The State of Our Seas and the 2025 UN Ocean Conference

​Every Breath You Take (Almost)

Take a breath. Now take another. One of two breaths comes to us courtesy of the ocean. That’s right, half of the oxygen we breathe comes from Earth’s oceans and seas. Ours is a blue planet. Around 71% of Earth's surface is covered by oceans. Our seas and oceans are life, majesty, beauty. Who hasn’t spent a day at the beach marvelling at the splendour of water and waves? As Jacques Cousteau puts it: “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

But all is not well on our blue planet. Shipping, overfishing, deep sea mining, tourism, climate change, industrial agriculture, pollution and rising sea levels, among other destroyers, are damaging our oceans, depleting resources, and killing species after species of marine life. The 2025 UN Ocean Conference, co-hosted by the Governments of France and Costa Rica, will take place from 9 to 13 June 2025 in France. The 2025 Conference will address what is happening — and what we can do about it, with the aim of building “a universal framework for the protection of the ocean.”

Will it work? Many detractors worry the Ocean Conference won’t achieve enough substantive results, in part because recent COP and other climate conferences have been mired in controversy and don’t do enough.

Not Fishing, Pillaging

Our oceans and seas contain three quarters of all life on Earth. About 40% of the world’s population live in coastal communities and depend on ocean resources.

We are over-fishing. One-third of all fish today are endangered. But it’s worse than that. We’re not just fishing, we are pillaging. According to the World Bank, the “ocean economy” (which includes oil, gas, offshore wind, deep-sea mining, shipping, tourism and fisheries) already accounts for 3 – 5% of global GDP.

We’re not saving our oceans, and we’re not thanking them for supporting life and contributing to the global economy. Sadly, COP and other climate accords aren’t paying much attention. In 2022, for example, a mere 1% of total Official Development Assistance (ODA) was allocated to marine interests, with the majority of that focused on maritime transport, marine protection, and fisheries. So no real support for the seas themselves - mainly on the Industries that use It.

Oceans in Peril

​In the words of Philippe Cousteau Jr., “The ocean is a mighty force, but it is also a fragile ecosystem.”

It is, sadly, a perfect storm. Over-fishing, industrial fisheries, tourism, increased sea-based commerce, rising sea levels, privatisation, over-population, climate change, commoditisation of seas and oceans, the institutionalisation of human ownership of the sea, the plunder of our ocean commons, the list goes on. As Guy Standing, author of The Blue Commons: Rescuing the Economy of the Sea, puts it: “This is a recipe for rapid resource depletion, ecological destruction, excessive consumerism and existential folly, as countries pursue economic growth at all costs.”

• Climate change kills: Global warming affects the seas more than land, destroying habitats, polluting waters, deoxygenating and acidifying oceans. Ocean temperatures have been on the rise since the 1950s, and are currently at their hottest levels on record. 400 million people will be displaced from their homes by rising sea levels in the next 20 years. One-fifth of the world’s population will become refugees due to rising sea levels.

• Overfishing kills: the share of the world’s fish populations being fished unsustainably rose above 34% in 2020. Many species are becoming extinct
  

• Seabed mining kills: Deep seabed mining destroys habitats, disrupts carbon cycling processes and release toxic substances. Shockingly, licenses have already been granted to mine around hydrothermal vents, including the incredible “Lost City” in the middle of the Atlantic. Mining machines grind up and destroy the habitats that creatures have evolved to live in. For the most part, these unique deep-sea species cannot recover – and they become extinct. ​

• Plastic kills: 14 million tonnes of plastic enter the seas every year, and that number is rising steadily, causing devastating harm. Scientists warn that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish (by weight).

When Blue Turns to Black

We are killing fish, destroying ocean ecosystems, degrading marine life and exacerbating climate change. It’s not a pretty picture. 

​“Upon species after species of island life, the black night of extinction has fallen,” Rachel Carson wrote in The Sea Around Us, first published in 1951.

​The plunder of our oceans continues, pretty much unchecked. Most of us don’t know who owns the oceans, who regulates waters, fishing, or deep sea mining. There are no ministers, no blue party, the fish have no seats at the tables of terrestrial power, no ambassadors, no lobbies.

Head to part 2 of our blog to take a look at the UN Ocean Conference goals and how we can save our beautiful blue planet.

TAKE ME TO PART 2