Overfishing, plastic pollution, temperature rises and chemical contaminants have all badly impacted the health of our oceans, upon which billions of people depend for their sustenance and livelihoods.
Protecting and conserving the marine environment is essential for human life and the economy. The oceans play a central role in regulating our climate and provide key ecosystem services, such as the production of oxygen and carbon sequestration. Yet after centuries of treating marine habitats as an inexhaustible resource, at least a third of fish stocks are now depleted, while microplastic pollution has become endemic and is working its way up the food chain. This has potentially dangerous consequences for human health.
