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Dear <<First Name>>,
2022 has been a super year for the ocean and nature. We saw some advances with the Agreement at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in June to start curbing harmful fisheries subsidies. That set the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon off on an encouraging footing for new commitments and placing the ocean squarely onto the international political agenda. Just now in December, COP15 in Montreal finished with a landmark declaration to implement protected areas on 30% of the ocean and 30% of the land by 2030. Strict implementation across all major ecosystems should form an effective rescue plan against the ground swell of species extinctions, but should not justify intransparent debt for nature swaps at the expense of the weakest in society.
Some smaller decisions like at least a catch limit for shortfin mako and other long overdue protective measures also signalled growing willingness to acknowledge that we have to change course to secure a future for people and nature. These are all steps to get the Sustainable Development Goals back on track and change the predominant ways of ‘doing business’ largely based on fossil fuels and a dominance of financial heavy-weights throwing their weight around. It’s high time to put people’s well-being and thus also the urgent recovery of essential functions of ocean and land ecosystems at the centre.
At Mundus maris we have worked all year to connect these global challenges to awareness and engagement on the ground. We believe that the search for global solutions needs the engagement of citizens across the globe, for creative and site-adapted local answers in tune with the global agenda negotiated by governments. Making these connections visible and ubiquitous will go a long way to close the implementation gap between global agreements and what is actually implemented in practice at local, national, regional and international levels.
We were happy to collaborate successfully with a large number of organisations for a WTO decision to stop funding overfishing through harmful subsidies and in several other contexts and will continue working now with a focus on ratifying the agreement to take effect. Other successful collaborations included a multitude of activities for World Ocean Day, participation in the UN Ocean Conference and several specific activities in support of men and women in artisanal fisheries demanding the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Ensuring Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries. The International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022) has just been officially closed on a positive note thanks to an impressive number of actions.
At the end of this often turbulent year let’s celebrate international cooperation, the beauty of the ocean, of the lands, of building trust, friendships and solidarity that made the advances in setting common goals possible. Let’s collaborate even better in the new year to advance as well in ratification and implementation of agreements.
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