World Ocean Conference gets it
The state of the oceans was bad enough when all we had to worry about was overfishing, pirate fishing, whaling, shark finning, dumping, mining, and oil exploration, (there are a lot of etceteras here, but you get the idea). When you add global warming to the threats, you face the prospect of acidification, of coral reefs dissolving like alka-seltzers, of messing with the chemistry of the source of half of the world's oxygen, of glacial melt altering ocean currents, and the possibility that instead of sucking down 30 percent of the world's carbon dioxide, the oceans could flip to become net carbon emitters, and you've got the kind of screaming nightmare scenario that could wake up even a politician to the need for action, not words.
When we hear politicians talking about "rescue plans" for the oceans -- language that only we environmental extremists used to use -- it's a good sign that we're finally getting through. And when they are calling on the United Nations to set aside fully protected Marine Reserves, and despairing at the fact that less than 1 percent of the oceans are now protected by them, why that's what 125,000 people who have signed our Marine Reserves petition have already demanded the UN to do. A bit sadly, we watch carefully precisely what words these bodies use, since delegates to these events tend to be masters of the syntax of inaction (I blogged about this back in 2002 as "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Being a Head of State at the Earth Summit") But a friend of mine there tells me that the way they've used the word "establish" is unprecedented, and may actually lead to action.
This is an international body at last hearing the alarms that scientists have raised and environmentalists like us have been shouting about: the fate of our planet and the fate of our oceans are one. So why have local fisherman and activists who have merely been trying to get this message through been sorely treated by the Indonesian government? This is what it takes -- shouting from the rooftops, to get these bodies to listen.
If we don't set aside the most sensitive areas of our oceans and let them recover, we threaten their ability to survive in a warming world, we threaten our human food supply and livelihoods, and we threaten our ability to survive as a species. That's worth taking action. That's worth raising your voice.
This is a wake up call to the Heads of State that (we hope) will be meeting at the Copenhagen climate summit -- the decisions they make there will determine the fate of the oceans, and the fate of the Earth. They're hearing those messages from many levels of civil society now, and it's well past time they listened.
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Comments
Great report ! I hope that the cry of the dying ocean can be the catylist for change at Copenhagen. The more I learn,( via forums like Greenpeace) the more I am disgusted by how mankind will only act at the last moment before irrovocable damage to our world. Well done to you and the other activists for bringing this to the attention of the world. Not much is been done in Africa though
regards
HMG
Posted by: Hayden Green | May 16, 2009 8:20 AM
Great right and write Brian, ...as per your usual insight.
I just hope it's time that many of them attending, and that have personal interests in the exploitation of our earth's resources, have the courage to see over the horizon of their bank account statements.
Posted by: Grateful Child | May 17, 2009 3:51 PM
Scary stuff! As the oceans cover most of our, still beautiful, planet it seems as if it will be a mammoth task and, involve ALL nations if it is going to be successful.
It makes me sad to think of how selfish we have been as a species in the past but, I am also hopeful that it is not too late to do something to stop and, reverse the harm we have inflicted on our lands and oceans.
It's organizations like yours, that keeps people informed and act out to bring attention to the plight we are in.
Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Simone Stewart | May 19, 2009 1:11 AM