Conference participants say the link between climate and ocean has been forgotten

The In order to celebrate the anniversary, which commemorates Friday, more than a hundred activities are taking place this week under the theme “The Ocean is Our Earth”, under the auspices of the Oceano Azul Foundation, one of which is today’s conference in Lisbon on the relationship between the ocean and climate change.

Rashid Smaila, a professor at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and keynote speaker spoke out against the existence of fisheries subsidies, which he considered perverted, and advocated a new model for the marine economy, recalling the importance of these subsidies to fisheries. It absorbs carbon dioxide, regulates the temperature of the planet and fights climate change.

The expert from the university’s Fisheries Economic Research Unit noted that a healthy and sustainable ocean could absorb much more carbon dioxide from human activities from burning fossil fuels than it actually does.

Recalling that the oceans represent 70% of the planet’s surface and that they are getting hotter and acidic, with less snow and less oxygen, Rachid Smaila warned of the need to pay attention to the seas, “where they always see good things and where people send bad things.”

One of the bad things, he warned, is overfishing, with impacts on habitats and also with “serious consequences” for humanity, adding that without fish, and there are areas that have already reached the limit in terms of “stocks”, there is no fishing, no jobs and no Food (connected to the sea).

“Ending poaching now will strengthen the ocean, make it more resilient to climate change, while helping to mitigate climate change,” he said at the online conference, in which he participated.

Rashid Sumaila noted that at the last World Climate Conference (COP26, in Glasgow, UK, last year) the ocean was the subject of the final declaration for the first time, adding that it was time to talk about it at the World Ocean Conference. . , to be held in Lisbon in June, and the next World Climate Conference, this year in Egypt.

Today’s conference was organized by the Oceano Azul Foundation and environmental organizations ANP/WWF, Sciaena and Zero, with interventions also by André Pacheco (Culatra 2030 Project), Monica Verbeek (Association of Seas at Risk), and Raquel Gaspard (“Ocean Alive” project) ) and Catarina Frazão Santos (Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon), among others.

Just over two months before the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, in today’s initiative, the Special Envoy for Climate Issues and the State Department’s Representative on the Conference’s Organizing Committee, Alexander Letau, assessed the state of the work and outlined a preview of what to expect.

Thiago Beta-e Cunha, director of the Oceano Azul Foundation, which ended the initiative today, referred to the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC in its original acronym) when he said humanity has only 25 months to reach peak greenhouse gas emissions. So far, he said, there are no “significant decisions” to deal with the “ocean crisis”.

The main objective of the Ocean is Our Earth week is to inform, raise awareness and mobilize national organizations focused on climate change and the ocean to link the two themes.

Initiatives to celebrate World Earth Day for the third year in a row are being carried out by the Oceano Azul Foundation. This week, more than 150 initiatives were planned across the country, organized by more than 110 organizations, including exhibitions, conferences, and initiatives involving schools and beach clean-up actions.

Read also: Organizations from Cabinda demand recognition of the right to self-determination

News by the Minute was nominated for Marketeer Awards

The news per minute He is one of the candidates for the 2022 edition of Marketeer AwardsIn the category digital media. Voting takes place until May 31.

To help us win, simply access the website of the initiative organized by the magazine marketerclick herego ahead to fill out the form and choose news per minute In the category digital media And then formalize the vote. Thank you for the preference!