A treaty in the works for marine life protection in the high seas might not be an entirely good thing, Nature reports. For the treaty to be official, nations must agree to a system for creating large marine sanctuaries on the high seas and lay out rules for how industry operates in these waters. The most contentious issue is how
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The United Nations 2018 Sustainable Development Goals Report reviews the progress made during 2018 on the 17 sustainability goals set by the United Nations. Goal 14, “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”, remains challenging. View the full 2018 report: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2018
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Access to water and sanitation is internationally recognized human right. Yet more than two billion people lack even the most basic of services. The latest United Nations World Water Development Report, Leaving No One Behind, explores the symptoms of exclusion and investigates ways to overcome inequalities. The report was launched in Geneva, Switzerland on Mar. 19 during the 40th session
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The fast-rising number of desalination plants worldwide—now almost 16,000, with capacity concentrated in the Middle East and North Africa—quench a growing thirst for freshwater but create a salty dilemma as well: how to deal with all the chemical-laden leftover brine. In a UN-backed paper, experts estimate the freshwater output capacity of desalination plants at 95 million cubic meters per day—comparable
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The environment secretary of the U.K., Michael Gove, last month called for one-third of the world’s oceans to be designed as marine protected areas by 2030. Globally, less than 10% of the world’s seas are currently designated as marine protected areas (MPAs)—one of the most important ways to protect precious sea life and habitats from damaging activity. Currently, global targets for
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The United Nations Global Compact Action Platform for Sustainable Ocean Business launched on June 8, World Oceans Day, at UN headquarters in New York. The three-year program convenes leaders in ocean industries along with the UN, world governments, academia and civil society to work toward the sustainable use of the oceans. Lloyd’s Register, which has joined as a founding member of
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