UN states agree 'historic' deal to protect high seas

Yahoo – AFP, Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS,  5 March 2023 

UN member states finally agreed Saturday to a text on the first international treaty after years of negotiations to protect the high seas, a fragile and vital treasure that covers nearly half the planet. 

"The ship has reached the shore," conference chair Rena Lee announced at the UN headquarters in New York shortly before 9:30 pm (0230 GMT Sunday), to loud and lengthy applause from delegates.

The exact wording of the text was not immediately released but activists hailed it as a breakthrough moment for the protection of biodiversity after more than 15 years of discussions. 

The treaty is seen as essential to conserving 30 percent of the world's land and ocean by 2030, as agreed by world governments in a historic accord signed in Montreal in December. 

"This is a historic day for conservation and a sign that in a divided world, protecting nature and people can triumph over geopolitics," said Greenpeace's Laura Meller. 

EU environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius on Sunday called the treaty "a crucial step forward to preserve the marine life and biodiversity that are essential for us and the generations to come." 

Following two weeks of intense talks, including a marathon overnight session Friday into Saturday, delegates finalized a text that now cannot be significantly altered. 

"There will be no reopening or discussions of substance," Lee told negotiators. 

The agreement will be formally adopted at a later date once it has been vetted by lawyers and translated into the United Nations' six official languages, she announced. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commended the delegates, according to a spokesperson who said the agreement was a "victory for multilateralism and for global efforts to counter the destructive trends facing ocean health, now and for generations to come." 

'Critical role' 

The high seas begin at the border of countries' exclusive economic zones, which extend up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from coastlines. They thus fall under the jurisdiction of no country. 

Even though the high seas comprise more than 60 percent of the world's oceans and nearly half the planet's surface, they have long drawn far less attention than coastal waters and a few iconic species.

 Ocean ecosystems create half the oxygen humans breathe and limit global warming by absorbing much of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities. 

But they are threatened by climate change, pollution and overfishing. 

Only about one percent of the high seas are currently protected. 

When the new treaty comes into force it will allow the creation of marine protected areas in these international waters. 

"High seas marine protected areas can play a critical role in building resilience to the impact of climate change," said Liz Karan of The Pew Charitable Trusts, which called the agreement a "momentous achievement." 

The treaty will also oblige countries to conduct environmental impact assessments of proposed activities on the high seas. 

A highly sensitive chapter on the sharing of potential benefits of newly discovered marine resources was one of the focal points of tensions before it was finally overcome as the scheduled talks, due to end Friday, overran by a day. 

'Profits' 

Developing countries, without the means to afford costly research, had fought not to be excluded from the expected windfall from the commercialization of potential substances discovered in the international waters. 

Eventual profits are likely from the pharmaceutical, chemical or cosmetic use of newly discovered marine substances that belong to no one. 

As in other international forums, notably climate negotiations, the debate ended up being a question of ensuring equity between the poorer global South and richer North, observers noted. 

In a move seen as an attempt to build trust between rich and poor countries, the European Union pledged 40 million euros ($42 million) in New York to facilitate the ratification of the treaty and its early implementation. 

The EU also announced $860 million for research, monitoring and conservation of oceans in 2023 at the Our Ocean conference in Panama that ended Friday. Panama said a total of $19 billion was pledged by countries. 

In 2017, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on nations to establish a high seas treaty. 

It originally planned four negotiating sessions but had to pass two resolutions to ensure two additional sessions. 

"We can now finally move from talk to real change at sea," said Greenpeace's Meller.

Great Barrier Reef sees fragile coral comeback

Yahoo – AFP, Andrew BEATTY, August 4, 2022 

Parts of Australia's beleaguered Great Barrier Reef now have the highest levels of coral cover seen in decades, a government report said Thursday, suggesting the aquatic wonder could survive given the chance. 

Portions of the vast UNESCO heritage site showed a marked increase in coral cover in the last year, reaching levels not seen in 36 years of monitoring, the Australian Institute of Marine Science said. 

