June 7, 2017 — UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the first-ever U.N. conference on oceans Monday with a warning that the seas are “under threat as never before,” with one recent study warning that discarded plastic garbage could outweigh fish by 2050 if nothing is done.
The U.N. chief told presidents, ministers, diplomats and environmental activists from nearly 200 countries that oceans — “the lifeblood of our planet” — are being severely damaged by pollution, overfishing and the effects of climate change as well as refuse.
The five-day conference, which began on World Environment Day, is the first major event to focus on climate since President Donald Trump announced last Thursday that the United States will withdraw from the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Agreement — a decision criticized by Bolivia’s President Evo Morales and other speakers.
Guterres said the aim of the conference is “to turn the tide” and solve the problems that “we created.”
He said competing interests over territory and natural resources have blocked progress for far too long in cleaning up and restoring to health the world’s oceans, which cover two-thirds of the planet.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard-Times