The lack of scientific data on the oceans is a key missed opportunity for development and a potential threat to the planet, the UN said on Thursday.

Launched at The Ocean Conference at UN headquarters in New York, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) called on Member States to cooperate on researching the deep, in its Global Ocean Science Report.

A collective approach is important because ocean science is dominated by a handful of industrialised countries and the implications of their findings “are not that innocent”, UNESCO’s Dr Salvatore Arico told Daniel Johnson.

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