The International Maritime Organization's Marine Environment Protection Committee met in October 2024, addressing GHG emissions from ships, energy efficiency of ships, new Emission Control Areas, new Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas, ballast water management, marine litter, air pollution prevention, underwater radiated noise from commercial shipping, pollution prevention and response and ship recycling.

The 4th Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Develop an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution held in Ottawa, Canada, in April closed with some progress on the draft text but much bracketed text still to be discussed at the final session which will be held in Busan, Republic of Korea in November.

The ocean fared well at the latest Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP28) in 2023. Both the effect of climate change on the ocean and the important role the ocean plays in reducing the impact of climate change have now been recognised and included in climate discussions.

The 29th Session of the International Seabed Authority closed in early August with an important decision: there will be a new Secretary-General of the Authority. Leticia Reis de Carvalho, a Brazilian national, oceanographer and UNEP Chief of Branch for the Ecosystems Division for Latin America and the Caribbean, will replace the incumbent Michael Lodge from 1 January 2025.

Over-fishing, often supported by government subsidies, and illegal fishing are to blame for the current state of fish stocks, where just under 90% of stocks are still either overfished or fished at their maximum sustainable level, with 38% exploited beyond sustainable levels.

After two decades of negotiations at the United Nations, the BBNJ Agreement (the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction), often called the High Seas Treaty, was adopted and opened for signature in 2023

There is growing interest in the potential of ocean-based negative emission technologies to contribute to climate neutrality,  involving a variety of methods to remove or store CO2 or to increase phytoplankton growth.

The goal to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 was set by the 2022 COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. With the ocean covering approximately 360 million square kilometres, 30% of that comes to an enormous 108 million square kilometres.

It’s time to change our attitude - we need to move from seeing the ocean as a space we use and exploit for our own good to recognizing its value and putting its protection at the top of our list of priorities.