UN General Assembly
2020

At the end of this year, the Ocean Panel will launch our recommendations on transformative actions that we need to take to transition to a sustainable ocean economy. We cannot let this opportunity to rebalance production and ocean protection escape us. To complement these actions, it is also vital that negotiations on a high seas treaty are completed next year. We need to close this governance gap on the high seas, so that we are able to effectively protect the ocean beyond national jurisdiction. Additionally, at next year’s Convention on Biological Diversity COP15, the ocean must also not be neglected. The Global Biodiversity Outlook released last week starkly warns that we have not been successful in reaching the targets set forward a decade ago in Aichi. Significant implementation gaps remain. As we set a new framework for the conservation of nature over the next decade, we need to act with greater urgency, and with greater solidarity for implementation of these targets in developing countries.