Commitments made at an international ocean conference in Athens have sparked optimism for the future of marine conservation, though concerns remain over the effective implementation of the laws against illegal activities, conservationists have said.
Over Apr. 12-15, delegates from around 120 countries met at Our Ocean Conference in the Greek capital to discuss progress towards sea protection and strengthen their pledges for reaching the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) target to preserve at least 30% of oceans by 2030.
Some 400 new commitments amounting to $10 billion were announced during the gathering, according to the organisers.
At last year’s conference hosted in Panama, participants pledged more than $19 bln. The next Our Ocean Conference will be held in Busan, South Korea, in Apr. 2025.
BILLIONS IN THE SEA
The EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, announced on Tuesday that the bloc would put €3.5 bln towards 40 ocean-related initiatives this year, the highest allocation the EU has ever made since the conference started in 2014.
The EU also joined the governments of Belgium, Bermuda, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, South Korea, Nigeria, Palau, Philippines, and Seychelles in calling on all states to prioritise the implementation of the historic High Seas Treaty.
To date, only four countries have officially ratified the treaty – Palau, Chile, Belize, and Seychelles – while 60 formal commitments are needed for the treaty to enter into force.
During the gathering, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced over $103 million in funding to protect the oceans, as well as additional resources for ongoing initiatives.
Several commitments came from African countries, with Ghana pledging to establish one of Africa’s largest community-led marine protected areas (MPAs) covering 700 sq. km of coastal waters.
Furthermore, Guinea-Bissau’s environment minister announced the country’s ambition to exceed international targets to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030.
GREECE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Greece hit the spotlight due to several big announcements regarding its plan to preserve biodiversity, including the creation of two marine protected parks in the Aegean and Ionian Seas covering 32% of its national waters, bringing its number of MPAs to three.
During the opening day of the conference, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced an allocation of €780 mln to preserving marine biodiversity and tackling coastal pollution.
The host country had previously committed to conserving 30% of its seas by 2030, as required under the GBF, of which 10% will be strictly protected and no damaging activities will be permitted.
Greece also vowed to address plastic pollution and shipping, revealing that it will invest up to €500 mln in installing electrical hook-ups for ships in 12 ports by 2030, and pledging to use high-tech tools to monitor MPAs.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES
In a further move, Greece announced a ban on bottom trawling in MPAs by 2026, and across all of its protected ocean areas by 2030.
“This is a historic moment for conservation in Greece,” Mitsotakis said in a statement.
However, according to Anastasia Miliou, scientific director at Samos-based Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation and Greece’s Ambassador to the EU for Sustainable Maritime Policy, besides the commitments, there’s an urgent need for political willingness to implement and enforce current legislation, which is not protecting the marine environment from illegal and destructive activities.
“We hope that the government will take action against illegal trawling as well,” Miliou told Carbon Pulse, citing findings from an unpublished report, which estimated there were over 100,000 hours of such activity from 2020-2022, by non-profits Med Sea Alliance and Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation.
“The commitments are really positive, but they’re just commitments for now. First we should reinforce existing legislation in the areas where trawling today is banned, otherwise things won’t change.”
The EU pledged to phase out bottom trawling in all MPAs by 2030, but the controversial practice is still permitted in some of Europe’s underwater ecosystems, even though they have been designated as MPAs.
This week, a group of conservationists condemned France’s protest over the UK’s bottom trawling ban in 13 of its MPAs, accusing it of “hypocrisy” when it comes to ocean conservation, the Guardian reported.
Among the announcements made by Mitsotakis’ government during the conference, there’s the endorsement of the soon-to-be-designated Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs) in the country, an initiative started by the fishing community of Greek island Amorgos to respond to the drastic decline in fish and heavily polluted waters.
“We are on a positive path, but there’s a very long way between words and actions,” Miliou said.
By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com
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