Daily Times

The awareness about environment, oceans and natural resources has been growing for about many decades, but has picked up momentum since 2008 when the United Nations adopted 8th June as World Oceans Day as an international observance. However, the idea for celebrating a day for oceans was first conceptualized at the UN Earth Summit by a team of experts from Canada’s International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) and International Ocean Institute in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since then different institutions, scientists, NGOs etc, started celebrating the day at appropriate level to forge support for global stewardship of oceans, until it was officially marked by the UN. The World Oceans Day is now recognised as one of the key cerebration held around the globe in every June. The day is designated to raise awareness about the crucial role oceans play in our lives and promote sustainable exploitation of oceanic resources. Moreover, it emphasizes on the need to protect oceans against the dangers caused by human activity

Marine pollution, dumping of plastics and unjust exploitation of marine resources are the most serious challenges the world oceans are facing today. According to the UN, 80 percent of liquefied pollution in seas and oceans come from land-based sources. From coastlines around the world, about eight million tons of plastic per annum is cluttered into the oceans. Experts from the UNEP say that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of plastic. These issues are further causing challenges like acidification, degradation of marine resources and disruption of marine ecosystems, which can damage our oceans beyond repair. Almost 500 dead zones have been discovered globally so far, latest amongst these is the discovery of largest dead zone in the Arabian Sea Region, near Gulf of Oman. The situation is intricate and calls for serious actions. In order to make immediate progress with these pressing issues which directly affect our future, we need to raise awareness about the functional connection between oceans and humans; and significant role oceans play in our lives. The World Oceans Day provides us an opportunity to review our lifestyle and make an effort to reduce human footprints on planet earth. One meaningful way to make immediate progress with these challenges is to limit solid waste generation and create awareness among your acquaintance about exploiting oceans as trash bin. Remember ‘3-R’ rule in daily life: reduce use of disposable items, reuse items to avoid waste and lastly, and recycle possible items to decrease trash. People must realise that our carefree attitude is stressing the planet’s finite resources and our little effort can bring a big difference.

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs is sadly entangled in the affairs of ports and seafarers, and does not seem very much concern about the health of oceans

While it is widely believe the role of individuals is critical in addressing the challenges faced by oceans, but on the flip side, governments also have a significant part to play. In the ear of free market economy, where material consumption is prompted as mean of convenient life and economic development, environmental sustainability cannot be perceived as voluntarily act or sole responsibility of individuals. In this context if we talk about Pakistan, where blue economy is emerging as a popular slogan but healthy oceans; which is a prerequisite for the blue growth, has no place in the agenda of government. Protection of seas and oceans has always been considered as a social issue with least political acknowledgment in Pakistan. If we just look at the focused areas of Ministry of Climate Change or provincial governments of both coastal provinces – Sindh and Balochistan – they seem blind towards environmental issues and challenges to the sustainable development in maritime sector. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs is sadly entangled in the affairs of ports and seafarers, and does not seem very much concern about the health of oceans. Regretfully, SDG 12 which talks about sustainable consumption and production patterns, SDG 13 that focuses on actions against Climate Change and most importantly SDG 14 which deals with Oceans and Life below Sea are placed at the least priority agenda by Government of Pakistan according to official website of MoPD&SI.

In country like Pakistan, where sea blindness prevails at all levels of society, goals of blue economy cannot be attained without creating maritime awareness. It is important to make people understand that why there is need to save oceans and how can they sustainably manage marine resources and ecosystems. As a universal rule, awareness is the key to bring a paradigm shift in human approach towards Oceans. But the task is gigantic and cannot be left to NGOs and civil institutions. It requires due recognition amongst policy makers as well as political patronage from relevant ministries. While, legislative actions to restrict pollution and unjust exploitation are effective way to achieve healthy oceans; media campaigns by responsible public sector departments on maritime subjects will defiantly gather support in favour of government’s actions. Implementation of environmental laws and marine conservation or rehabilitation plans become much easier once public will recognise the importance of oceans for life. In this regard International commemorations like World Oceans Day can be a significant opportunity for our public and private sector institutions to become part of global wave of change and sensitize public about adverse effects of human activities on maritime domain.

The writer is a maritime researcher at NCMPR, Bahria University