Government urged to tell world ‘stop treating oceans like sewer’
THE GOVERNMENT must change its “out of sight, out of mind” attitude to the seas and take the lead on plastic, pollution and ocean protection, MPs have urged.
Oceans are highly threatened by climate change, over-fishing and pollution, and the UK should push for a “Paris Agreement for the sea” – similar to the international deal secured to tackle global warming – to protect them.
In a report on sustainable seas, the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee warned “we are treating our seas as a sewer”, with 80 per cent of marine pollution coming from land through rivers, sewers and drains.
That includes plastic litter, untreated sewage, fertilisers and heavy metals, the MPs warned.
Oceans are also threatened by climate change, with temperature rises of 2C above pre-industrial levels set to destroy almost all the world’s coral reefs and significantly harm fish stocks and other wildlife.
Overfishing and other exploitation of marine resources such as deep sea mining also threaten the seas.
Chair Mary Creagh, who is the MP for Wakefield, said: “Our children deserve to experience the wonders of the ocean but climate change poses a triple whammy of threats from ocean warming, deoxygenation and acidification, which are decimating marine life.
“We have to stop treating our seas as a sewer.
“Plastics, chemicals, and sewage are choking our oceans, polluting our water and harming every ocean species from plankton to polar bears.”
A Government spokeswoman said: “The UK is already a global leader in protecting our seas and oceans.
“We have recently proposed 41 new Marine Conservation zones, led calls to protect 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030, and we are going further and faster to tackle the plastic that harms marine life with our ambitious Resources and Waste Strategy.
“We know there is more to do, and we will soon publish an International Ocean Strategy.”