UNITED NATIONS:
The Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres has said that adoption by most nations of the world of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 40 years ago was an important step to bring order and governance to the great collective treasure that is the ocean.
Addressing a General Assembly meeting marking the 40th anniversary of the approval of the Convention on Thursday, the Secretary General said that ocean is life. It is the livelihoods and it binds humanity together across cultures and history.
He highlighted the scope of the agreement, spanning from the air, to the atmosphere and to the sea-based industries that provide livelihoods about forty million people
Marine protection, conservation of the world’s fisheries, equitable and sustainable management of mineral-related activities in international waters and the right to resources within 200 nautical miles of national shorelines are the main provisions of the Convention.
35% of world’s fisheries over-exploited, UN chief
The Secretary General urged the participants for taking measures to secure oceans. He said that approximately 35% of the world’s fisheries are being over-exploited. Due to climate change, sea levels are rising and waters are chocked and acidifying with pollution.
He said that floods are threatening coastal cities across the world, coral reefs are bleaching and ocean-based industries’ workers are not having safe working conditions and support they deserve and need.
He said that the anniversary should be utilized to remind responsibilities and work for today’s challenges.
The UN chief said that the recently approved Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies needed to be adopted and practiced swiftly. — APP
