Oceans - challenges and recommendations
The ocean covers seven-tenths of the planet and hosts some of the most complex and diverse ecosystems on Earth within its complex 3-dimensional space. It provides vital services to people and the planet by providing seafood for nutrition, linking countries and markets through shipping routes, offering space for recreation, and the possibility of other resources such as offshore wind-power and deep-sea mining. The ocean also generates half of the overall oxygen on Earth, it is essential for climate regulation and buffers climate change effects. The overexploitation and increasing pollution, as well as CO2 influx pose major threats to the conservation of oceans and sustainable use of its related goods and services. Effects of marine biodiversity degradation are far reaching, due to the interconnectedness of coastal and marine ecosystems. These challenges are poorly addressed by the current, fragmented governance of the ocean and will be further aggravated by climate change.
Measures to adapt to climate change impacts must follow holistic, cross-sectoral, and precautionary principles. Concerning the regulation of excessive marine resource use and input of harmful discharges, the assessments recommend strengthening sustainable fisheries practices and removing market mechanisms and subsidies which encourage overfishing, minimising the run-off of agricultural fertilizers, improving the management of wastewaters and reducing the production and distribution of hazardous substances and plastics. Consolidating ocean governance is addressed by the assessments only implicitly via management recommendations. Nevertheless, a minimum set of rules are called for to regulate the ocean as a common property that defines access conditions and conservation measures. At the local to regional level Marine Spatial Planning is considered a tool for balancing and integrating environmental, economic, and social goals and for managing marine use conflicts.