Scientists surveying 87 sites said northern and central parts of the reef had bounced back from damage more quickly than some had expected, thanks mainly to fast-growing Acropora -- a branching coral that supports thousands of marine species. 

"These latest results demonstrate the reef can still recover in periods free of intense disturbances," said the Australian Institute of Marine Science's CEO Paul Hardisty. 

But far from declaring victory, Hardisty warned the gains could easily be reversed by cyclones, new bleaching events or crown-of-thorns outbreaks. 

He pointed to a reversal in fortunes for the southern portion of the reef, which a year ago had appeared to be on the mend, but was now in decline again. 

"This shows how vulnerable the reef is to the continued acute and severe disturbances that are occurring more often, and are longer-lasting," he said. 

Coral coverage has increased by 36 percent across sites monitored in the northern part of the reef, up from 27 percent in 2021. 

But the picture was less encouraging as the scientists moved south, with a smaller increase in cover in the reef's central belt and a marked decrease in coral cover in the south. 

The spread of coral-killing crown-of-thorns starfish has also taken a toll. 

Only fierce lobbying by the Australian government stopped the reef from being labelled "in danger" by UNESCO -- a potentially devastating blow to the country's multi-billion-dollar tourism industry. 

Many fear that the speeding rate of damage could cause the reef to be destroyed entirely. 

Marine scientist Terry Hughes said it was "good news" that coral was regrowing, but warned the species driving the recovery were very vulnerable to ocean heating. 

He added that replacing large, old, slow-growing corals that had defined the reef was likely "no longer possible. Instead we're seeing partial reassembly of fast-growing, weedy corals before the next disturbance." 

Zoe Richards a researcher at the Coral Conservation and Research Group at Curtin University also cautioned against over-optimism. 

"This recovery trend is driven by a handful of Acropora species which often grow in a boom-and-bust pattern," she said. "This means that the next thermal stress event could easily decimate these coral communities once again." 

"We are already finding evidence that each mass bleaching event leads to local extinctions of rarer species, so the short-term success of a handful of fast-growing coral species masks the full story about the largely hidden losses of biodiversity."

Related Article:

“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....The Prediction: The Renewal of the Life Cycle

When you change the temperature strata of the oceans of the earth, things start to change, for the life cycle of the food in the ocean depends upon that which is the smallest. The plankton of the planet survive in certain temperatures, and that's changing. Throw away what you think you know about how it's all supposed to work, and instead think "renewal" or "how did it begin." This will serve you to understand what is happening now. This cycle is built to replenish the ocean with life and not always by sustaining the kind that was there.

Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth.

Within this process, there will be the extinction of certain plants and animals, birds and fish. My advice to you, especially to those environmentalists, is to understand the cycle of life so that you may relax with what nature has always done. It puts life on the planet to serve the planet for a time. When certain life no longer serves the planet in the ways it used to, it takes it away. The extinction of life, especially through weather change, is normal for Gaia. It is honored, appropriate and normal, even if you don't think so. Don't try to save all the disappearing animals, fish and birds! Some are supposed to go away. And, dear ones, don't assign all this activity to something you did to cause it!

The red people are stressing. The purple is here, and they are trying to figure out what they did wrong. They don't know they are in the Rainbow Room. They think they are in the RED ROOM. This is what the Rainbow Room does; it changes colors. So as the room does what it has always done, the red people are sitting there in fear trying to figure out what it is that they did that possibly could have caused the purple to appear.

The Rainbow Room is beautiful. The color purple is significant. Going from red to purple has metaphysical significance within this parable, but I'll let you figure it out. For those who are into colors, there's a reason why I gave those two. The earth is becoming more sacred than it's ever been before. Gaia is with you in this. It's cooperating in ways you never thought it could, in the way biologists said it would not. You think you're killing it? Instead, it's giving birth to an altered ecological system. ...."

