miss the Antarctic protection boat again this year - #Antarctica2020 #CCAMLR.
Our Ocean, Our Legacy in Indonesia
The Indonesian government is hosting the 5th Our Ocean Conference from 29-30th October in Bali, under the theme “Our Legacy”, as a reminder to the world that the choices and actions we take now regarding the Ocean will have a direct impact on our kids' and grand-kids' future. Indonesia will also host the Our Ocean, Our Legacy Youth Leadership Summit. 2014 saw the launch of the first Our Ocean by former US Secretary of State, John Kerry, aimed at generating greater commitments and actions to save the Ocean. Since then, commitments have been made that total around US$ 18 billion and 12.4 million km2 of marine protected areas.
Check out what and where commitments have been made to date. This year’s conference plans to showcase this progress and try to inspire further commitments and action, in particular on MPAs, sustainable fisheries, marine pollution, and climate change-related impacts on the Ocean.
Indonesia has been a key player on Ocean issues, in particular with its zero-tolerance approach to illegal fishing. Fisheries minister Susi Pudjiastuti has already sunk 488 vessels that have been engaged in illegal fishing in Indonesian waters since 2014, with benefits already showing in terms of replenishing fish stocks. This iron-fist approach to compliance should serve as an inspiration to other countries that hard-line policies are needed to keep the Ocean safe. Keep an eye out for new commitments and anything else happening at #OurOcean.
Moving at Bolt speed: launch of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator
Amidst a sprinkle of celebrity glitter - including superfast Caribbean climate ambassador Usain Bolt, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, and others - the official launch of an ambitious new initiative called the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator took place on the 9th August in Kingston, Jamaica, to ensure the region becomes more resilient to natural disasters and to develop the world’s first “climate-smart” zone. The Accelerator is the first high-level commitment to come out of the One Planet Summit organized by French President Emmanuel Macron in December 2017. Last year, Caribbean leaders, global organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the OECD and the World Bank, NGOs, global businesses and other supporters including Sir Richard Branson, formed the Caribbean-Smart Coalition that aims to transform the region’s economy by fast-tracking public and private funds to support green initiatives such as clean energy, resilient buildings, climate-smart cities and a healthy Ocean.
This initiative was spurred on by the spate of disastrous hurricanes that battered the Caribbean region last year, causing devastating loss of life and human suffering. Within hours, homes, businesses and key infrastructure such as roads and power lines were obliterated, leaving countries almost at breaking point. The ambitious “One Caribbean” leadership initiative will create unprecedented regional collaboration on climate action, including a specific focus on Ocean health, providing a story of hope and inspiration to other regions on the need to work together for a safer and greener future.
Discussions on draft deep-sea mining code continue
In July, governments continued discussions on a draft seabed mining code at the International Seabed Authority (ISA). They included the tricky issue of what a financial payment system would look like in terms of royalties and profits from the mining of resources that are the common heritage of mankind, and therefore belong to us all. Progress was made, but there’s still some way to go to get things finalized by the 2020 deadline, especially regarding environmental provisions. Discussions will continue again at next year’s meeting, with written comments by stakeholders on the revised regulations welcomed by 30th September 2018. A Strategic Plan that lays out ISA’s priorities for 2019-2023 was also adopted, and greatly strengthened by NGO input regarding environmental protection and transparency.
