By Monica Reilly

The ocean has often been a foreign concept for many of us. We grow up glorifying space travel and nature reserves, but we have little, if any, experience with ocean exploration or deep sea creatures. This disconnect can make it easy to push marine issues aside, or to assume that we don’t need legislation in order to protect it. We are surrounded by wildlife reserves, zoos that educate us about endangered species, or national parks that exist solely for the purpose of preserving certain parts of nature. Despite this, the ocean is infinitely more important to the planet than the land on which we reside. 71% of the planet is covered in ocean, of which 5% has been explored. 

In the context of our current climate crisis, the ocean is more relevant than ever. Our oceans are one of the main carbon “sinks” on our planet, meaning that they absorb carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), thereby preventing it from going into the atmosphere. We have similar carbon sinks on land, such as forests, but oceans hold so much more carbon due to their vastness. This means that ocean health, something we as a planet have historically not prioritized, is incredibly important. Every day, due to the steadily increasing temperature of the planet, the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon weakens, making it evermore essential that we make ocean health a priority. Not only that, but we need to enact and enforce legislation that will force countries to preserve the well-being of the ocean and marine life. Many mainstream perspectives on maintaining the planet push very individual solutions, like “reuse, reduce, recycle,” or calculating your carbon footprint. But, in fact, the vast majority of damage done to our ecosystems is performed by major corporations. The carbon footprint calculator was even invented by British Petroleum as a way of passing off the burden of protecting our planet onto consumers. Without actual regulation, nothing about the state of our world will change.

However, passing laws to maintain ocean health is easier said than done. The phrase “international waters” means that efforts to pass a law limiting deep sea mining or waste dumping in the ocean is exceptionally difficult. The ambiguity of who is responsible for our oceans can also lead to another phenomenon known as the “Tragedy of the Commons.” Originally coined in the 1960s, this term refers to the idea that, when presented with a public and free resource, people will attempt to use it as much as possible in favor of their own interests, thus depleting the resource. The most famous marine-related example of this occurrence is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or a patch of debris that spans from the West Coast of North America to Japan. Applying the theory of the “Tragedy of the Commons,” factories want to dispose of waste in the water, as it is a free method of waste disposal. When most factories decide to use the ocean in this manner, the patch grows.  

Despite these worrying statistics, hope is not lost. For the past two decades, the “High Seas Treaty,” a plan to enforce conservation zones and sustainable marine usage, has been under debate at the U.N. In order for it to pass, it needed at least 60 countries to approve it, and this past September, the 60th country, Morocco, voted to ratify an international treaty at the U.N., which would establish marine conservation zones. Under its enforcement, 30% of the ocean will be under conservation zone status, meaning strict limits on activities like fishing, deep-sea mining, and shipping routes. While not a perfect plan – as there has already been some criticism as to how the standard for a conservation zone will be established between country to country – environmentalists agree that it is a significant step in the right direction. Protecting our oceans means protecting our planet, and thus the human species as a whole. Via legislation like this, and others in the future, it will be possible for us to restore the health of our planet.