Fate of bigeye tuna in the balance in quota meet

Yahoo – AFP, Laure FILLON, November 18, 2019

More than 50 fishing nations meet this week in Majorca to try and agree
quotas for the under-pressure bigeye tuna (AFP Photo/JOHN WESSELS)

Paris (AFP) - The fate of big-eye tuna, over-fished and in decline, could be decided this week when fishing nations meet to set quotas after failing last year to agree on safeguard measures for the valuable food resource.

Scientists warn that unless the catch is reduced, stocks of Thunnus obesus -- prized for sashimi in Japan and canned worldwide -- could collapse within years.

A scientific report prepared for last year's meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) showed that numbers had plummeted to less than 20 percent of historic levels.

This was only about half what is needed to support a "maximum sustainable yield" -- the largest catch that can be taken without compromising the long-term stability of a species.

ICCAT, which groups more than 50 parties including the European Union, convenes in Majorca, Spain, on Monday for another review of the situation in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, having failed last year to agree quotas or how to include all members in the system.

Previously, ICCAT has a headline quota of 65,000 tonnes, but in practice the catch was nearer to 80,000 tonnes, well into the danger zone, according to NGOs.

The EU on Monday proposed a quota of 62,500 tonnes through to 2022 which would include 17 countries currently catching more than 1,250 tonnes a year.

Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana and Guinea Bissau, meanwhile, back a quota of 57,500 to 60,000 tonnes, while the Latin American states of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Mexico are pressing for no change.

Quota key to recovery

For the Pew Charitable Trusts, "a quota of 60,000 tonnes would be too high," fisheries expert Grantly Galland told AFP, suggesting 50,000 tonnes instead.

A quota of 60,000 tonnes would make the stock recovery period "too long," Galland said.

Some experts have calculated that cutting the total catch to 50,000 tonnes per year would give bigeye tuna a 70 percent chance of recovery by 2028.

ICCAT will also be looking at other species at risk -- albacore tuna and sharks.

For albacore, it suggests a quota of 110,000 tonnes from 2020.

For its part, the World Wide Fund for Nature recommends that no-go zones be established for certain periods so as to reduce the number of juvenile tuna caught.

The International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF), which promotes artisanal line fishing for tuna, wants the meeting to take on board the special concerns of developing coastal countries.

As for sharks, which have suffered massive human predation, Senegal is pushing for all shortfin mako sharks caught to be released, dead or alive.

The shortfin mako, also known as the blue pointer or bonito shark, is among the most at risk and is already protected under international trade by the wild fauna and flora CITES convention aimed at controlling trafficking in endangered species.

CITES votes to protect endangered mako sharks

Yahoo – AFP, Laure FILLON, August 25, 2019

Mako sharks are often targeted for their fins which are used in shark fin soup
(AFP Photo/Valery HACHE)

A proposal to strengthen protection for mako sharks, hunted for their meat and fins, was adopted Sunday by 102 countries at the CITES global wildlife trade summit.

Makos, the fastest shark species, have practically disappeared from the Mediterranean and their numbers have plunged in the Atlantic, Northern Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Mexico presented a proposal to list mako sharks under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meaning that they cannot be traded unless it can be shown that their fishing will not threaten their chances for survival.

Mako sharks are often targeted for their fins -- used in shark fin soup -- a status dish in Asian countries, notably China, which is often served at weddings.

"Fishing is the main threat being faced by sharks," said a delegate from the European Union, which backed the proposal.

Dried fish and shark fin on sale in a Hong Kong shop (AFP Photo/ANTHONY 

WALLACE)

"We need much stronger measures" than national initiatives to prevent overfishing, he said during a heated debate in Geneva.

Countries opposing the measure such as Japan and China argue that there is insufficient scientific data to show that mako sharks are declining as a result of their trade. Forty nations voted against the measure.

'Global momentum'

Delegates from more than 180 countries gathered in Geneva for 12 days also voted for the inclusion of a total of 18 species of rays and sharks in Appendix II.

"There is a real global momentum to save these species. There is now hope for these 18 depleted species of sharks and rays," said Megan O'Toole of the International Fund for the Protection of Animals (IFAW).

