“RISE UP – a blue call to action” was officially launched in February 2020 at the preparatory meeting for the UN Ocean Conference that will take place in Lisbon, Portugal from 2-6 June 2020. RISE UP has been developed over the past 6 months by a unique collaboration of globally active organizations, including the High Seas Alliance and a number of its members, Indigenous Peoples and Fisherfolk groups, and other ocean conservation organizations.
With the ocean in deep crisis, defending its capacity to produce oxygen, support the myriad of species that it is home to, sequester carbon and provide food and livelihoods for billions of people is vital. However, the international response by governments and businesses has so far not come anywhere near what is needed to avert this ocean crisis.
As countries start to prepare for the next UN Ocean Conference, RISE UP is blueprint for the bold actions needed to meet and go beyond the SDG 14: Life Below Water target, to ensure we safeguard the Ocean and the people who depend on it. These are to:
Restore Ocean life
Invest immediately in a net-zero carbon emissions future
Speed the transition to a circular and sustainable economy
Empower and support coastal people
Unite for stronger global ocean governance
Protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030
Under the goal “Unite for stronger global ocean governance”, a priority action identified is “In 2020, adopt a new legally-binding UN agreement on high seas biodiversity that ensures robust protection including the rapid establishment of a network of fully protected MPAs, and enhances cooperation among global, regional and sectoral bodies.”
Governments and companies are called to actively support the goals and actions detailed in RISE UP, and commit to work expeditiously in their own countries as well as globally to ensure the necessary changes are made in both policy and action. This includes the agreement of a new high seas treaty in 2020, and commit to this bold and transformative action at the UN Ocean Conference in June.
For more information on RISE UP, its partners, its goals and priority actions and to sign-up, visit the website www.riseupfortheocean.org. For any further questions please contact info@riseupfortheocean.org.
©Cover Photo by Holger Link on Unsplash