A global drive to map 80 percent of the seabed by 2030 should be launched to protect the world’s oceans, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday.
Speaking at the opening of the 2022 UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, Guterres called on governments around the world to “increase their ambition to recover the oceans.”
Pollution of all kinds must be reduced in order to protect “people whose lives depend on the sea from the impact of climate change,” he said in a statement.
New, climate-resilient coastal infrastructure must be created, he added, and the maritime transport sector must commit to reducing carbon emissions to zero “by 2050.”
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also called for the mapping of maritime territory, as well as more investment in environmental education.
The United Nations Conference on the Oceans is taking place in Lisbon until Saturday, attended by heads of state and government from across the globe.
The meeting began on Monday with the nomination of the heads of state of Portugal and Kenya as presidents of the conference.