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in March 

that 17 species of rays and sharks face extinction (AFP Photo/Seyllou)

"There is now hope for these species," added Luke Warwick from the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The vote must still be finalised at the plenary session at the end, when all appendix change proposals passed in committee are officially adopted.

For the first time three species of sea cucumber -- also sought after by consumers in Asia -- were also listed in Appendix II, with a 12-month deadline for implementation.

The move was hailed by WWF's Colman O Criodain, who said the sea cucumbers, which are threatened by overfishing, play a crucial role in the health of ecosystems.

CITES can impose sanctions on countries which do not adhere to its rules. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in March that 17 species of rays and sharks face extinction.

Sharks appear to be getting an image makeover as countries move to restrict trade in several species of the oceans' top predator in a push to extend more protections to marine species https://t.co/YxwK3bRnwq pic.twitter.com/L2eo3XFF20

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 26 augustus 2019

UN biodiversity conference to lay groundwork for Nature rescue plan

Yahoo – AFP, Marlowe HOOD,  April 29, 2019

Up to a million species face extinction, many within decades, according
to the draft UN report (AFP Photo/ISHARA S. KODIKARA)

Paris (AFP) - Diplomats from 130 nations gathered in Paris on Monday to validate a grim UN assessment of the state of Nature and lay the groundwork for a rescue plan for life on Earth.

The destruction of Nature threatens humanity "at least as much as human-induced climate change," UN biodiversity chief Robert Watson said as the five-day meeting began.

"We have a closing window of opportunity to act and narrowing options."

A 44-page draft "Summary for Policy Makers" obtained by AFP catalogues the 1001 ways in which our species has plundered the planet and damaged its capacity to renew the resources upon which we depend, starting with breathable air, drinkable water and productive soil.

The impact of humanity's expanding footprint and appetites has been devastating.

Up to a million species face extinction, many within decades, according to the report, and three-quarters of Earth's land surface has been "severely altered".

Biodiversity loss around the world measured in percentage compared to 

an intact ecosystem (AFP Photo/Simon MALFATTO)

A third of ocean fish stocks are in decline, and the rest, barring a few, are harvested at the very edge of sustainability.

A dramatic die-off of pollinating insects, especially bees, threatens essential crops valued at half-a-trillion dollars annually.

Twenty 10-year targets adopted in 2010 under the United Nations' biodiversity treaty -- to expand protected areas, slow species and forest loss, and reduce pollution -- will, with one or two exceptions, fail badly.

Based on an underlying report that draws from 400 experts and weighs in at 1,800 pages, the executive summary has to be vetted line-by-line by diplomats, with scientists at their elbow.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) document, once approved, will be released on May 6.

Historically, conservation biology has focused on the plight of pandas, polar bears and a multitude of less "charismatic" animals and plants that humanity is harvesting, eating, crowding or poisoning into oblivion.

But in the last two decades, that focus has shifted back to us.

"Up to now, we have talked about the importance of biodiversity mostly from an environmental perspective," Watson told AFP ahead of the Paris meet.

Three-quarters of Earth's land surface has been "severely altered", according 

to the draft UN report (AFP Photo/Mauro Pimentel)

Agriculture is key

"Now we are saying that Nature is crucial for food production, for pure water, for medicines and even social cohesion."

And to fight climate change.

Forests and oceans, for example, soak up half of the planet-warming greenhouse gases we spew into the atmosphere.

If they didn't, Earth might already be locked into an unliveable future of runaway global warming.

And yet, an area of tropical forest five times the size of England has been destroyed since 2014, mainly to service the global demand for beef, biofuels, soy beans and palm oil.

"The recent IPCC report shows to what extent climate change threatens biodiversity," said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a main architect of the Paris Agreement, referring to the UN's climate science panel.

"And the upcoming IPBES report -- as important for humanity -- will show these two problems have overlapping solutions."

