UN unveils ocean-protection plan

On Aug. 12, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlined a plan to protect the world’s oceans from the “grave threat” of pollution, over-fishing, rising sea levels and global warming.

During a speech at the 30th anniversary of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, Ban unveiled his “Oceans Compact” initiative, aimed at improving the health of the oceans and more closely regulating their management via a high-level advisory group consisting of senior policymakers, scientists, ocean experts, private-sector representatives and leaders of various U.N. organizations.

“Ocean acidification [from absorbed carbon emissions] is eating into the very basis of our ocean life, and sea level rise threatens to re-draw the global map at the expense of hundreds of millions of the world’s most vulnerable people,” Ban said.