by Sebastian Unger, Federal Government Commissioner for the Ocean, Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Germany
The world’s seas ensure the very survival of humankind. They produce oxygen and sequester carbon. They regulate the climate, supply us with food and provide habitats for countless numbers of species. And much of the global population depends on healthy seas for their livelihoods.
Massive pressure on marine life
For us humans, the ocean is fundamental to life on Earth – but life in the ocean is itself severely threatened. The triple planetary crisis caused by humans – the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution – is putting massive pressure on marine life.
We are seeing record-breaking temperatures in the oceans as a result of the climate crisis. And the ocean is becoming increasingly acidic. Both are already having devastating effects on marine flora and fauna. Fishing and shipping, nutrient and toxin input, oil and gas platforms and offshore wind farms further pollute our seas and oceans.
Last but not least, marine litter, especially plastic, poses a threat to marine life. We are all familiar with the images of massive patches of floating plastic waste, littered beaches and seabirds entangled in plastic nets. Plastic finds its way into the stomachs of animals and thus also into our food chain. Plastic waste can also be found on the seafloor, even in deep-sea trenches.
New instruments for protecting the ocean
The need to protect the ocean is more urgent than ever before. And cross-border, global cooperation is crucial to these efforts. The ocean knows no borders. It is a single, interconnected habitat that compels us to work together. Only together, through a well-functioning multilateral system, can we successfully tackle the ocean crisis. It is therefore very encouraging that the international community has taken several far-reaching decisions in recent months to protect life in the ocean – despite all geopolitical tensions.
UN High Seas Treaty
This March in New York, the international community agreed on a new UN High Seas Treaty. It establishes binding rules for the conservation and sustainable use of the Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), which cover nearly half of our blue planet. The German government supports swift ratification and implementation of the BBNJ Treaty. This agreement finally gives us the necessary tools for the establishment of marine protected areas in the high seas, but also for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits associated with marine genetic resources of these areas.
Global Biodiversity Framework
Last December, at the Kunming-Montreal UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the international community agreed on a new Global Biodiversity Framework, which includes the goal to protect at least 30% of terrestrial and marine areas to preserve biodiversity. Protected areas are an important refuge for many species and habitats, such as coral reefs. They help to make our seas more resilient to the effects of the climate crisis. Our ocean is also a powerful ally in the fight against global warming: it sequesters carbon and stores much of the surplus heat. These functions must be preserved at all costs through rigourous climate and marine protection.
Combatting plastic pollution
National borders do not stop living creatures and ecosystems – but the same applies to marine pollution caused by waste and other harmful substances. We therefore need new ways of fighting the pollution crisis that enable us to work better together as an international community in the future. Last year, we therefore launched a key process with the mandate for a legally binding UN treaty to combat plastic pollution.
A first draft of an ambitious agreement is currently being written, with the most important options already on the table. The discussions have shown that reaching consensus will not be a foregone conclusion. Some countries still need convincing because the agreement is intended to cover the entire life cycle of plastics, not just voluntary measures at the end of the value chain. Important issues that need to be clarified include the binding nature of the targets and measures, and specifically a possible restriction on plastic production, the interpretation and implementation of extended producer responsibility, as well as conformity and financing.
It is clear that we cannot wait for the agreement to be finalised and enter into force to take action. Countries must already accelerate their action now. Internationally, we have mainstreamed the issue at G7 and G20 levels and facilitated further commitments. Regionally, we have established it prominently in the action plans for the North-East Atlantic through the OSPAR Commission and the Baltic Sea through the Helsinki Commission. Nationally in Germany, the Environment Ministry is working on a law to reduce packaging waste, for example. This is because the problems arise on land, and single-use plastic in particular ends up far too often in the environment and in the seas and oceans, where it causes harm over many decades. We want to rely primarily on reuse systems, both nationally and internationally.
International cooperation is a key priority
The German government supports partner countries around the world to foster marine protection, with programmes such as the International Climate Initiative (IKI), the Grant Programme against Marine Litter and the Blue Action Fund. With the UN BBNJ Treaty, the Global Biodiversity Framework of the CBD, and the future agreement to combat plastic waste, we have new and powerful instruments for marine protection and a significant opportunity to strengthen international cooperation as a whole.
We can only be successful if we work together. In the future, the German government will therefore focus even more on international cooperation for the ocean as a key priority. We only have one ocean – which connects our continents and countries, feeds us and is our ally against the triple crisis. It is high time that we protect our ocean more effectively because by doing so we protect ourselves.
Sebastian Unger
is Germany’s Federal Government Commissioner for the Ocean and serves as Deputy Director General for Marine Protection in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection. He is an internationally recognised expert on ocean governance, marine conservation and sustainable marine use. Prior to his appointment, he led the Research Group on Ocean Governance at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Potsdam, and advised governments, European institutions and different international organisations.
