Environment

Greenpeace projects ocean protection video onto Euro Commission building

Brussels, Jan 23 (EFE).- Ecology-oriented NGO Greenpeace on Monday projected onto the facade of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels a video with images of marine life to denounce what it said was the European Union’s lack of action to protect the oceans in the run-up to the next round of negotiations for a global treaty to do just that.

“The Treaty must contain at least 30 percent of all oceans set aside as fully protected areas, protected from fishing, from mining and all exploitation by the year 2030,” said Greenpeace EU political advisor Keir Stairs in remarks to EFE The NGO is calling on Brussels to issue a new offer to facilitate reaching a world agreement on a Global Ocean Treaty during the next round of talks among nations to be held in New York, sponsored by the United Nations, from Feb. 20-March 3 within the framework of the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.

“The world needs the EU, as the EU promised, to provide the leadership and champion an effective Global Ocean Treaty,” said Stairs.

However, he said that given that Greenpeace had seen “very little action” in comparison with the declarations made up to now by Brussels, the organization was calling for greater ambition on the part of the EU in achieving a treaty that reflects its commitment to protect 30 percent of the world’s ocean areas, as agreed to by nations around the world at the most recent UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15).

Despite that, Greenpeace said in a communique that today, according to its calculations, just one percent of European waters are protected from so-called “high-impact activities” like mining or trawl fishing and demanded that the Commission reverse this situation.

EFE –/bp

Related Articles

Back to top button