oceans

Counter-piracy operations are conducted in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia. (file)
US Navy/Ja'lon A. Rhinehart

Global response needed to counter rising security threats at sea

9 August 2021
Peace and Security

Despite an overall decrease in maritime traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic, piracy and armed robbery of ships rose by nearly 20 per cent during the first half of last year, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Monday. 

Discarded fishing lines and hooks are also deadly; this decomposing green turtle was ensnared in the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea.
UN World Oceans Day/Shane Gross

FROM THE FIELD: Ghost in the seashell

31 May 2021
Climate and Environment

“Ghost fishing” occurs when abandoned fishing gear dumped in the ocean traps and kills fish or other underwater life, and it is causing devastation to marine environments, warns the UN food agency, FAO.

A turtle swims in the ocean in Martinique in the Caribbean.
Coral Reef Image Bank/Michele Roux

Ocean benefits increasingly undermined by human activity, UN assessment reveals

21 April 2021
Climate and Environment

Greater understanding of the ocean is essential if the world is to recover better from the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve agreed targets on sustainable development and climate action, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in launching a major study on what he called “the life support system of our planet.” 

Billions of people around the world depend on the Ocean for their main source of protein.
Coral Reef Image Bank/Erik Lukas

‘Dogged pragmatism’ needed to save Ocean: UN Special Envoy

2 June 2020
Climate and Environment

‘Dogged pragmatism’ is needed to save the Ocean as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, according to the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean.

The Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Iceland is formed naturally from melted glacial water and is perpetually growing while big blocks of ice crumble from a shrinking glacier.
UN News/Laura Quiñones

Earth’s oceans and frozen spaces paying price for ‘taking the heat of global warming’

25 September 2019
Climate and Environment

Our oceans and frozen spaces have been “taking the heat” for global warming for decades, climate experts said on Wednesday, warning that without a radical change in human behaviour, hundreds of millions of people could suffer from rising sea levels, frequent natural disasters and food shortages.

Acidification, sea level rise and other impacts of climate change are taking a massive toll on the world's oceans. Pictured is an aerial view of Reykjavik, Iceland.
UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

UN oceans treaty ‘essential’ to combat ‘unprecedented pressure’ on the world’s seas – UN chief

17 June 2019
SDGs

The oceans are not only under “unprecedented pressure” due to climate change, but “half of all living coral has been lost in the past 150 years”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, addressing the latest gathering of nations which are party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Oceans and seas are home to vast biodiversity. A woman in Entebbe, is photographed on the shores of Lake Victoria, Uganda.
Arne Hoel/World Bank

Promoting gender equality a ‘crucial contribution’ in effort to restore, protect our planet’s oceans

8 June 2019
SDGs

Women are engaged in all aspects of interaction with our ocean, yet their voices are often missing at the decision-making level, the head of the United Nations cultural agency said on World Oceans Day, emphasizing that “we must ensure diversity and gender inclusiveness at all levels” to set a balanced course for humanity and foster innovative solutions for the ocean.

The Ocean Cleanup vessel is aiming to clean up plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean. It left San Francisco on its first voyage on 8 September 2019.
The Ocean Cleanup/Pierre Augier

‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ clean-up project launches trial run: UN Environment

10 September 2018
SDGs

A trial run of an innovative system designed to clean up the world’s seas and oceans, founded by UN Environment Programme (UNEP)  “Champion of the Earth” laureate Boyan Slat, has set off from San Francisco, in a bid to begin the removal of the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres is greeted by officals as he arrives in Canada for the G7 meeting.
G7 Canada/Xavier Dachez

‘We face a global emergency’ over oceans: UN chief sounds the alarm at G7 Summit event

9 June 2018
Climate and Environment

Unless there is a change of course, the amount of plastic waste in the world’s oceans will outweigh the fish that live in them, by 2050, said the United Nations Secretary-General on Saturday, declaring that the world now faces a “global emergency” over the oceans.

Plastic bottles and garbage waste from a village in Timor-Leste wash on the shores of a river and then spill into the sea.
UN Photo/Martine Perret

World must unite against ‘preventable tragedy’ of ocean pollution: UN chief

8 June 2018
Climate and Environment

From carrying your own water bottle, to volunteering for a local clean-up, everybody needs to do something to stop plastic pollution from getting into the world’s oceans, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his message for World Oceans Day.