Greece to launch marine parks at global oceans meet

Park area earmarked for hydrocarbon exploration, say greens

Greece, hosts of this year’s global conference on protecting oceans, will launch two new marine parks as part of multi-billion-euro pledges expected from 120 participating states and entities, organisers said yesterday.

Delegates at the April 15-17 Our Ocean Conference include 12 heads of state, around 50 ministers and officials, and representatives from 120 nations and entities, including the UN, EU and Nato.

“This is the biggest environment conference ever held [in Greece],” Environment and Energy Minister Theodoros Skylakakis told journalists.

He said that part of Athens’ commitments are two new national parks — one in the Ionian Sea for sea mammals and turtles, and another in the Aegean for seabirds, to be set into law by early next year.

“They will be among the largest in the Mediterranean,” he said.

Repeat offender in the past

Greece has been repeatedly fined by the European Commission on environmental matters in the past decades.

In December, it was referred to the EU court of justice for failing to implement maritime spatial planning guidelines. In a statement yesterday, nine environmental groups, including WWF and Greenpeace, hailed the new parks announcement as an “important initiative”.

But they noted that the Ionian Sea park is to be created in an area already earmarked by Greece for hydrocarbon exploration.

“There can be no protected maritime area with hydrocarbon extraction,” they said.

Skylakakis said the park is “much, much larger than any extraction area”.

“Sea mammals will be afforded a very high level of protection,” he promised.

Since the first Our Ocean conference in 2014, participating nations have committed more than $130 billion in ocean aid, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis told reporters.

Sustainable tourism

Greece will be placing particular emphasis this year on sustainable tourism, microplastics, eco-friendly shipping and the Mediterranean environment, he said.

“Each of us, especially those in coastal areas, swallows the equivalent of a plastic card each week [through microplastics in fish],” Gerapetritis said.

“And also through salt,” added Skylakakis. “Other species cannot do much, they merely adapt. Humans must react,” Skylakakis said. Observers say Our Ocean is the only conference to address all ocean-related issues under one roof.

At the previous summit in Panama in March 2023, participants pledged $19 billion in initiatives to protect oceans.

They included projects involving sustainable fishing, fight against pollution, maritime security and protected areas.

The EU last year said it would dedicate 816.5 million euros ($884 million) to ocean-related projects.