A “BLUE GLOBAL ACTION PACT” FOR RESTORING THE OCEAN

The Ocean is the perhaps the most valuable natural resource, providing half of the oxygen we breathe, a large share of the food we eat and livelihoods to hundreds of millions. Twenty of the world’s 30 megacities, each home to more than 10 million, are located on its coasts and more than 2.4 billion people are expected to be living in coastal settlements by 2050.  Accordingly, with growing discussions about the growth of a “blue economy,” we believe that a proper collaborative understanding should be created about restoring and protecting the ocean along the way, which we propose in the form of a Blue Global Action Pact. 

The ocean covers two thirds of the world’s surface, and this simple fact has perhaps made humankind take it for granted.  We have assumed that it is “too big” to fail. We thought that its vast size meant that it would continue to replenish itself indefinitely. Pollution would simply be diluted, with no large scale, long-term impacts. This thinking has often been behind the over exploitation of this life-sustaining natural resource. 

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