Graphic on Earth's "mass extinctions" during the last 500 years. (AFP 

Photo/Alain BOMMENEL)

Extinctions hard to see

That overlap, she added, begins with agriculture, which accounts for at least a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions.

Set up in 2012, the IPBES synthesises published science for policymakers in the same way the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) does on climate.

Both advisory bodies feed into UN treaties.

But the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has always been a poor stepchild compared to its climate counterpart, and the IPBES was added as an afterthought, making its authority harder to establish.

Biodiversity experts are trying to engineer a "Paris moment" for Nature akin to the 2015 Paris climate treaty.

Public concern about global warming has crystallised around impacts ranging from rising seas to deadly heatwaves, and the Paris pact's hard target for capping the rise in global temperatures.

The 2018 IPCC report cited by Tubiana added a time imperative: to hold the line at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit), the world must reduce CO2 emissions 45 percent by 2030, and become "carbon neutral" by mid-century, it concluded.

But finding the equivalent for Nature has proven difficult.

"Extinctions are not something the public can easily see," said Watson.

A growing number of scientists and NGOs are calling for 30 to 50 percent of Earth's surface to be "sustainably managed" by 2030, and more thereafter.

But the draft report makes no such concrete proposals.

The next opportunity for a visionary plan to be ratified would be the next full meeting in October 2020 of the parties to the Convention on Biodiversity in Kunming, China.

Related Article:

20TH KRYON SUMMER LIGHT CONFERENCE, US (7), June 2-4, 2017 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Text version "The State of the Earth")

"....  A mini ice age is coming. "Kryon, isn't that doom for the planet?"  Many have seen the artist's rendering of major earth cities under ice and all of the other things that go very well with science fiction movies. That's simply a painting of someone's doom scenario, not reality based in the history of the cycle. If you want to know what a mini ice age is like, just flash back in history and study what took place in about 1650. That was a mini ice age. Due to the change in the Gulf Stream (the ocean), the river Thames froze in London. Dear ones, it was cold, but it did not doom the planet. That's a mini ice age.

That's what you're facing, and I'll say it again. If you live in a cold climate, heed this advice: It's going to get colder. Get off the grid! Within the next 15 years, find a way of producing electricity independently or in smaller groups. This can be done neighborhood-wide or separately in homes. You're going to need this, dear ones, because the grid as it exists right now all over the world is not prepared for this coming cold, and the grid will fail. That's not doom and gloom, that's just practical, commonly known information. Your electricity infrastructure is delicate, too delicate. Prepare for a cold spell that may last for a couple of decades. That's all it is. Technology is racing forward to allow this. Don't let your politics get in the way of your survival. ..."

"...  This is controversial. The planet can't just "change the water". It does it instead with a "reboot of life in the ocean" using the water cycle. Watch for evidence of this as it occurs, and then remember this channel. This weather cycle is to refresh the life in the ocean so that everyone on the planet will have needed food from the ocean. Gaia does this by itself, has done it before, and it does it for a reason - so it will not stagnate.

Dear ones, indeed, you have put compromising things into the air and the water, but it has not caused this cycle. We have said for a very long time, stop killing the environment! The reason? It's going to kill you, not Gaia. Gaia is spectacularly resilient and will survive anything you do. However, it is you who may not survive if you continue polluting. All this is starting to change with your awareness, and you're starting to see this and move with it. But Humans are not causing the current weather shift. This will be known eventually.

What is happening has happened before, and it's almost like a reboot for the oceans and it carries a lot of dichotomous events. You're going to see reports of a dying ocean, but at the same time you're going to see unusual reports of too many fish and other sea life in places that were supposed to have a decline. You're going to see the life cycle of the ocean itself start to change and reboot.

The chief player in this renewal is a place you would not expect: Antarctica. I want you to watch for magic in Antarctica. It has always been the core of the refreshing of microbes and other kinds of life in your oceans and it's especially active during these mini ice ages. The process will cause currents under the sea to be filled with new life, delivering it to both hemispheres almost like an under-sea conveyor belt. ..."