Not a drop in the ocean

FAO

Not a drop in the ocean

Autores

FAO

Editor

FAO ;

Descripción

Oceans are essential to life on earth. They help regulate our climate and produce oxygen for us to breathe. They also provide food, jobs, energy and transport for millions of people around the world. Yet, our oceans are in peril. Overfishing, pollution and climate change are some of the threats facing the marine environment, as well as the supply of goods and services oceans provide to humankind. The need to protect the oceans is gaining momentum on the international agenda and global action is being taken, targeting even the ocean’s remotest parts, known as the areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) – which cover over 60 percent of the ocean’s surface and 40 percent of the planet’s surface. Far from land, outside national boundaries, the complex management of the rich marine resources and biodiversity of the ABNJ requires international cooperation. This has improved since the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted in 1982. Nevertheless, challenges remain to achieve the responsible and sustainable use of these important ecosystems. To contribute to meet these goals, the Common Oceans ABNJ Program brought together global stakeholders and partners to promote the sustainable use of fisheries and the protection of marine biodiversity in the ABNJ. The Program, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), involved the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank Group (WBG), as well as Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) and other intergovernmental organizations, national governments, the private sector, civil society and academia. This report presents the results obtained by the Common Oceans ABNJ Program between 2014-2019. It highlights the value, importance and benefits of sustainably managing fisheries and biodiversity conservation in the ABNJ, and how the collateral impact of fishing is less harmful to the marine environment now than when the program started out in 2014.