A summit on the state of global oceans concludes Friday with nations having tested the waters on deep-sea mining and making strides towards protecting unpoliced reaches of the high seas.
But the UN Ocean Conference is set to fall short on major new financial pledges for poorer island nations, and many delegates are also disappointed that fossil fuels dropped off the agenda.
France welcomed more than 60 world leaders to the southern city of Nice along with thousands of scientists, business leaders and marine conservationists for the five-day event.
It was just the third time nations had come together for the oceans at the UN level, and it was the largest gathering of its kind so far.
Many nations, including Colombia, Greece and Samoa, took the opportunity to unveil plans to create vast new marine parks and protected areas.
Others announced restrictions on bottom trawling, a destructive fishing method captured in grisly detail in a David Attenborough documentary that went viral ahead of the summit.
But marine groups praised efforts to ratify a landmark pact to protect marine life in the 60 percent of oceans that lie outside national waters.
France had hoped at Nice to secure the 60 ratifications necessary to bring the high seas treaty into force.
By Thursday evening, 51 nations had ratified the agreement in what Rebecca Hubbard from the High Seas Alliance described as a “major milestone for ocean action”.
“While we celebrate this incredible progress, we urge all remaining nations to ratify without delay,” she added.
Cox’s Bazar Life Desk/BSS
