A major UN conference on how to restore the faltering health of global oceans kicked off in Lisbon this week with a flurry of promises to expand marine protected areas, ban deep-sea mining, and combat illegal fishing. UN chief Antonio Guterres set the tone Monday for the five-day meet by warning that the world’s oceans are in deep crisis. “Today we face what I would call an ocean emergency,” he told thousands of policymakers, experts, and advocates, detailing how seas have been hammered by climate change and pollution.

UN conference sees blitz of pledges to protect ailing oceans. (2022, June 29). Manila Standard, p. B2.