June 9, 2020 — Before 2020 became the year of Covid-19, it was set to be the “year of the oceans.”
With only a small portion of them protected by law or agreement, expectations were high that bold steps to preserve biodiversity, rein in overfishing and bolster social responsibility were within reach. Then the coronavirus arrived, and high-profile meetings from the High Seas Treaty (the first global agreement to police and manage international waters) to the United Nations Climate Change Conference were postponed.
The oceans are critical to any effort to slow global warming. Delay in global agreements, given how little time is left to avoid catastrophe, has only made matters that much more desperate.
Waters more than 200 nautical miles from national shores are of critical importance to both fisheries and climate mitigation. The Global Ocean Commission estimates the high seas account for up to $16 billion in annual gross catch and between $74 billion and $222 billion in annual carbon storage. As the world struggles to cut emissions to zero by 2050—a goal scientists say is required to avoid massive planetary shifts—the ocean’s ability to store CO₂ will increasingly diminish, according to new research published last week in the journal AGU Advances.