Eight Urgent, Fundamental and Simultaneous Steps Needed to Restore Ocean Health, and the Consequences for Humanity and the Planet of Inaction or Delay

Author:

Laffoley, Dan, John M. Baxter, Diva J. Amon, Duncan E.J. Currie, Craig A. Downs, Jason M. Hall‐Spencer, Harriet Harden‐Davies, et al.

Publication Year:

2019

Citation:

Laffoley, Dan, John M. Baxter, Diva J. Amon, Duncan E.J. Currie, Craig A. Downs, Jason M. Hall‐Spencer, Harriet Harden‐Davies, et al. “Eight Urgent, Fundamental and Simultaneous Steps Needed to Restore Ocean Health, and the Consequences for Humanity and the Planet of Inaction or Delay.” Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, July 23, 2019, aqc.3182. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3182.

Description:

In late 2018, the International Programme on the State of Ocean (IPSO) convened experts for a workshop on ocean health. This repeated an exercise in 2011 that produced a global State of the Ocean report (Rogers & Laffoley, 2013). The 2011 report warned of the threat of mass marine extinctions caused by the multiple stressors affecting ocean health. It garnered worldwide government and media attention and was part of an increase in the visibility of the increasing rate of decline in the functioning of the ocean. This time IPSO asked ocean experts across science, law, policy, and economics to consider the major actions needed to achieve ocean protection, considering changes already locked into the ecosystem; the current, and likely future, operating environment for policy, legal and other solutions; and emerging threats and opportunities.